{"collection":"bos","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bos/bos023.htm","path":"bos/bos023.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/bos/bos023.htm","text":"Internet Book of Shadows, (Various Authors), [1999]\nThe High Priestess says:\n \"This is the night of the solstice, the longest night of the\n year. Now darkness triumphs; and yet, gives way and changes into\n light. The breath of nature is suspended: all waits while within the\n Cauldron, the Dark King is transformed into the Infant Light. We watch\n for the coming of dawn, when the Great Mother again gives birth to the\n Divine Child Sun, who is bringer of hope and the promise of summer.\n This is the stillness behind motion, when time itself stops; the\n center is also the circumference of all. We are awake in the night. We\n turn the Wheel to bring the light. We call the sun from the womb of\n night. Blessed Be!\" \n \nPurify, cast the circle, but do not light the candles. Invoke the Goddess and God. All sit down and begin an antiphonal chant.\nAll:\n\"To die and be reborn,\n The Wheel is turning,\n What must you lose to the night?\" (repeat)\n \nCovener: \"Fear.\"\n\"Fear is lost to the night.\nFear is lost to the night.\nTo die and be reborn,\nThe Wheel is turning,\nWhat must you lose to the night?\"\nContinue interjecting lines and echoing each other until the energy dies away. Stand up and link hands. The High Priest stands before the altar, holding an animal skull filled with salt. The High Priestess leads a slow spiral procession that first snakes outward so that each member is brought to face the High Priest. They are chanting:\n\"The light was born,\nAnd the light has died.\" (repeat)\nAnother Priestess whispers:\n\"Everything passes,\nAll fades away.\" (repeat)\nThe High Priest places a pinch of salt on each member's tongue and says:\n\"My body is salt,\nTaste the breath of death.\"\nThe High Priestess leads the spiral inward, until the members are huddled together. She leads an improvised trance induction, slowly suggesting that they crumble to the Earth and sleep. As all lie down, they are sent into a deeper trance with a multivoiced induction. As it fades out, they are told:\n\"You are entering a space of perfect freedom.\" \nTime is allowed for trance in the state of suspension before birth.\nThe High Priestess approaches one of the coveners, stands by her head with her legs apart and pulls her through, symbolically giving her birth. She becomes part of the birth canal; they continue the process with the other coveners, the birth canal growing longer. The men of the coven take the newborns one by one and lay them back down to sleep, telling them:\n\"Sleep the sleep of the newborn.\"\nAs all sink back into trance, they are guided into a visualization of their hopes for their new life to come. Priestess smears honey on their tongues, one by one, saying:\n\"Taste the sweetness of life.\"\nA new chant begins softly, builds in power as it gradually wakes the sleepers, who join in on repeating lines:\n \"Set sail, set sail,\nFollow the twilight to the West,\nWhere you may rest.\nSet sail, set sail,\nTurn your face where the sun grows dim,\nBeyond the rim, beyond the rim.\nSet sail, set sail,\nOne thing becomes another,\nIn the Mother, in the Mother.\nSet sail, set sail,\nMake of your heart a burning fire,\nBuild it higher, build it higher.\nSet sail, set sail,\nPass in an instant through the open gate,\nIt will not wait, it will not wait.\nSet sail, set sail,\nOver the dark of the sunless sea,\nYou are free, you are free.\nSet sail, set sail,\nGuiding the ship of the rising sun,\nYou are the one, you are the one.\nSet sail, set sail,\nInto the raging wind and storm,\nTo be reborn, to be reborn.\nSet sail, set sail,\nOver the waves where the spray blows white,\nTo bring the light, to bring the light.\"\n \"We are awake in the night!\nWe turn the Wheel to bring the light!\nWe call the sun from the womb of night!\"\n\"He sets his face to the West, but in the East arises!\"\nAll: \"Who is that?\"\nP: \"Who goes down in darkness?\"\nP: \"Who sails?\"\nP: \"The Renewer.\"\nP: \"Who brings the golden fruit.\"\nP: \"Unstained.\"\nP: \"Whose hands are open?\"\nP: \"Whose eyes are bright?\"\nP: \"Whose face is shining?\"\nP: \"Morning's hope.\"\nP: \"Who passes the gate?\"\nP: \"Who returns in light?\"\nP: \"A glow between twin pillars.\"\nP: \"A cry between thighs.\"\nAll: \"Io! Evohe! Io! Evohe!\"\nHigh Priestess: (leading, repeated by all)\n \"Queen of the sun!\nQueen of the Moon!\nQueen of the horns!\nQueen of the fires!\nBring to us the Child of Promise!\nIt is the Great Mother\nWho gives birth to Him.\nIt is the Lord of Life,\nWho is born again!\nDarkness and tears\nAre set aside,\nWhen the sun comes up again!\nGolden sun,\nOf hill and field,\nLight the earth!\nLight the skies!\nLight the waters!\nLight the fires!\nAll: \"Io! Evohe! Io! Evohe!\"<7p>\nThe High Priest lights the fire and point candles and all begin chanting:\n \"I who have died am alive again today,\nAnd this is the sun's birthday! (repeat)\nThis is the birthday of life and love and wings,\nAnd the gay great happening illimitably earth.\nWe are born again, we shall live again! (repeat).\nThe Sun Child, the Winterborn King!\"\nBuild a Power Chant, focused on reawakening life. Share feasting and friendship, ideally until dawn. Before ending, the High Priestess says:\n \"The Dark God has passed the Gate,\nHe has been reborn through the Mother,\nWith Him we are each reborn!\"\n \"The tide has turned!\nThe light will come again!\nIn a new dawn, in a new day,\nThe sun is rising!\nIo! Evohe! Blessed Be!\"\nOpen the Circle.\nStarhawk; \"The Spiral Dance: Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess\"; HarperRow 1979","title":"Internet Book of Shadows: Winter Solstice Or Yule (Starhawk)","type":"page"}