Self-Dedication Rite

ECCLESIA LUCIS ET UMBRAE

The Church of Light and Shadow

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Self-Dedication to the Path of Light and Shadow
Following standard liturgical protocol, this ritual is color-coded: say the black, do the red.

Have ready a small bowl of water (holy water, if you can), a cup with wine, five white candles (can
be small votives), a censer with incense or stick incense, a bell, and three spools of thread: one
white, one black, and one red.

Place one candle at each quarter of the circle, and the final in the center, but do not light them.

The bowl of water and incense are placed in the North.

OPENING

Begin in the Center, praying:

AVE DEUS, PATER CŒLI,
EGO TE AMPLEXO.
BENEDICITE HOC CIRCULUM.
PURIFICENT HOC CIRCULUM.
VENIT LUMEN.

Move to the North with the incense. While in the North:

AVE ELEMENTUM TERRÆ. AVE SPECULA SEPTEMTRIONIS. EGO TE AMPLEXO.

Slowly circle clockwise, censing the working area, while chanting in the appropriate quarter:

While passing the East:

AVE ELEMENTUM CŒLI. AVE SPECULA ORIENTIS. EGO TE AMPLEXO.

While passing the South:

AVE ELEMENTUM IGNIS. AVE SPECULA AUSTRI. EGO TE AMPLEXO.

While passing the West:

AVE ELEMENTUM AQUÆ. AVE SPECULA OCCIDENTIS. EGO TE AMPLEXO.

After returning to the north, the incense is replaced, and you again circle the area with the bowl
of water, sprinkling the area as you circle, consecrating the space.
Returning again to the north, and replace the bowl. Then move to the center of the circle, saying:
I conjure thee, O circle of power, that thou be’est a boundary between this world and the realms
of the mighty ones; a guardian and protection that shall preserve and contain the power that I
shall raise within.

Ring the bell slowly, nine times.

I stand within the circle in the presence of the Morning Star, Bringer of Light – my heart ablaze in
the gnosis of Christ, Its Perfect Fulfillment – and my brow crowned with the stars of the Holy
Mother – the Genetrix of Mystery.

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Light the center candle.

The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.

PATER NOSTER, QUI ES IN CŒLIS;

SANCTIFICATUR NOMEN TUUM:
ADVENIAT REGNUM TUUM;
FIAT VOLUNTAS TUA,
SICUT IN CŒLO, ET IN TERRA.
PANEM NOSTRUM COTIDIANUM DA NOBIS HODIE:
ET DIMITTE NOBIS DEBITA NOSTRA,
SICUT ET NOS DIMITTIMUS DEBITORIBUS NOSTRIS:
ET NE NOS INDUCAS IN TENTATIONEM:
SED LIBERA NOS A MALO.

Take up the wine glass and lit central candle:

I now call upon the Four Kings that the spirit world may be open to me.

VOCO SUPER REGES.

REGES SUPER VOCO.

Approach the East. Light the candle at the East with the Central one you are holding, and then
raise the chalice.

O great and potent spirit ORIENS, King of the East, who rules the Eastern region of the world, I
adjure you, I call upon you, and most powerfully and earnestly I urge you by, in, and through the
virtue power and might of these efficacious and binding names, YHVH + EHIH + ADONAI + AGLA
+ El + TZEVAOT + ELOHIM + that you will aid in this work, opening the ways of the East that this
spiritual power may be made manifest strongly in the world. With this wine, the blood of the Land,
I ask that you help me see and make me worthy of being seen.

If outside, pour a little of the wine into the ground. Alternatively, you may have four bowls ready
to catch libations at each quarter. Otherwise, simply raise the glass in offering and proceed West
in the same manner.

O great and potent spirit PAYMON, King of the West, who rules the Western region of the world,
I adjure you, I call upon you, and most powerfully and earnestly I urge you by, in, and through the
virtue power and might of these efficacious and binding names, YHVH + EHIH + ADONAI + AGLA
+ El + TZEVAOT + ELOHIM + that you will aid in this work, opening the ways of the West that
this spiritual power may be made manifest strongly in the world. With this wine, the blood of the
Land, I ask that you help me see and make me worthy of being seen.

Proceed North.

O great and potent spirit EGYN, King of the North, who rules the Northern region of the world, I
adjure you, I call upon you, and most powerfully and earnestly I urge you by, in, and through the
virtue power and might of these efficacious and binding names, YHVH + EHIH + ADONAI + AGLA
+ El + TZEVAOT + ELOHIM + that you will aid in this work, opening the ways of the North that

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this spiritual power may be made manifest strongly in the world. With this wine, the blood of the
Land, I ask that you help me see and make me worthy of being seen.

Proceed South.

