Esbats are lunar rituals. Wiccan, Eclectic Pagan, and some other Pagan traditions customarily feature a monthly gathering. One key source of this practice is the Charge of the Goddess, which states in part, "Whenever you have need of anything, once a month, and better it be when the moon is full, you shall assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of Me Who is Queen of all the Wise." Esbats often feature a ritual, spellcraft, feast, coven meeting, and/or socializing.
Fieldhaven Coven typically observes esbats on the Full Moon. We have also held a few esbats during other phases such as waxing, waning, or dark moon. Esbats are usually for coven members only. This gives us time to bond as a small spiritual group.
The Greenhaven Tradition has an "ordinary" for our esbats. This means that most of them follow a regular outline:
Calling the Quarters
Casting the Circle
Statement of Intent
Charge of the Star Goddess
Raising Power
Directing Power
Cakes & Ale
Releasing the Quarters
Opening the Circle
Sometimes we do an esbat with a particular theme, or we find one in a book that we want to perform, so those may have a different structure. Explore examples in "Esbat Rituals."
Note that the Charge of the Goddess has two parts: The Charge of the Great Mother (the first half) and the Charge of the Star Goddess (the second half). We only use the whole liturgy on the rare occasions when we work skyclad, because it specifies being "naked in your rites." (For some insights on skyclad rituals, we recommend the essay "Ritual Nudity for the Insecure.") Another point is that "Cakes and Ale" is a traditional, symbolic phrase for food and beverage served in sacred space. As Fieldhaven covenstead is a dry site, our rituals are customarily alcohol-free. If you look at our sabbat rituals you can see some examples of various items that wind up as "Cakes and Ale" here.
The idea for this ritual sprang from a comment by LJ user Siege about asking the land spirits to speak to the weather spirits. Given the current drought conditions, we got right on that. This ritual is based on our "ordinary" so you can see how we take a bit of thematic magic and drop it into our existing framework. Most of our esbats look like this.
Cast 8/1/12. Proven effective 8/2/12 with light rain.
Coveners assemble and stand in a circle. Weather permitting, we usually hold our esbats on the well cap in the south lot of our yard, which is one of our two main outdoor ritual areas.
Calling the Quarters: Begin with the East and go deosil, ending with the North. Face each Quarter as it is called. These are more often spontaneous than scripted, and when possible they touch on the ritual theme to come. For this ritual, they went something like this:
"I call to the East and the element of Air, soft breezes that bring the clouds and the gentle rain. Please join us in our ritual tonight. Hail and well met!"
All: "Hail and well met!"
Casting the Circle: We customarily do a special hand-to-hand circle casting that you'll probably get to see if you attend one of our rituals. If you're adapting this for your own use, then do your own standard circle casting, or have someone walk around the perimeter visualizing an energy boundary.
Statement of Intent: The High Priest* describes the purpose of this ritual and its theme.
Charge of the Goddess: (Occasionally we work skyclad if everyone is in the mood, and we do both the Charge of the Great Mother and the Charge of the Star Goddess. Usually, we work in street clothes, robes, or other garb and only do the Charge of the Star Goddess.) The High Priest reads the introduction of the Charge of the Goddess, and the High Priestess* reads the main body of the Charge.
Entreaty to the Land Spirits: The High Priest picks up a rattle and plays soft sounds like the falling of rain. If you have extra people, more rattles or rainsticks would be good.
The High Priestess speaks to the spirits of the land -- the earth, the stones, the grass, the trees and bushes, the animals and insects -- and describes what a problem the drought is causing. She reminds the land spirits how the coven has cared for the land hereabouts. She explains that the spirits of sky and weather are just generally hostile to humanity these days, and are no longer very willing to listen to requests. The High Priestess asks the land spirits to request a gentle soaking rain from the weather spirits, for the benefit of the land.
In symbol of this, the High Priestess takes a chalice of water and sprinkles some of it around the circle and up into the air over everyone's head.
Cakes & Ale: The High Priest carries around the plate, saying to each recipient, "May you never hunger." The High Priestess carries around the chalice, saying to each recipient, "May you never thirst."
Releasing the Quarters: The Quarters are released in opposite order, beginning with the North and proceeding widdershins to the East. Turn widdershins to face each Quarter as it is released. This usually mirrors the calling, something like this: "I call to the North and the element of Earth. Thank you for joining our ritual tonight. May the land be prepared to receive the gentle soaking rain. Stay if you will, go if you must, Hail and farewell!"
All: "Hail and farewell!"
Opening the Circle: The Circle is released in the opposite manner as it was cast, beginning in the North and going widdershins around the circle to end in the East. Conclude with "Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again!"
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* The Greenhaven Tradition does not have permanent "High Priest" or "High Priestess" positions. Those are just convenient titles we use for a man or a woman leading the current ritual. Sometimes we use other titles based on a particular theme.