The Charge of the Goddess

The Charge of The Goddess

(Doreen Valiente)

Listen to the words of the Great Mother, who was of old also called Artemis; Astarte; Diana; Melusine; Aphrodite; Cerridwen; Dana; Arianrhod; Isis; Bride; and by many other names.

Whenever ye have need of anything, once in a month, and better it be when the Moon be full, then ye shall assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of me, who am Queen of all Witcheries.

There shall ye assemble, ye who are fain to learn all sorcery, yet have not yet won its deepest secrets: to these will I teach things that are yet unknown.

And ye shall be free from slavery; and as a sign that ye are really free, ye shall be naked in your rites; and ye shall dance, sing, feast, make music and love, all in my praise.

For mine is the ecstasy of the spirit and mine also is joy on earth; for my Law is Love unto all Beings.

Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever toward it; let naught stop you or turn you aside.

For mine is the secret door which opens upon the Land of Youth; and mine is the Cup of the Wine of Life, and the Cauldron of Cerridwen, which is the Holy Grail of Immortality.

I am the Gracious Goddess, who gives the gift of joy unto the heart. Upon earth, I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal; and beyond death, I give peace, and freedom, and reunion with those who have gone before.

Nor do I demand sacrifice, for behold I am the Mother of All Living, and my love is poured out upon the earth.

Hear ye the words of the Star Goddess, she in the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven; whose body encircleth the Universe; I, who am the beauty of the green earth, and the white Moon among the stars, and the mystery of the waters, and the heart’s desire, call unto thy soul. Arise and come unto me.

For I am the Soul of Nature, who giveth life to the universe; from me all things proceed, and unto me must all things return; and before my face, beloved of gods and mortals, thine inmost divine self shall be unfolded in the rapture of infinite joy.

Let my worship be within the heart that rejoiceth, for behold: all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals. And therefore let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honour and humility, mirth and reverence within you.

And thou who thinkest to seek for me, know thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not, unless thou know this mystery: that if that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee, thou wilt never find it without thee.

For behold, I have been with thee from the beginning; and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.

As Promised

     It has become something of a game that I like to play in my head.  I always ask newcomers the same question; "What do you want to learn about Paganism?"  Then, I bet myself that I know what the answer will be.  I have yet to lose this bet.  They all, invariably, say, "Everything."  I love their enthusiasm.  I remember when I first asked myself the same question, and gave myself the same answer.  Never, in a million years, did I think that I would end up where I am now, responsible for guiding so many of them in the first few weeks of their new found faith.  And there, you see, is the dreaded "Down Side".  I have only a matter of weeks with most of them.  They're just here long enough to get through Basic Training, after all.  I get to work with them once a week.  We cover one topic at each service.  How do I decide which topics are most important for newcomers?  How do I narrow the list down?  What if, once they're done here, and they move on to AIT, there's no Circle there for them to continue learning from?  They have so many questions.  What if I'm unable to answer them all in time?  I've made a commitment to these soldiers, and I refuse to let them down!

     And so, here I am, writing a blog.  My new, digital, online, publicly available Book of Shadows.  Blog of Shadows?  Will I be any good at it?  I don't know.  Time will tell, I suppose.  But, I'll give it a shot, and hope that it's of some value to someone.  Here, I'll be posting my answers to a lot of commonly asked questions, tips and tricks, thoughts and ideas, maybe a few anecdotes.  I might even enjoy doing it.

     So, welcome to the blog.  I invite you to sit down, get comfortable, and maybe learn a thing or two.  Feel free to leave comments, or even contact me if you have questions or suggestions.

Blessed be!