Midsummer Night Solstice
arranged by SkyLeaf for MoonCircle Coven, 1987
with appreciation for the great Bard Will
Oberon
How now, spirit! whither wander you?
Puck
Over hill, over dale, through bush, through brier,
Over park, over pale, through flood, through fire;
I do wander everywhere, swifter than the moon's sphere;
And I serve the Fairy Queen, to dew her orbs upon the green.
The cowslips tall her pensioners be; in their gold coats spots
you see.
Those be rubies, fairy favors; in those freckles live their
savors.
I must go seek some dewdrops here, and hang a pearl in every
cowslip's ear.
Farewell, thou King of Spirits; I'll be gone. Our Queen and
all her elves come here anon.
Oberon
The King doth keep his revels here tonight; take heed that the
Queen come within his sight.
Either I mistake your shape and making quite,
Or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite
Called Robin Goodfellow. Are not you he
That frights the maidens of the villagery;
Skim milk, and sometimes labor in the mill;
And uselessly make the breathless housewife till;
And sometime make the beer to bear no foam;
Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm?
Those that Hobgoblin call you, and sweet Puck,
You do their work, and they shall have good luck.
Are you not he?
Puck
Thou speakest aright;
I am that merry wanderer of the night.
I jest to Titania and make her smile
When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile,
Neighing in likeness of a filly foal;
And sometime lurk I in a gossip's bowl
In very likeness of a roasted apple,
And when she drinks, against her lips I pull
And on her withered chin pours the ale.
The wisest aunt, telling the saddest tale,
Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me;
Then slip I from her bum, down topples she,
And "thief" cries, and falls into a cough;
And then the whole shire hold their hips and laugh,
And waxen in their mirth, and sneeze, and swear
A merrier hour was never wasted there.
But room, King! Here comes Titania, the Queen!
Oberon
Well met by moonlight, proud Titania.
Titania
What, waiting Oberon? Fairies, skip hence.
Hopefully, not like last year must I forswear his bed.
For rather would we meet on hill, in dale, forest, or meadow,
By paved fountain or by rushy brook,
Or in the beached margin of the sea,
To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind,
Lest the moon, the governess of the floods,
Pale in her anger, dirtys all the air,
That rheumatic diseases do abound.
And through this disorder of nature we see
The seasons alter. Hoary-headed frosts
Fall in the fresh lap of the crimson rose;
And on old Winter's thin and icy crown
An odorous chaplet of sweet summer buds
Is, as in mockery, set. The spring, the summer,
The fruitful autumn, angry winter change
Their customary attire, and the bewildered world,
Seeing what the seasons bring, knows not which is which.
Oberon
I do amend it then; it lies with me.
Why should Oberon cross his Titania?
Titania
If you will patiently dance in our round
And see our moonlight revels, come with us.
If not, shun me, and I will spare your haunts.
Oberon
Through the house give glimmering light,
By the dead and drowsy fire;
Every elf and fairy sprite
Hop as light as bird from brier;
And this ditty, after me,
Sing, and dance it trippingly.
Titania
First rehearse your song by rote,
To each word a warbling note.
Hand in hand, with fairy grace,
Will we sing, and bless this place.
(Cast Circle, dancing hand-in-hand, singing the Isis, Astarte, Diana
chant, until all fall to the ground.)
(After catching breath, sitting in circle.)
Titania
Come, now a roundel and a fairy song;
Then, for the third part of a minute, hence-
Some to bring cankers from the musk-rose buds,
Some for the bats with their leather wings,
To make my small elves coats, and some call back
The clamorous owl, that nightly hoots and wonders
At us clever spirits. Sing us now a lullaby,
Let us sleep and dream well a fairy dream.
(Puck: Give instructions for all to get comfortable, lying with eyes
closed, singing softly only the chorus while going into trance ...)
Puck's Lullaby
Chorus Lalala, La Lalala,
Lalala, La Lullaby.
Lalala, La Lalala,
Lalala, La Lullaby.
Verse 1 You spotted snakes with double tongue,
Thorny hedgehogs, do be seen;
Newts and blindworms, come along,
Do not wrong our Fairy Queen.
Verse 2 Weaving spiders, come right here;
Come, you long-legged spinners, come!