O great and potent spirit AMAYMON, King of the South, who rules the Southern region of the
world, I adjure you, I call upon you, and most powerfully and earnestly I urge you by, in, and
through the virtue power and might of these efficacious and binding names, YHVH + EHIH +
ADONAI + AGLA + El + TZEVAOT + ELOHIM + that you will aid in this work, opening the ways
of the South that this spiritual power may be made manifest strongly in the world. With this wine,
the blood of the Land, I ask that you help me see and make me worthy of being seen.

Return to the center, and replace the Cup and Candle.

I stand before the Door that divides the World of the Living from the World of Spirits. With humble
gratitude, I ask that it be opened.

APERI IANUAM. APERI IANUAM. APERI IANUAM. APERI IANUAM

ATER IGNUS, FUSCE FUME.

TE EVOCO UT POTENTIAM TUAM MONSTRES.
CUPIDIBUS FLAMMIS HUIUS VENI.
AB CÆLO SUB ISTO, VENI.
LUCEM TENEBRASQUE TUAS MONSTRA.
CUPIDIBUS FLAMMIS HUIUS VENI.

I stand here beneath the Morning Star, and with all the spirits, living and dead, of his Holy Church.

Sit and place the central candle in front of you. Meditate on the flame as you allow the lights of
the four directions to blur into your peripheral vision. Slowly and with purpose, pray:

Betwixt Crown and Nail, betwixt Horn and Hoof,

I anchor myself in alignment with the axis of Being.
In communion with the Lords of the Ways
And the spirits of the Firmament
I embark upon the quest of remembrance.

I remember that: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was
formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was
hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that
the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.

I remember that: As the Divine is infinite – the Great All In One and One In All – that its profound
Spirit embodies and embraces all aspects of creation, for it is creation itself. In the very beginning
of time, both light and shadow were fully acknowledged by the Divine, as the Mystery of its power
entails their mutual co-creation.

I remember that: God created us in his own image, in the image of God he created us; male and
female he created us.

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I remember that: In the Heavens, we partook of all the celestial natures, both in the fire of the
Divine, and in the working operations of the Seven spheres and gates. And as we embraced their
harmony and progressive emanation, we came to embrace Nature, the Mother and Form of God.

I remember that: Having loved our reflection in the waters of Nature, as God’s light too was
reflected in the stillness over which our spirit hovered, we descended into the corporeal world in
amorous embrace. Incarnated and ensouled in flesh, our being had never ceased its eternal
communion with the Divine that is our parentage.

I remember that: As I am in eternal communion with the Divine, so too am I ever oriented towards
it. My birthright is that same mystery; the recognition, reaffirmation and re-creation of the gates
and flames of Spirit.

Take the white cord and measure your height (or the span of your arms).

I was born to the Divine, made in its image; a companion and magus of the spirits.

Triple it so that the length is three times your height then sever it.

My light extends above and below; I bring light to all spirits, whether heavenly or aerial, earthly or
subterranean, terrestrial or aquatic – and stand in relation to them and to God.

Take the black cord and measure it again to your height.

I was born into this world, having loved my own reflection in the womb of the mother.

Triple it again and then sever it.

Wherever I bring light, I create shadow; the twin of fire’s fullness; the mirror of all action.

Take the red cord and measure it once more to your height.

I was born to the crossroads, divine and corporeal, of fire and of water, in frankincense and in
sulphur.

Triple it and sever it.

In remembrance of my being, and in pursuit of my unfurling wisdom, I pledge to ever be fool and
magus, hermit and hierophant. My lamp brings clarity, ensorcelling the spirits to come forth. My
lamp casts shadows, the natural companion of all. I embrace both in embracing my role in
creation. I dedicate myself to the path of Light and Shadow.

Knot the three cords together at one end and begin to braid them until they are one rope. As you
do this, pray continuously:

Hail Morning Star, Lord in the Darkness and Bringer of Light.

I (state your name), call upon you to visit and recognize me as one of Yours,
A new Disciple on the Path of Light and Shadow.

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Finally, knot the other end. Stand and present the rope to the center of the circle. Salute the
candles slowly, facing each direction as you say:

Were there only one – there would be none. I could not love without my reflection; I could not
fall without the depth; I could not rise without the chain; I could not see you without the shade. In
weaving this cord, I recall the weaving of fate, the flow of time, the generation of matter, and the
ascent of spirit. I promise to wear it in acknowledgement of the nature of being. It is the circle of
magic, it is the cord of life, it is the noose of death, it is the ladder of light, it is the procession of
shadow.

Tie it around your waist and stomp on the ground with your left foot.

CLOSING

Bow before the eastern candle and say:

VOLA ANIMA PER ÆTERNA

Blow it out. Do the same for West, then North, then South, and finally return to the center. Ring
the bell nine times and speak the same to the central candle and blow it out.

VOLA ANIMA PER ÆTERNA

Peace! The charm's wound up!

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