Self Dedication Rite
By Scott Cunningham

If you wish to walk the Wiccan path, you may desire to dedicate yourself to the Goddess and God. This self-dedication is simply a formal ritual marking your conscious decision to embard on a new way of life - for that is the essence of Wicca.

You may wish to use or adapt the ritual below, but the best dedicatory rituals are self-created.
Before even considering dedicating yourself to the deities, be certain of your intentions for so doing, and that you have studied Wicca to the point where you know it is indeed the right way for you.

This means continued study. Read every book you can find on Wicca - the good ones as well as the bad. Subscribe to Wiccan and Pagan publications. Familiarize yourself with Wicca as far as you can.
In addition to reading, study nature. Celebrate the seasons and the phases of the Moon with ritual.
You may also wish to fill your soul with music. If so, order by mail some of the Wiccan music tapes now available. If this is impossible, spend time each day listening to the music of nature - go to a place where wind blows through leaves or around tree trunks. Listen to water bubbling over stones or pounding a rocky coastline. Pinpoint your hearing to the meow of a lonely cat heralding the dawn. Create your own music too, if you are so talented.

This done, stay up late a few nights or rise with the dawn. Alone, write down what you hope to gain from Wicca. This may include spiritual fulfillment, deeper relationships with the Goddess and God, insight into your place in the world, the power to bring order into your existence, the ability to attune with the seasons and the Earth, and so on.

Once this list has been fashioned, spend the next evening or morning creating a new one. On this, record what you feel you can give to Wicca. There is much you can give. Not only your time, energy, devotion and so on, but also more concrete things. Here are some suggestions:
Join a national Wiccan or Pagan group.
Donate to an ecological organization.
You may wish to start recycling.
Following these suggestions, discover other ways to show your devotion to Wicca. A hint: anything you do for the Earth, or for our fellow creatures on it, you do for Wicca.

Prepare yourself by drawing a bath of warm water. Add a tablespoon of salt and a few drops of a scented oil such as sandalwood.
If you have to bath, use a shower. Fill a washcloth with salt, add a few drops of essential oil, and rub your body. If you're performing this ritual at the sea or a river, bathe there if you so desire.
As you bathe, prepare for the coming rite. Open your consciousness to higher levels of awareness. Deep breathe. Cleanse your mind as well as your body.
After bathing, dry and dress for the journey. Go to a place in the wild where you feel safe. It should be a comfortable spot where you won't be disturbed by others, an area where the powers of the Earth and the elements are evident. It may be a mountain top, a desert, canyon or cave, perhaps a dense forest, a rocky outcropping over the sea, a quiet island in the center of a lake. Even a lonely part of a park or garden can be used. Draw on your imagination to find the place.
You need take nothing with you but a vial of richly scented oil. Sandalwood, frankincense, cinnamon or any other scent is fine. When you arrive at the place of dedication, remove your shoes and sit quietly for a few moments. Calm your heart if you've exerted yourself during your travel. Breathe deeply to return to normal, and keep your mind free of cluttered thoughts. Open yourself to the natural energies around you.
When you're calm, rise and pivot slowly on one foot, surveying the land around you. You're seeking the ideal spot. Don't try to find it; ope your awareness to the place. When you've discovered it, sit, kneel or lie flat on your back. Place the oil on the Earth beside you, don't stand - contact the Earth.
Continue deep breathing. Feel the energies around you. Call the Goddess and God in any words you like, or use the following invocation. Memorize these words before the rite so that they'll spill effortlessly from you, or improvise:

O Mother Goddess,
O Father God,
Answers to all mysteries and yet mysteries unanswered;
In this place of power I open myself
to Your Essence.
In this place and in this time I am changed;
From henceforth I walk the Wiccan path.
I dedicate myelf to you, Mother Goddess and Father God>

Rest for moment, silent, still. Then continue:

I breathe your energies into my body, commingling, blending,
mixing them with mine,
that I may see the divine in nature,
nature in the divine,
and divinity within myself and all else.
O Great Goddess,
O Great God,
Make me one with your essence
Make me one with your essence
Make me one with your essence.

You may feel bursting with power and energy, or calm and at peace. Your mind might be in a whirl. The Earth beneath you may throb and undulate with energy. Wild animals, attracted by the psychic occurrence, might grace you with their presence.
Whatever occurs, know that you have opened yourself and that the Goddess and God have heard you. You should feel different inside, at peace or simply powerful.
After the invocation, wet a finger with the oil and mark the two symbols seen below somewhere on your body. It doesn't matter where; you can do this on your chest, forehead, arms, legs, anywhere. As you anoint, visualize these symbols sinking into your flesh, glowing as they enter your body and then dispersing into millions of tiny points of light.
The formal self-dedication is ended. Thank the Goddess and God for their attention. Sit and meditate before leaving the place of dedication.
Once home, celebrate in some special way.

Back to Chapter 3: Rituals