by Don Lewis
This ritual cycle was originally created for the Pagans Tonight Radio Network, and aired on the Pagan Pundit show. Because they were created to be done on-air as audio rituals that people joined via meditation/visualization, they do not include any physical directions, but they can easily be adapted to real-time performance.
The rituals have been edited somewhat from their original form, to make them more suitable for inclusion in the Common Book. Notably each ritual originally included a section opening and working with the Crystal Web which has been removed because it would have been excessively repetitive. The Crystal Web section is included as an independent ritual at the end of the cycle. Neither as originally broadcast or as they appear in this edited version have these rituals ever appeared in print before -although some passages may have, and of course certain ritual elements are universal.
Because the seasons are reversed in the Northern Vs the Southern Hemisphere, when the North is celebrating one Sabbat the South will be celebrating its polar opposite Sabbat. Thus when the Northern Hemisphere is celebrating Samhain the Southern Hemisphere will be celebrating Beltane. The Pagan Pundit had a global audience, and so these rituals were designed to celebrate both the Sabbat current in the Northern Hemisphere and the Sabbat current in the Southern Hemisphere in the same ritual. This was originally undertaken solely out of respect for the geographic diversity of the audience, but it quickly became apparent that approaching the Sabbats in this joint manner added an extra dimension to the understanding of both Sabbats as well as to the Wheel of the Year, whose equal but opposite nature was thrown into high relief.
I hope that you enjoy using these rituals as much I enjoyed composing them and the Pagans Tonight Ritual Team enjoyed enacting them!
The original rituals as they appeared live on air can be heard in the archives at http:// www.PagansTonight.com
IMBOLC / LAMMAS RITUAL
OSTARA / MABPON RITUAL
BELTANE / SAMHAIN RITUAL
MIDSUMMER / YULE RITUAL
CRYSTAL WEB RITUAL