By Scott Cunningham
Decorate the altar with acorns, oak sprigs, pine and cypress
cones, ears of corn, wheat stalks and other fruits and nuts. Also
place there a small rustic basket filled with dried leaves of
various colors and kinds.
Arrange the altar, light the candles and censer, and cast the
Circle.
Invoke the Goddess and God. Stand before the altar, holding aloft
the basket of leaves, and slowly scatter them so that they
cascade to the ground within the circle. Say such words as these:
Leaves fall,
the days grow cold.
The Goddess pulls her mantle of Earth around Her
as You, O Great Sun God, sail toward the West
to the lands of eternal enchantment,
wrapped in the coolness of night.
Fruits ripen,
seeds drop,
the hours of day and night are balanced.
Chill winds blow in from the North wailing laments.
In this seeming extinction of nature's power, O Blessed
Goddess, I know that life continues.
For spring is impossible without the second harvest,
as surely as life is impossible without death.
Blessings upon you. O Fallen God, as you journey into
the lands of winter and into the Goddess' loving arms.
Place the basket down and say:
O Gracious Goddess of all fertility, I have sown and
reaped the fruits of my actions, good and bane.
Grant me the courage to plant seeds of joy and love in
the coming year, banishing misery and hate. Teach me the secrets
of wise existence upon this planet,
O luminous one of the night!
Works of magick, if necessary, may follow.
Celebrate the simple feast.
The circle is released.