(Full Moon Ritual Dec. 15, 2024)

Greetings and welcome to the latest in our cycle of lunar rituals.

Suggested materials are:

• candle
• matches or lighter
• a deck of cards (of any kind)
• if possible, a view of the moon

Though if you lack any of these, you can simply follow along on the video stream. The candle will be lit in the ritual.

We will get started in just a moment.

Find a seated position where you can rest comfortably for about 20 minutes.

*If you are not a member but are interested in getting involved, you can find a link to our [Capital Area Satanists’] Discord at CapitalAreaSatanists.org

Credits

• [To be filled in]

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Full ritual text

Greetings and welcome to the latest in our cycle of lunar rituals. Suggested materials are a candle, matches, or lighter; a deck of cards of any kind; and if possible a view of the Moon — though if you lack any of these you can simply follow along on the video stream. The candle will be lit in the ritual. We will get started in just a moment. If you’re not a member but are interested in getting involved you, can find a link to our Discord at Capital Area Satanists.

Now find a seated position where you can rest comfortably for extended period of time.

Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Allow yourself to settle into this moment. Feeling the support of the earth beneath you, allow yourself to feel firmly grounded in place, strong and immovable by any will but your own.

You may now light your candle.

With the lighting of this flame, honor the gift of knowledge bestowed upon you and which you carry forward with you. With the ringing of the Bell, feel the space around you. Already a tenuous material reality detaches itself from the mundane world, creating room for your own inner world to briefly manifest outward. As within, so without.

We call upon Azazel, the scapegoat of the Wilderness in the South
to illuminate and strengthen this circle.
We call upon Lucifer the Light-bringer, the Air Above,
to illuminate and strengthen this circle.
We call upon Lilith the Mother of the Demons in the North
to illuminate and strengthen this circle.
We call upon Hecate, goddess of the witches, Queen of the underworld below,
to illuminate and strengthen this circle.
We call upon all Kindred Souls, equally important but not more so than our own,
so often forgotten in satanic rights gone by.
Finally, call upon yourself, all those equally worthy parts of you, that which is at the center,
to illuminate and strengthen the circle.

If you have cards with you, cut the deck now. Without looking at it, draw the top card and place it face down horizontally. May this hidden card represent the unknown and the unknowable.

Draw a card and place it face up to the left of the first. May this card suggests where you stand.

Now draw another card and place it at the center, over top of the first. May this card clarify that which stands in your way.

Finally draw a card and place it to the right. May this card point the way to overcoming the obstacles in your path.

Silently, take notes of meanings or connections which may intuitively occur to you. The Farmer’s Almanac tells us December’s full moon is most commonly known as the “Cold Moon”, a Mohawk name that conveys the frigid conditions of this time of year when the cold weather truly begins to grip us… or at least at once did before the climate began to change.

But as we hope for winter, with all of it’s importance, to reflect upon this icy grip we have an excerpt from James Joyce’s “The Dead”.

Gabriel Conroy reflects on his wife’s former lover, Michael Furey:

The air of the room chilled his shoulders. He stretched himself cautiously along under the sheets and lay down beside his wife. One by one they were all becoming shades. Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age. He thought of how she who lay beside him had locked in her heart for so many years that image of her lover’s eyes when he had told her that he did not wish to live.

Generous tears filled Gabriel’s eyes. He had never felt like that himself towards any woman but he knew that such a feeling must be love. The tears gathered more thickly in his eyes and in the partial darkness he imagined he saw the form of a young man standing under a dripping tree. Other forms were near. His soul had approached that region where dwell the vast hosts of the dead. He was conscious of, but could not apprehend, their wayward and flickering existence. His own identity was fading out into a grey impalpable world: the solid world itself which these dead had one time reared and lived in was dissolving and dwindling.

A few light taps upon the pane made him turn to the window. It had begun to snow again. He watched sleepily the flakes, silver and dark, falling obliquely against the lamplight. The time had come for him to set out on his journey westward. Yes, the newspapers were right: snow was general all over Ireland. It was falling on every part of the dark central plain, on the treeless hills, falling softly upon the hill where Michael Furey lay buried. It lay thickly drifted on the crooked crosses and headstones, on the spears of the little gate, on the barren thorns. His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.

