To aid the self-dedicated Wiccan Priestess and self-dedicated Wiccan Priest, here is the ritual script for the Midsummer Sabbat of The Tree, as slightly adapted for our coven. Additional sources consulted included The Complete Herbal, Woman, Church and State, The Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut, Myths of the Norsemen, The Witch Cult in Western Europe, The Golden Bough, Poetic Edda, The God of the Witches, Anglo-Saxon Magic and Medicine Illustrated Specially from the Semi-Pagan Text “Lacnunga”, Witchcraft Today, The Silver Bough, The Lost Gods of England, Gerald Gardner: Witch, Where Witchcraft Lives, Witchcraft…The Religion, Witchcraft Ancient & Modern, What Witches Do, The Return of Magic, The Secret Rituals of the O.T.O., Natural Magic, Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft, Wicca, Wicca Craft, Witchcraft from the Inside, Dancing with Witches, High Priestess, Wicca for Life, The Witch Book, The Wheel of the Wiccan Year, Fifty Years of Wicca, Keepers of the Flame, The Witches’ Runes, and De Natura Deorum (The Nature of the Gods).
(The Erecting the Temple is performed. Priest and Priestess kiss. Let there be summer flowers on the Altar and about the Circle.)
Priestess: “Now is the Summer Sun on high, yet living goes ever on. With hope in our hearts let us spread happiness about us. Cease all sorrows! Cease all strife! The day is for living—for living this life!”
Priest: “On high the Sun casts never a shadow. So shines down the love of the Gods—of Frey and Freya—shining upon us all alike. No more on one than another.”
Priestess: “As the Sun moves on its path, acknowledging all along its way; so move we for the Mighty Ones, to show our love and affection.”
(Priest and Priestess then move, hand-in-hand, clockwise about the Circle kissing each Witch along the way. *Priestess kisses males; Priest kisses females. Returning to their original positions they kiss each other.)
Priestess: “We Wiccans give thanks to the Mighty Ones, to Frey and to Freya, for the richness and goodness of life. As there must be rain with the sun, to make all things good; so must we suffer pain with our joy, to know all things. Our love is ever with the Gods, for though we know not their thoughts yet do we know their hearts—that all is for our good. Lord and Lady, bless us now. Keep us faithful in thy service. We thank you for that spark that brings us together—and to you. Help us to live with Love and with Trust between us. Help us to feel the joy of loving you and of loving one another.”
All: “So be it!”
(Then shall follow the Ceremony of Cakes and Ale, followed by feasting and merriment.)
Image: The Village Festival by Jean Charles Meissonier (1848-1917)
Lincoln Green 