Around the late Spring of 2001, I began attending the Woodinville Unitatian Universalist Church (WUUC) because I felt a deep need to be part of and active within a spiritual community. (There's a long story, which I may write and post someday, about how I, a Pagan and Witch, came to find and choose the WUUC, but I'll spare you that for now.) The WUUC is billed as "An Open-Minded, Open-Hearted Spiritual Community" and I've found this to be very much the case. During the Summer of 2001, I attended a lay-service lead by one of the new members, Vonnie; the topic was Paganism. Suffice it to say I immediately made a new friend.

Since I was (and am) not a member of the church (only a friend of the church - church brings in a whole new bag of politics which is a whole other topic that I won't address here), I was (and still am somewhat) limited in my ability to contribute to the liturgical life of the church (which is something that was, and is, extremely important to me), but in the Fall of 2001, Vonnie approached me to solicit my help in creating Pagan-themed and -oriented rituals. Samhain was coming fast and we decided that it would be best to start with a Yule ritual, but Vonnie was approached a week later by the pastor of the church and asked to concoct something for Samhain. It seems the church had always had a Samhain ritual every year since it's inception and as this year was a 10 year anniversary for them, they did not want to let this one slip by. And so, Vonnie and I began feverishly trying to scrape something together.

As luck would have it, I had time on my hands in the fall of 2001, and my muse was, gratefully, fully present, so I began writing, with a few resources at my side. What follows is the basic text of the ritual, including the music for the songs that were used. Though the ritual was led by two people (Vonnie and myself) and assisted by another four who worked as our quarters, I have not ascribed any of the "parts" here to any one individual (though it was clearly laid out in the original script), nor have I included any of the blocking or choreography used within the performance of the ritual. We did what we felt was best using not only our own intuition but also suggestions from those members and friends of the church who had chosen to take a more active role, taking into consideration the space we were working in and the all people involved. Someone else (perhaps you) may choose to do it in an entirely different manner, which is why I have decided to strip the ritual down to the basic text. What is included however, in addition to the text and music, is a list of the "tools" we used during the ritual, but, again (for the same reason as above), I have not indicated anywhere within the text what tools are to be used where or in what manner. I leave it up to you to find and use your own intuition in deciding how to accomplish the things that need to be accomplished within the body of the ritual.

Finally, keep in mind that this ritual was written for a non-Pagan community and was intended to serve as both a celebration of the Sabbat and a method through which to educate our community. There may be certain aspects of a traditional ritual that are "missing" while there may be other aspects which seems inappropriately present. What's missing is missing for a reason, and what's present is present for a reason. As I wrote, I assumed total ignorance on the part of the participants which not only allowed us to break from certain traditions, but also required that other traditions be fully explained.

Here, then, is the Samhain Circle ritual as performed at the Woodinville Unitarian Universalist Church on 27 October 2001.

May Blessings Abound!
Lady Brighid

Central altar; Harvest-themed or -colored altar cloth; Quarter candles (4); Black God/dess candle; Cauldron filled with bulbs (enough for each participant); Small outdoor planter filled with soil (and a bucket of extra soil for covering the bulbs once planted); Ancestral altar; Black altar cloth for ancestral altar; Ancestral candle; Altar decorations (for both altars - use maple leaves, acorns, small twigs & branches, cattails, mini pumpkins, pomegranates, etc.); Matches; Candle snuffer; White taper candles (enough for each participant); Large bowl filled with sand (large enough to hold all the tapers); Portable stereo w/ cd player; Loreena McKennitt's The Visit (set to track 1, All Souls' Night).

Greetings and welcome everyone. If I can get you all to come take a candle from the basket then gather in a circle around our Samhain altar, we can begin.

Before we begin, I'd like to point out that there are some responsive readings and songs that we'd like for you to join in and they are all printed in your Order of Service.

Now, for those of you who don't know us, I'm Vonnie and this is Gwen. We will be leading our Samhain Circle tonight.

Brighid is the ancient Celtic Goddess of fire. She is a warrioress and protectress, a healer, a guardian of children, the patroness of poets, craftsman and priests. So loved was Brighid by the peoples of Ireland that when Patrick's Christianity came to the island, Brighid's Fire could not be doused. And so, Saint Brigid was born.

In ancient times, a perpetual flame burned at Brighid's shrine in Kildare, Ireland, tended by 19 virgin priestesses. This perpetual flame continued to burn in the Christian era, now tended by 19 nuns of Saint Brigid's monestary, though it was finally doused by the reformation of the church in the thirteenth century. The perpetual flame of Brighid's Fire was symbolically relit in 1993 by the Brigidine Sisters of Solas Bhride, a restoration of an ancient order of Brigidine nuns originally founded in 1807.

During the Millennium, I went on a pilgrimage to Kildare, Ireland and visited many of the sites sacred to Brighid and to Brigid. Through the graciousness of the Brigidine Sisters of Solas Bhríde, I was gifted with the flame of Brighid's Fire. Once Brighid's Fire touches the wick of a candle, the spirit of the flame cannot be destroyed, though the candle may be put out. And so I was able to bring Brighid's Fire home and will share it with you now as we cast our circle of light.

