The high priest invokes:
"I invoke thee and call upon thee, Mighty Mother of us all, bringer of all fruitfullness; by seed and root, by bud and stem, by leaf and flower and fruit, by life and love do I invoke thee to descend upon the body of this, thy servant and priestess."
During this invocation, he touches her with his right fore finger on her right breast,
left breast, and womb; the same three again; and finally the right breast. In touching
these three places, he marks the points of a triangle upon the body of the
high priestess to aid invoking the Goddess into the high priestess. (More at
Coven High Priestess Drawing Down the Moon.)
Still kneeling, the high priest then spreads his arms outwards and downwards, with
palms forward, and says:
The high priestess draws an invoking pentagram with the wand and recites a blessing.
The next stage is to recite the Charge of the Goddess. The Charge of the Goddess was adapted
from the Tuscan Strega rituals recorded in Leland's
Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches.
* High priest kisses the high priestess's right foot at this point during the invocation.
Myth's Notes:
The wording of the invocation is traditional Wiccan material. The specific directions for
ritual are summarized from Janet & Stewart Farrar's excellent book, A Witches' Bible, The
Complete Witches' Handbook, Phoenix Publishing, Inc., copyright 1981, 1984,
from the edition printed 1996, pp. 40, 41, 42.
For an in depth look at this ritual, visit the website of
Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone.
The entire ritual can be found in their
Book of Shadows, under
Drawing Down
the Moon. It may also be found at
Drawing Down the Moon.
Janet & Stewart Farrar are authors of many books on witchcraft. Anyone seeking
information on Wicca are urged to read the Farrar materials.
Hail, Aradia! From the Almathean Horn
He then stands up and takes a pace backwards, still facing the high priestess.
Pour forth thy store of love; I lowly bend
Before thee, I adore thee to the end,
With loving sacrifice thy shrine adorned.
Thy foot is to my lip [kiss*] my prayer upborn
Upon the rising incense-smoke; then spend
Thine ancient love, O Mighty One, descend
To aid me, who without thee am forlorn.
Janet and Stewart Farrar are recognized as experts on witchcraft and the occult.
Gavin Bone joined their writing team in 1993 and has since worked with them on:
Sadly, Stewart Farrar passed into the summerland on February 7, 2000. Janet Farrar
and Gavin Bone published yet another groundbreaking, "destined to be another classic,"
book in 2004: Progressive Witchcraft. Janet and Gavin also have a video,
Discovering Witchcraft, released on DVD in the USA, distributed by
The Savage Film Group.
Warning: The Savage Film Group website sells many cheesy, low-budget, independent horror films, which have nothing to do with Wicca. Nevertheless, SFG is the USA distributor for Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone's DVD, Discovering Witchcraft. This DVD is an excellent training medium, serving as an introduction to Wicca. Of particular interest to some Wiccans is that the DVD contains footage of Stewart Farrar. (You may be interested in two of SFG's documentaries: The Occult World of Rock Savage and Mondo Pagan. Occult World features an interview with Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone.)
For information about Aradia, read Janet & Stewart Farrar's The Witches' Goddess, which has a section specifically on Aradia.
Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone run a progressive coven in Ireland called, Coven Na Callaighe, which is part of Teampall Na Callaighe, which includes an open worship group, Clan Na Callaighe. Their practical magical work is in the areas of trance prophecy and spiritism. They regularly conduct workshops in these fields for the Pagan community. Please see their web page for more information.