Panmankey

I can't remember what I wrote this ritual for exactly, I have to assume Mabon, but I'm not totally sure.  You could probably use it for any Autumn ritual, or even for the secular Thanksgiving.  It's kind of a goofy ritual, more silly than serious, but sometimes the best bonds are the ones formed in laughter.  This ritual calls for a lot of food and drink, most notably Little Debbie brand Pumpkin Delight snack cakes, a big favorite of mine.  It also involves cider, and on a more serious note pomegranite seeds.  This ritual not only celebrates the fall, but celebrates the formation of community.

I have to make an admission, the circle casting in this ritual was stolen from Phyllis Currot's wonderful book Book of Shadows, but since she stole it from her tradition I have to assume it's meant to be passed on.  (Not that any Pagan writer types steal anything, we borrow, or better yet "tap the rich poetic tradition of our faith.")  

A Mabon Ritual

Statement of Intent: Tonight we celebrate the Earth’s harvest, but we also hope to make a personal harvest of growing a loving, caring, supportive, community.

Quarter Calls
East/Air: I call to the spirits of the east, spirits of air. Be with us in our circle tonight as we celebrate the magick of the fall season. Reveal to us your gifts and your bounty this autumn night. Blessed Be.

South/Fire: I call to the spirits of the south, spirits of fire. Be with us in our circle tonight as we celebrate the magick of the fall season. Reveal to us your gifts and your bounty this autumn night. Blessed Be.

West/Water: I call to the spirits of the west, spirits of water. Be with us in our circle tonight as we celebrate the magick of the fall season. Reveal to us your gifts and your bounty this autumn night. Blessed Be.

North/Earth: I call to the spirits of the north, spirits of earth. Be with us in our circle tonight as we celebrate the magick of the fall season. Reveal to us your gifts and your bounty this autumn night. Blessed Be.

Circle Casting
The circle is sacred space, let no energy that will disturb our intent enter this place. The energy we use to create this place is that which comes from the goodness in our own hearts. "Hand to hand I cast this circle."  The circle caster reaches for the hand on her left (clockwise) and everyone in the cirlce repeats the line until all are holding hands. The circle is cast. So mote it be!

Call to the Goddess
We call to the great Goddess, Lady of the Harvest, Mother Earth, She who provides us with nature’s abundance. Your beauty is all around us. We see your reflection in the night sky, you smile at us as the moon, the oceans are your veil, your hands create art in all that we see, your love surrounds us, in all that is the wheel of life. Join us in our ritual, fill our hearts with your love, our minds with the spirit of wonderment, and our souls with the assurance of your presence. Welcome great Lady, we thank you for this harvest celebration. Blessed Be!

Charge of the Goddess

Call to the God
 We call to the great God, Lord of the Harvest, the Cosmic Seed, He who is the spirit of the wild. Your energy surrounds us. We see you grinning at us in the bushes, we feel your lust for life radiating from the Earth, you make your presence known as the silent hunter and the powerful sun, your faces guide the Wheel of the Year on its journey. Join us in our ritual, fill our hearts with your lust, our minds with images of your revelry, and our souls with your friendly spirit. Welcome great Lord, we thank you for this harvest celebration. Blessed Be!

Charge of the God

Community Thanksgiving
All the spirits of nature give to us this wonderful season, each in their own way. They all offer us gifts to build our community and strengthen our bonds with the Lord and Lady.

East
My breeze turns the Wheel, and now my breeze has started to turn cold. Still, my touch is a gentle this time of year. I bring you the joy of brisk autumn mornings, I bring you the clean smell of leaves in the fall, I carry the scent of chimney smoke, and the aroma of a fresh baked pumpkin pie. These things I give to you each fall, these small comforts you often take for granted. I rule the air, the skies, the winds, and the hollow things that grow on vines. Many of my gifts can’t be touched with human hands, only with human hearts, but these treats I offer to you tonight. Take a pumpkin delight and share it with someone here you don’t know, introduce yourself, and let your words be carried upon my domain.

South
While I start to leave you this time of year, my occasional gentle touch will remind you of what I have to offer in the months to come. Until then, I leave you with this, the apple. Not only is it red in my honor, it is the magickal fruit, blessed with the symbol of the pentagram. (Cut open an apple.) Tonight though, I give you not just an apple, but apples in their greatest autumn form, as cider. Share a drink with someone you don’t know as well as you should, and do it in my honor.

West
The South has conspired to steal one of my greatest gifts, cider, but I offer more this time of year than just that. I give you the frost on a cool morning, the cold rains that drive you inside to cuddle with a loved one, coffee on a Sunday morning, and mulled wine on a Saturday night. Though it will turn cold soon, I will always be with you. My snows revitalize the soil, and are a constant reminder that I care for all of you. While I prepare to turn from liquid into ice, I leave with you this last gift of summer, one of my greatest gifts. I give you the grapes, innocent grapes, which can be turned into not so innocent wine. Share these with someone you would like to get to know better, and most of all have fun with them.

North
At this time of year, many of you fear me, even loath me. My stronger presence means the onset of winter, the time of death and the great cold. However, I do offer my own set of gifts to you. I give you the clean smelling chill of an autumn day, my frost kills the bugs that plague you in warmer times, I do many good-no great-things for you, and often times, they are all unappreciated. Tonight I offer you my promise and one of my more magickal gifts, the pomegranate seed. The seeds in this fruit, cut open the fruit, represent my inevitability in being a part of all turns of the wheel, but they are also my promise that I shall not rule all, that I am only one part of season’s cycle. Life without death is not life at all, for every beginning must have an ending. Take and eat of my fruit, share my promise with those around you.

Cakes and Ale
We have already eaten and sipped on so much this evening, that it almost seems silly to offer you anything more, yet I will do so anyways. Few stories are as important to our community as this one, the origin of the Cheez-It. So sit back, relax, and let me tickle your funny bone with a tale of Dionysus . . . .
(Of course you can insert any story here, or you can find my story about Dionysus and Cheez-Its here on my website, assuming you're reading this after I finally got around to putting it up!)

Goodbyes
The God
We thank the Lord of the Harvest for being present in our ritual. Stay in our hearts and our minds throughout the coming mouths. Remind us of your presence in the dark days of ahead. Blessed Be!

The Goddess
We thank the Lady of Great Bounty for being present in our ritual, thank you for all the gifts we have shared tonight. As you go from Mother to Crone, continue to comfort and nurture us in the shorter days ahead. Be with us in our hearts and our thoughts, Blessed Be!

North
Spirits of the North, thank you for your presence in our ritual tonight. We give thanks for your many gifts at this time of year. Blessed Be.

West
Spirits of the West, thank you for your presence in our ritual tonight. We give thanks for your many gifts at this time of year. Blessed Be.

South
Spirits of the South, thank you for your presence in our ritual tonight. We give thanks for your many gifts at this time of year. Blessed Be.

East Spirits of the East, thank you for your presence in our ritual tonight. We give thanks for your many gifts at this time of year. Blessed Be.

Circle Hand to hand we created this sacred space, and now hand to hand we will let it go. As the circle closes, let the energy of new friends, laughter, and smiles remain with us as we depart from this place. Blessed Be. (Hands drop windershins around the circle.) This circle is now open, but the bonds formed in it, never broken. Blessed Be!!!