Please accept the flame from the person on your right and pass it on to the person on your left. As we are passing the flame, let us sing No End to the Circle ¹.

Please join in the recitation of the Blessing Prayer...

Our circle is cast and we have created sacred space. Now it is time to call to our circle the Spirits of the Quarters. Let us sing their spirits in with Call to Spirit ².

With the Watchtowers present, we are ready to call upon the Ancient and Holy Ones. Please join in the recitation of the Invocation to Samhain.

Goodnight, Sweet Goddess - Samhain is a time of death, and a time of rejoicing in that death, for it is only death's deep slumber that will bring us renewal and rebirth. These are the first days of Winter and the beginning of a New Year. Gone now are the warm days of Autumn's blessing; the harvest has come to an end. Tonight we wrap the Goddess, who is withering from old age, in the protective blankets of winter. We pin to Her our pain and sorrow, our sadness and our fear, and bid Her to take these things from us, to take them to Her grave. We bury Her deep beneath the surface of the earth and ask that She transform our sorrow to joy, our pain to pleasure, our sadness to delight, our fear to love. We cover Her with frost, which soon will turn to snow, and sing to Her a lullaby of gratitude for all the blessings She has shared with us this past year.

Burying the Crone - I invite each of you to join in symbolically burying the Goddess, along with your own pain, sorrow, sadness, and fear. Please take a corm/bulb from the cauldron of rebirth and, as you hold it in your hands, allow all of your dis-ease to flow into it, into the body of the Goddess. When you are ready, come and place your corm/bulb into the pot that is the grave of the Goddess.

Silent Meditation

If you have not yet placed your corm into the grave of the Goddess, may I please ask you to do so now.

Goodnight, sweet Goddess. May you rest well in the peaceful loving arms of Winter and return to us renewed.

Ancestral Ties - As we acknowledge the death of the Goddess, so, too, do we acknowledge the death of loved ones and our ancestral ties. It has been, in part, the wisdom of our ancestors that has led us to where we are today. It is and will be, in part, our wisdom that leads our children and their children into the future. Tonight, the veil between the worlds grows thin and we are compelled to take this opportunity to call to us the Spirits of our ancestors, asking them to join us once more, if but for a spell, and to share with us their own messages from life beyond death. And it is here that we say a final farewell to loved ones who have gone before us in this past year, releasing their souls from their ties to this world. Their work here is done and it is time to move on.

Building the Ancestral Altar - I invite each of you to join in building the ancestral altar by bringing remembrances of loved ones who are no longer with us to the altar. When the altar has been built, we will say a final farewell.

Song - All Souls Night - Loreena McKennitt (recorded)

Our work here is done and it is time to release those we have called to our circle so that they may return to their realms. As we sang their spirits in to the circle, let us sing their spirits out with Release of Spirit ⁶.

As we cast this circle with light, so must we dismiss that light and open our circle.

Let us join hands and sing May the Circle Be Open ⁷.

¹ No End to the Circle (© 1981 Starhawk, Recorded on Let It Begin Now, Reclaiming Collective, 1992) as it appears on pg. 258 of CIRCLE OF SONG: Songs, Chants, and Dances for Ritual and Celebration, compiled by Kate Marks, published by Full Circle Press, ISBN 0-9637489-0-4.

² Call to Spirit modified from Call to Spirit - Invocation Song and Spirit of the Wind (Craig/Star Williams, Recorded on Uplifting the World, Acoustic Medicine) as they appear on pgs. 21 & 57 (respectively) of CIRCLE OF SONG: Songs, Chants, and Dances for Ritual and Celebration, compiled by Kate Marks, published by Full Circle Press, ISBN 0-9637489-0-4.

³ Invocation for Samhain modified from Threshold Invocation for the Festival of Samhain (© 1996 Caitlín Matthews) as it appears on pg. 22 of CELTIC DEVOTIONAL: Daily Prayers & Blessings, by Caitlín Matthews, published by Harmony Books, ISBN 0-517-70413-7.

⁴ Song of Samhain (© 1996 Caitlín Matthews) as it appears on pg. 22 of CELTIC DEVITIONAL: Daily Prayers & Blessings, by Caitlín Matthews, published by Harmony Books, ISBN 0-517-70413-7.

⁵ Blessing for the Souls' Release modified from Blessing for the Souls' Release (© 1996 Caitlín Matthews) as it appears on pg. 124 of CELTIC DEVOTIONAL: Daily Prayers & Blessings, by Caitlín Matthews, published by Harmony Books, ISBN 0-517-70413-7.

⁶ Release of Spirit modified from Spirit of the Wind (Craig/Star Williams, Recorded on Uplifting the World, Acoustic Medicine) as it appears on pg. 27 of CIRCLE OF SONG: Songs, Chants, and Dances for Ritual and Celebration, compiled by Kate Marks, published by Full Circle Press, ISBN 0-9637489-0-4.

⁷ May the Circle Be Open modified from Celtic Goddess Blessing as it appears on pg. 260 of CIRCLE OF SONG: Songs, Chants, and Dances for Ritual and Celebration, compiled by Kate Marks, published by Full Circle Press, ISBN 0-9637489-0-4.