An Otherfaith ritual in celebration of the Autumn Equinox.
You can download a PDF version of this rite here. Please edit and adjust this ritual as you desire; it is intended merely as a starting point.
Timing
At or around the Autumn Equinox. This ritual can be performed any time after the Autumn Equinox until Halloween as well, with small adjustments made to the wording to reference the season rather than specifically the Equinox.
Tools:
- Cleansing herbs/incense (if needed)
- Main altar candle
- Clarene candle
- Incense, for all the Gods
- Incense, for the Clarene
- Censer
- Liquid for libations (cider, beer, wine, juice, alcohol, and/or water)
- Offering bowl (if performed indoors)
- Bell
- Anointing oil/water
- Altar
- Altar decorations, if desired
- Prayer beads, if desired
Notes
This ritual is based on the ‘Mabon Solitary Ritual’ found in Mabon: Rituals, Recipes and Lore for the Autumn Equinox by Diana Rajchel. As she describes it, “[it] is one of simple gratitude and propitiation. In this ritual, you give offerings in the form of liquid, or libations, and by doing so you encourage a further relationship with deity and nature.” (Rajchel 159) Some of the prayers used in this ritual are directly from Rajchel’s ritual, but most are of my own original drafting.
This ritual can be performed indoors or outdoors. If done outdoors you can simply pour out your offering onto the ground. If performed indoors, pour the liquid into an offering bowl. After the ritual is completed you should pour out the libations somewhere outside.
The ideal directions to set up the altar and/or pour libations are North or West, as this ritual is focused on the Clarene. The ideal drink for the libations to the Clarene would be beer, cider, wine, or brandy. Other drinks can be chosen for the specific Gods and spirits you wish to praise. You may either pour out the entire bottle/drink at the end of the rite, keep it to offer in other rituals, or drink it yourself as desired. Different liquids may be offered if you so desire, but using one type of offering is fine. Water is perfectly acceptable as an offering liquid.
Ritual
Make sure you are clean (having showered or bathed in the past day) and are wearing clean clothing. A ritual cleansing shower or bath may be taken beforehand if desired.
If the space has not previously been purified, burn cleansing herbs or incense. Sweep the room clockwise three times
Four and Four Gods,
bless this room
that it might be fit for your rites and rituals.
Spirits of house and home,
bless this room
that it might be fit for your rites and rituals.
Spirits of place and presence,
bless this room
that it might be fit for your rites and rituals.
Gods and spirits, holy and unholy,
bless this space.
Sit before the altar and light the main candle. Mark forehead (and upper chest, if desired) with oil or water.
I am consecrated in the name of the Four Gods.
Ground and center.
Four and Four Gods,
above and below,
be with me tonight and give witness to my rite.
Ring bell thrice.
I pray tonight to the Four Gods and their many spirits.
I give libation to Them.
May They join me in this rite
and accept my offerings on this autumn equinox.
Invoke the Four+ Gods. You may use prayer beads or hold up your arms, bent at the elbows with palms upward, as you pray.
Holy Clarene, god of hearth and home, I call to you.
Holy Ophelia, god of waters and weeping, I call to you.
Holy Laetha, god of cinders and song, I call to you.
Holy Dierne, god of love and longing, I call to you.
Holy Laethelia, god of joy and jubilance, I call to you.
Holy Ophelene, god of wisdom and work, I call to you.
Holy Darren, god of decision and doubt, I call to you.
Holy Liathane, god of chaos and calamity, I call to you.
Take a sip from the drink container then hold it aloft for a moment before setting it back upon the altar.
This libation I consume,
sharing with the Gods and spirits
in the energy of the season.
Once the Gods have been invoked, light a candle and incense specifically for the Clarene. Pour a small libation into the bowl.
Holy Clarene,
Great God of the harvest,
God of slaughter,
God of farms and orchards and food –
you are stunning in your beauty,
overwhelming in your power.
The time of the harvest is your time.
We kill that we might eat.
We eat that we might live.
You are the cycle.
You are the scythe.
I behold your eternal glory.
Pour another small libation.
In gratitude, in love, I give thanks to you.[i]
Pour another small libation.
In grief, in sorrow, I give thanks to you.[ii]
Now you might give prayers to specific Gods, spirits, or people who have helped them in their lives. Pour a small libation out after each prayer.
Visualization
Close your eyes and sit comfortably. See a glowing portal between yourself and the altar. On the other side lay the Westernlands, the world of Western Fairy that the Clarene rules over. Imagine stepping through the portal. You step into a grassy clearing. Trees bedecked in orange and yellow leaves stand behind you, encircling the clearing; ahead of you stands one of the Clarene’s homes, a wooden cabin with smoke drifting from the chimney.
In the clearing stands the Clarene. A table laden with the gifts of the harvest – fruits, gourds, vegetables, meats, and more food than you can name – sits between you and the God.
Approach the table. You may either ask the Clarene to give you a gift from the table, of Her choosing, or you may choose a piece of food yourself. In either case, take the food you are offered. Remember what it looks like, if you can identify it, how to smells and feels. Keep it close to your chest.
Thank the Clarene, and make your way back through the portal to this world.
Remember to write down what food you received, as well as any meaning you might glean from it. What you were gifted represents the gift of the season specific in your life, what you can expect going forward. Write down any other details from the visualization as well: if there were any spirits with the Clarene, how She appeared to you, anything notable about the clearing or forest or house, what foods were on the table, etc. Note, as well, your emotional state and feelings during the meditation.
Give one last libation to the Clarene.
King of the Gods,
you who are the order and proper turn of the world,
I give thanks to you this harvest season.
Sustain me in the months ahead.
Bless me as the days darken.
Receive these offerings in the spirit they are given,
and remain, always, alongside me.
This I pray.
Bid farewell to the Four+ Gods. Clasp your hands together or use prayer beads while praying.
Holy Clarene, god of hearth and home, I thank you.
Holy Ophelia, god of waters and weeping, I thank you.
Holy Laetha, god of cinders and song, I thank you.
Holy Dierne, god of love and longing, I thank you.
Holy Laethelia, god of joy and jubilance, I thank you.
Holy Ophelene, god of wisdom and work, I thank you.
Holy Darren, god of decision and doubt, I thank you.
Holy Liathane, god of chaos and calamity, I thank you.
Extinguish the Clarene’s candle.
With love, I depart from you, Holy Ones.
I carry with me gratitude for the life on earth you have given.[iii]
Ring the bell thrice.
This rite is complete.
[i] “Mabon Solitary Ritual.” Mabon – Rituals, Recipes and Lore for the Autumn Equinox, by Diana Rajchel, Llewellyn Publications,U.s., 2015, pp. 158–167.
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Ibid.
[All information above is in-process, as the Otherfaith is always under development. It should not be taken as solid canon or ‘law’. Please use the information to explore and experiment as feels appropriate.]