Beetles black, approach us near;
Worm and snail, do come home.
Verse 3 Never harm, nor spell nor charm
Come our lovely lady nigh.
Nightingale, with no alarm,
Sing our sweet lullaby.
Puck, softly
Now the hungry lion roars,
And the wolf behowls the moon;
Whilst the heavy ploughman snores,
All with weary task fordone.
Now the wasted brands do glow,
Whilst the screech owl, screeching loud,
Puts the wretch that lies in woe
In remembrance of a shroud.
Now it is the time of night
That the graves, all gaping wide,
Every one lets forth his sprite,
In the churchway paths to glide;
And we fairies, that do run
By the Triple Hecate's team
From the presence of the sun,
Following darkness like a dream,
Now are frolic. Not a mouse
Shall disturb this hallowed house.
I am sent, with broom, before,
To sweep the dust behind the door.
(Puck continues dream-work, with guided meditation of your choice...
Afterwards, circle discussion of participants dreams/meditations.)
Puck, mischievously
I'll follow you; I'll lead you about a round,
Through bog, through bush, through brake, through brier: Sometime
a horse I'll be, sometime a hound,
A hog, a headless bear, sometime a fire;
And neigh, and bark, and grunt, and roar, and burn,
Like horse, hound, hog, bear, fire, at every turn.
(Pass out leaf-shaped pieces of paper, that the participant "fairies"
wrote various small creature's names on prior to the ritual,
announcing that these are what Puck has just turned them into.)
Puck, when the first game is over
Hail Titania!
Titania
My gentle Puck, come hither. Thou rememb'rest
Since once I sat upon a promontory
And heard a mermaid, on a dolphin's back,
Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath
That the rude sea grew civil at her song,
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres
To hear the sea-maid's music.
Puck
I remember.
Titania
That very time I saw (but thou couldst not),
Flying between the cold moon and the earth,
Cupid, all armed. A certain aim he took
At a fair Vestal, throned by the West,
And loosed his love shaft smartly from his bow,
As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts.
But I could see young Cupid's fiery shaft
Quenched in the chaste beams of the wat'ry moon,
And the imperial vot'ress passed on,
In maiden meditation, fancy-free.
Yet marked I where the bolt of Cupid fell.
It fell upon a little Western flower,
Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound,
And maidens call it love-in-idleness.
Fetch me that flow'r; the herb I showed thee once.
The juice of it, on sleeping eyelids laid,
Will make a man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it sees.
Till the end of that passing day.
Fetch me this herb, and be thou here again
Ere the Leviathan can swim a league.
Puck
I'll put a girdle round the earth
In forty minutes.
(Pass out leaf-shaped pieces of paper, that the fairies had written
their ritual fairy names on prior to the ritual, announcing that these
are the faires that they have just fallen in love with.)
Puck, after the second game
Now, how about a game of Strip Tarot?
Oberon, pulling Puck by the ear
No more of this foolery, the sun is almost here.
(Gather standing in a circle for the closing of the Circle.)
Titania
Now, until the break of day,
Through this time each fairy stray.
To the best bride-bed will we,
Which by us shall blessed be;
And the issue there create
Ever shall be fortunate.
Shall upon all children be.
With this field-dew consecrate,
Every fairy take his gait,
And each several forest bless,
Through this world, with sweet peace.
And may Mooncircle be blest
Ever shall in safety rest.
Trip away; make no stay;
Meet me all by break of day.
Blessed Be!
Puck
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended-
That you have but slumb'red here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend.
If you pardon, we will mend.
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call.
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.
Prior to the ritual, have prepared cut-out pieces of colored
paper in the shape of leaves. Hand out two of these to each of the
arriving participants and instruct them to write on one a
Shakespearean Fairy name they will adopt for the rest of the evening,
... such as Dewdrop, Moth, or Spiderweb. On the other leaf, have them
write the name of some small creature, being vague as to its purpose.
Keep the two piles separate for handing out at during the ritual
games. Allow time before starting the ritual for all the new faires
to get into their persona.
The three coven members taking on the aspects of Puck, Titania
and Oberon will probably want to practice beforehand. Reading the
parts during the ritual can work just fine. The parts are arranged
for Puck to be the ritual master of ceremonies.
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