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USAGE: To End the Rite
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Requirements:
A small dish of cakes, biscuits, or cookies
A Goblet or Decanter of wine or fruit juice
A few simple rules on properly drinking from a shared goblet:
If you are sick, abstain
Don't backwash.
Use only those substances which have alcohol properties.
Clean the rim of the glass with a cloth dipped in alcohol.
The leader rings a bell or otherwise calls for attention. Two coveners step forward.
Leader:
"Now is the time for the symbolic feasts, the representation of all that we eat and drink, all that sustains us. What we ingest here is not mere "wine" and "cakes"( insert appropriate label of food and drink,) but a small part of the whole that is the bounty we are given by our Gods."
Covener A: (Holding goblet of Wine.)
"Behold! The bounty of the Goddess and God! Drink of the Fruit which gives life! That we may share in their sustenance and share in their Love! For the Lord and Lady! (a small amount is poured into ground or libation dish). So mote it be!"
Covener A then toasts his/her patron and matron, before sipping, this short prayer/blessing should be personal, and may be unspoken. It goes around clockwise, then covener B rises with a plate of cakes.
"Behold! The Bounty of the Lord and Lady! Eat of the Grain which sustains us! That all may never go without sustenance and love! For the Gods! (A small amount is added to the pool of wine or upon the Libation dish) So mote it be!"
The Food is passed just as the wine was before, when it has completed the Circle, the leader speaks.
"As we share in this feast, let us remember those who could not feast before our Gods without fear of destruction and cruelty! Let us remember the persecuted, the executed and the frightened. All are welcome here who come is a spirit of peace and love! So mote it be!"
(A moment of silence...then the Circle is closed or other matters brought to discussion. Cakes and Ale should happen after all elements have been taken care of, as a prologue to closing the circle, but a small discussion of events, etc., is appropriate during cakes and ale. A larger feast, afterward may be blessed with a rite similar to the Final feast rite, outside the circle.).
