Rituals

This is a subject I mention, with some slight hesitation.

Rituals play important roles in both sacred and secular life. The way you prepare for your day is a ritual. The way you travel to work is a ritual. Holiday celebrations are rituals. Rituals serve as links between past, present, and future, providing a sense of order and continuity. Pagan rituals take you out of the mundane realm and bring you into the magical one. The steps of a ritual build energy and enable you to release it toward your goal.

A ritual is like a spiritual instruction book. Ritual participants express a desire or goal to the universe. The environment, words, movements, and objects involved in the ritual raise energy and direct it toward that desire or goal. In effect, each participant becomes part of the Magick.

For me discussing it in great detail is approaching lines established by my Oath.

So here the first blank page following your name I ask that you diagram/draw the wheel of the year.

You have the option of explaining the diagram on the following page, but personally I leave out the explanation. 

Now, this next bit is going to be spread over the next several weeks as it deals with a great many of the religious aspects of the Craft.

The Pagan calendar is often referred to as the "Wheel of the Year", emphasizing the cyclical nature of the world around us. A beautiful deference to the life cycle; Life, Death and Rebirth. As the wheel turns each Sabbat or holy day reflects in its celebration, some of the most essential aspects of life.

The Pagan Holidays are based on four Greater Sabbats and four Lesser Sabbats, alternating about six weeks apart. The Greater Sabbats are based on Pre-Christian Fire Festivals that were held in Europe on fixed days of the year. The four Lesser Sabbats are celebrated on the Equinoxes and Solstices.

Also coming into play is the celebration of the Esbats, or Lunar Festivals for the New and Full Moon all acting in concert to shape our faith.