And now we invite you to join us in a body scan meditation.

As it feels comfortable to you, I first invite you to begin by bringing your attention to your environment, slowly looking around and noticing that you are safe. In this moment, try to notice all the different textures you can see.

Try bringing your attention into your body. If that feels good for you, when you are ready, you might notice where you feel your breath in your body. You can close your eyes if that’s comfortable for you or maintain a soft gaze with your eyes partially closed but not focusing on anything in particular. You can notice your body. Seated wherever you’re seated, feeling the support of the chair or the floor beneath you, you might feel your weight balanced on the seat cushion beneath you. You might feel an elongated comfortable spine and an uplifted feeling in your chest. You may also feel your shoulder blades relax down your back.

If you like, try taking a few deep long breaths within the range of what is comfortable for you. And as you take a deep breath, see if you can bring in more oxygen, enlivening the body. And as you exhale, you might experience a sense of relaxing more deeply as you breathe in oxygen, oh so deeply. Try to draw down your body, all the way to the floor. See if you can gently move your breath, all the way down the length of you. Now see if you can notice your feet on the floor. Notice the sensations of your feet touching the floor, the weight and pressure, vibration, heat.

You can notice your legs against the chair or the floor pressure. Pulsing, heaviness, lightness. As you feel ready, very gently shift your focus to your abdomen and stomach and all the internal organs. Here perhaps you notice the feeling of clothing thing the process of digestion or the belly rising or falling with each breath if you notice opinions arising about these areas. See if you can gently let these go and return to noticing Sensations. If your stomach is tight or tense, can you allow it to soften?

Take a breath here.

Now try to notice your back against the chair or the floor supporting you. If you’re not able to notice Sensations in all areas of the body, that’s okay! We’re more connected to certain areas of the body than others at different times of day. You can try to notice your hands now. Are your hands tense or tight? See if you can allow them to soften. See if you can channel your breathing into and out of this area, as if you’re breathing into and out from your hands. What do your hands feel like when you do this?

Notice your arms. If you feel comfortable doing so, try to feel any sensation in your arms. Do your best to allow your shoulders to be soft. If your mind wanders, you might gently bring your attention back to the experience of your body breathing, or your chosen object of attention. Notice your neck now, and throat. As it feels good to you, try to allow them to be soft. See if you can invite in a sense of relaxation. Try to soften your jaw. Do your best to allow your face and facial muscles to be soft. As you exhale, you might notice the softening of any tension. You may be holding then notice your whole body present. See if you can bring your awareness from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes.

Can you feel the gentle rhythm of the breath as it moves through the body? Try to sit with as much of your body as you comfortably can. Feeling your breathing, take one more breath to a level that feels comfortable. Be aware of your whole body. As best you can, take a breath now. Slowly, open up your eyes if they’re closed. Without focusing on anything particular, allow your head and neck to gently rotate, taking in the space you are now in. When you feel ready, you can return to your normal gaze and the present moment.

We now open the circle and give our thanks.

Depart in peace, guardian of the crossroads.
From you we gain the keys to rooms deep.
Within ourselves, our gratitude goes with you.
Hail and farewell.
Depart in peace, Exile of Eden.
Your example inspires us to guard our own autonomy.
Our gratitude goes with you.
Hail and farewell.
Depart in peace, you bringer of light.
Your winds have come and change has begun
our gratitude goes with you.
Hail and farewell.
Depart in peace, you blameless sacrifice.
May we pick up the trail of your flight to freedom
Our gratitude goes with you.
Hail and farewell.

Extend gratitude to yourself for setting aside this moment of intentionality and reflection. If you so choose, repeat to yourself, “I’m at the center. I am in the center. There is no god where I am.”

With the ringing of this Bell, return to the rational world, renewed by your retreat from it and stronger for any insights gleaned and any resolve gathered.

May the waning moonlight allow your flame to shine all the brighter upon your path in these coming weeks until we see you under the new moon.

Go well and be safe. May the devil take you and keep you.

Hail Satan!

So it is done.