To aid the self-dedicated Wiccan Priestess and self-dedicated Wiccan Priest, here is the ritual script for the Full Moon Esbat of The Tree, as adapted for our coven. Additional sources consulted included What Witches Do, Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft, Wicca for Life, and The Charge of the Goddess by High Priestess Doreen Valiente.
(The Erecting the Temple is performed. Priest and Priestess kiss. There may be flowers on the Altar.)
Priest: “Now is the time when the Moon is full, signaling and lighting this night of our meeting. Let us call upon Frey and Freya to smile down upon us and pour forth their love.”
(Priest and Priestess each raise their Seax high.)
Priest & Priestess: “Frey and Freya! We honor you; we love you! All that you do we know you do for our good. So let all that we do be for the good of thee.”
All: “So be it!”
(Priest lowers his Seax and, turning to face Priestess, kneels. She remains with Seax raised.)
Priest: “Listen to the words of the Great Mother, known by so many names to so many Men, at different times and different places—Astarte, Aphrodite, Bride, Cerridwen, Diana, Gana, Isis, Demeter—all these and many more were the names by which you were adored. Yet do we know you as Freya, and in that name is it meet that we worship you. Adore we the spirit of you, and of your Lord, in Love and in grateful thanks.”
(Priestess moves to stand facing out from the Altar, in the Goddess Position.)
Priestess: “Whenever ye have need of any thing, once in a month, and better it be when the Moon is full, then shall ye assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of me, who am Queen of all Witches.
There shall ye assemble, ye who are fain to learn all sorcery, yet have not won its deepest secrets; to these I will teach things that are as yet unknown.
And ye shall be free from slavery; and as a sign that ye be really free, ye shall be naked in your rites; and ye shall sing, dance, feast, make music and love, all in my praise. For mine is the ecstasy of the spirit, and mine also is joy on Earth; for my Law is Love unto all Beings.
Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever towards it, let naught stop you nor turn you aside; for mine is the secret door which opens upon the Land of Youth, and mine is the cup of the Wine of Life, and the Cauldron of Cerridwen, which is the Holy Grail of Immortality.
I am the Gracious Goddess, who gives the gift of Joy unto the heart of man. Upon Earth, I give knowledge of the Spirit Eternal; and beyond death, I give Peace, and Freedom, and Reunion with those who have gone before. Nor do I demand sacrifice; for behold, I am the Mother of All Living, and my love is poured out upon the earth.”
Priest: “Hear ye the words of the Star Goddess; She in the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven, whose body encircles the Universe.”
Priestess: “I who am the beauty of the Green Earth, and the White Moon among the Stars, and the mystery of the Waters, and the desire of the heart of man call unto thy Soul.
‘Arise, and come unto me,’ for I am the Soul of Nature, who gives life to the universe. From me all things proceed, and unto me all things must return; and before my face, beloved of Gods and of Men, let thine innermost divine Self be enfolded in the rapture of the Infinite.
Let my worship be in the heart that rejoiceth; for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals. Therefore, let there be Beauty and Strength, Power and Compassion, Honour and Humility, Mirth and Reverence within you.
And thou who thinkest to seek for me, know thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not unless thou knowest the Mystery: that if that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee, thou wilt never find it without thee. For behold, I have been with thee from the beginning; and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.”
(Priestess lowers her Seax and raises Priest, kissing him. She then kneels to him.)
Priestess: “Frey, might God; our Lord! All honor to thee, Brother of Freya. Let us, your people, know you and love you. Guard us well and guide us in our lives. As Man needs Woman, so does Woman need Man. So it is with the Gods. Let us all be joined as one; at one with the Gods.”
(Priest raises Priestess and they kiss. Then shall follow the Ceremony of the Cakes and Ale.)
Image: Kissing the Moon by Winslow Homer (1836-1910)
Lincoln Green 