The air is soft and still tonight, this first full moon after autumn equinox. Mist gently drifts into the vales and glens in this land where mighty old-growth forest meets dunes and ocean. Hemlocks and spruce more ancient than memory touch the sky and brush the silver face of the moon. Wind sighs, the trees answer, and frogs and owls join in harmony, singing down the mysterious call we all feel thrumming under our feet. We breathe the magic scent of evergreens, moss, sea air. Magic is afoot!

Bronwyn fills herself with the fragrance of the mist. She has already been here, in her special, enchanted space, preparing for tonight's ritual. She tingles with Divine lunar energy. This is her first experience leading a ritual, and she wants everything to go well! "Goddess, help me find the words!" she prays.

Now it is time. Bronwyn gathers with her group of celebrants at dunes' edge. There are no clouds, only the light mist that enhances rather than hides the face of the moon. She is dressed in a simple, white flowing gown that moves gently in the breeze, as does her long, unbound dark hair. There are smiles all around. Then she picks up a small, flickering lantern and a cauldron with smoking incense, and leads the way to the magical clearing in the forest.

It is not far, and the moon's gentle illumination helps guide her feet. The forest opens out into a small, round glade of tender grass and moss. It is ringed with delicate ferns, which give way to small cedars, and then the towering trunks of primeval forest. The ocean can barely be heard, but her tides are strongly felt ringing through the celebrants' bodies.

The clearing is anchored by an ancient stone altar, a trilithon topped with a flat, lichen-encrusted top. As everyone gathers in the center of the glade, Bronwyn carries her hurricane lantern and incense in a circle of purification around them. She chants as she moves:

"Gathered here in the mystery of the hour,

gathered here in one strong body,

gathered here in the struggle and the power,

Spirit draw near."

The chant is picked up by all, and it is repeated several times, drawing us ever deeper to the netherworld. The shapes of deer can be barely discerned beyond the circle, and a small spotted owl lands soundlessly on a nearby limb. They too are drawn to this place of power. Now Bronwyn steps to the altar, placing the incense and flickering lantern on its timeworn surface. She reaches into a hidden pocket and places symbols of autumn's bounty: a striped apple, a gold brown-eyed susan. Then from the other pocket she extracts symbols of the Goddess and God: a round white stone, a prickly pine cone.

Bronwyn moves to the east, lifting her hands with the lightness of the Air:

"Spirit of the East, we welcome you to this sacred site.

Share our joy and grant us your wisdom. Be here now!"

Then to the south she raises two strong fists:

"Spirit of the South, fill us with the fires of passion and courage,

and share our joy this moon. Be here now!"

To the west, Bronwyn forms her hands into a cup.

"Spirit of the West, gentle Lady, wash us with your river of love,

and help us find purity and compassion, as you so unconditionally grant us.

Be here now!"

And to the North, Bronwyn holds her hands out firm and flat:

"Spirit of the North, Ancient Mother, Nameless One, you hold our cares like rock beneath our feet. Help us be bringers of peace among all your children. Be here now!"

Bronwyn now faces all before her: "The circle is cast; we are between the worlds.

Owl will now invoke the Deities"

Owl steps to the center of the circle in one hand she holds a red candle, in the other, a green candle. Raising both on high, she calls out "We invite the Goddess and God, by all the names known to those here now, to join with us who have come together to acknowledge your beings, and celebrate the turning of the wheel once more." Owl lifts the candles to the sky and slowly turns, acknowledging the quarters, and smiling at all those in circle. As each utters or silently names the aspect of the God/Goddess to whom each is most attached, the flames burn brighter, the scents of the forest grow stronger the very trees surrounding them draw closer to this place of magic and reverence. Owl turns to the altar and places the candles, Red to the left, Green to the right ... "Rest with us awhile, and take from us your rightful worship share with us your love and spirit ... so mote it be!" As the candles flame even brighter ... Owl steps back within circle and joins hands with those who have come to participate.

Bronwyn again steps forward, this time gathering the love of the Ancient Ones deeply into her inmost soul. She breathes the incenses of forest and sea. "This Earth is almost too beautiful to bear," she thinks to herself. She turns to her companions, seeing the shining faces of Deity on each person.

"Tonight we experience the perfect balance between light and dark, between waxing and waning, between life and death. In this spirit, I ask you to remember with thankfulness all that has been granted us, and at the same time, begin to release all that which we don't need or which hampers us on our journey through life."

Bronwyn turns clockwise to face the altar, and again reaching into her seemingly bottomless pocket, pulls out a small oval stone worn smooth by the sea. In the center is a perfect round hole, all the way through the stone. "Mother," thinks Bronwyn, "This morning you graced me with this beautiful gift where sea meets the sand. Tonight I bequeath it back to You with perfect love and perfect trust in thanks for the precious gifts You have blessed me with. May it strengthen my bond with You and help heal you from the harm that humankind has inflicted upon Your breast. I ask that You help me learn to trust myself and cast aside the doubts and pain I carry with me. In Your holy names, so mote it be!" Bronwyn moves gracefully back to the circle's perimeter, wearing peace like a mantle about her shoulders. And the next celebrant steps forward on this night of power...

Owl steps to the center of the circle and watches the sky as it begins to darken. The ritual has started early so that all may participate and be ready for the coming spectacle of the eclipse. Owl raises her arms and asks for guidance. "Lord and Lady, as you join with us here, this harvest moon speaks to us of a special time. The eclipse shows your joining and as the bright light of the pale moon reflects all the colors of the Spectrum, so now do we see the absence of the colors the loss of reflection, when the balance is achieved This, then, is a time of cleansing let us cast the negatives into the void let us renew, and see the cycle continue, awaiting the new light This is a special year new joinings, renewal of energies, overcoming of obstacles this is a time of "becoming". So mote it be!"

Cloud comes forward, to place the flyer for her new endeavor on the altar, and takes from her pocket a slip of paper on which she has written her doubts and fears about this venture. It is begun, and she needs the hesitancy no longer, so she borrows a flame from the candle of the Goddess and stands silent while her fear burns away. She places a perfect bunch of wild grapes on the altar, in gratitude for a good harvest in a difficult year, and returns to her place in the circle to await...

...Elenya, who approaches the altar with slow, quiet steps. She reaches into the pocket of her robe and pulls out a handful of acorns gathered after the last ritual she attended. She smiles as she places them upon the altar and closes her eyes. There are no words to express the changes she has experienced these past few weeks, the feelings of love, happiness, serenity and energy that have constantly surrounded her since last month's outing. The Lady and Lord know what is in her heart, and she has never felt closer to them. Elenya whispers a quiet thank you to the Deities as she opens her eyes and returns to her place in the circle to await...

Red Deer, who kisses is beloved Elenya full on the lips before moving widdershins about the Circle, whispering a greeting of peace to each celebrant as he exchanges hugs with them. Moving to the altar, he casts back the hood of his Carolina blue robe, leaving his hair to dance in the gentle breeze hung with all the scents of old-growth

forest.

"Mother and Father, I come to you on this night of power to ask that you newly charge two very special items for me, and charge again the amber which is my flame. Tonight, when we are blessed to witness what appears as an entire lunation - from full through waning, new, and waxing back to full again - an complete turn of the lunar wheel passes in the blink of an eye. We hope you find fitting that the dolman is our altar this eve, our representation in stone of those very cycles. And in the dolman's eye, the darkness which is to come. Darkness full of light. Darkness in which all may be perceived. Darkness which is the gate to light."

Red Deer steps to the altar and kneels before it. He removes from about his neck a leather thong upon which hangs a globular piece of amber and places it within the dolman's eye. "Take this tear of an ancient forest, one of two that are my heart, filling it (and thereby them) with the brilliant power of day. Assure that they may always be at the ready when I have need of energy for the assistance of others." Deer bends low to place his forehead against the earth, quietly chanting words that none but the Lady and Lord may hear.

He then removes a second cord from about his neck, this one of black silk upon which hangs a large triangular slice of moonstone, and places it beside the amber. "Take this fragment of the darkened sky, filling it with the quiet power of night. Assure that it may always be at the ready when I have need of peace in the face of change for the assistance of others." Deer again bends low and kisses the earth before whispering words that are, again, only for the Lady and Lord to hear.

Lastly, Red Deer raises skyward what appears a length of sturdy bough roughly three inches in diameter and thirteen in length. "Mother and Father, as the eye of the storm passed, our family tree was uprooted. My great grandmother planted an English Linden in her yard soon after coming to my home town with her new husband, which stood nearly one hundred feet tall this year. The Linden as strength of the family is a tradition old before my first forebears came to this country nine generations ago. This one tree, after the hurricane had passed, we pruned to a tall stump and reset in the ground. She gave up this fragrant length of windward rootstock in her fall. May she grow strong again."

Deer again reaches into the dolman's eye, to place the rootstock on top of the amber and moonstone. "Take this root from the tree of my ancestors. Fill it with the power of generations, for from it shall I - with your guidance - wright a wand. May it guide my energies in the assistance of others." For a third and final time, Deer bends low - this time hugging the earth before the dolman - and this time the words are not even whispered, but released as thought into the night. For a brief moment, those watching perceive two rays converging upon the root - one of brilliant sun and one of iridescent moon - and smell the spicy scent of bee tree mingling with those about them.

"This night I also thank You, for the many blessings which You have bestowed upon me. I am rich beyond compare." Red Deer stands, and slowly moves back to his place beside Elenya in the Circle, to await...

All participants now join hands in the sacred circle, and the forest and air fall completely still. The lunar eclipse has begun, tingeing Luna's face in burnt-orange and gray. Transfixed, all stare in awe at the sight before us. We are in the time between time. Even the sea is quiet as the moon turns blood-dark red, crone-power usurping full-moon's mother strength. We stand still as the trees, in trance-state as Goddess communes silently with each of us on our deepest secrets and longings. Finally, as silver moves once more onto Her body, we awaken as if no time has passed. Now a delicate wind moves through the treetops, and the ocean soughs her timeless song. Bronwyn begins a chant like the night wind, gradually gaining volume as each person is moved to add her/his own harmony. Now we sound like the western wind that rides the waves, carrying the rain; and now we sound like storm-tumult, rising with high tide, and now we ARE the storm and the tide, locked in the mighty dance of the eternal Holiness of life's wellspring.

At precisely the moment when we can no longer hold such energy within us, Bronwyn shouts "NOW!" and we release the power to the sky, electric-blue light seeming to arc from our hands, sending our healing energy to wherever the Mother most needs it. Spent, we collapse to the ground, further releasing the wild symphony we created, until stillness once more reigns. Looking at the trilithon altar, Bronwyn spies her shy totem animal, the gentle salamander, who gives her a friendly wink... "What a night!" she communicates.

Bronwyn speaks: "Ancient Mother and Father, we thank you for your presence here on this special night. We know you are with us always, as you have always been. We bless you and release you. Go in peace."

Then a joyful celebrant thanks, blesses, and releases each direction, widdershins from North. We all join hands, exuberantly proclaiming "The circle is open but unbroken. Merry meet, and merry part, and merry meet again!"

So mote it be!