Scott Chisholm Lamont, RN.

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)O( Green Man

SIMPLE PASSING OVER RITUAL

By Scott Chishom Mac Lamont
February 2006.

Abreviations:

HP = High Priest
HPs = High Priestess
Mdn = Maiden
RP = Red Priest
Cov(s) = covener(s)

Altar Tools:

Athame, Cauldron of Water, Pentacle, Salt, Incense, Incense Burner, Besom

Element Candles:

East - Yellow
South - Red
West – Blue
North – Green or White

A single black taper candle for the loved one

Pictures of the loved one and flowers for the altar

Large cauldron at center with a package of flower petals for each person in the circle

An apple for the Goddess, Babd, and an offering to the Dark God of the Underworld

Place altar in the west, in the Celtic tradition this is the door to the Otherworld

Cast Circle

Take a few moments to meditate, to mentally evoke the spirit of the loved one.

State purpose of ritual. This is a ritual to honor the memory of the loved one who has passed. To allow those who are mourning to say their final farewells before the soul of the loved one moves on.

Covs: Go around circle, allow each person time to share a blessing for either the loved one or one of the mourners. As each person finishes their blessing, they will sprinkle their flower petals into the large cauldron in the center of the circle.

Take a moment to focus on the presence of the loved one, listening for their final words and asking if they are ready to move into the next world.

HP: Evoke the God – He will be asked to guide and protect the spirit as it travels the path to the Otherworld

HPs: Evoke the Goddess – She will be asked to welcome and enfold the spirit of the departed upon arrival to the Otherworld

HPs reads a poem or passage appropriate to the occasion:

Sample reading by Walt Whitman from “Leaves of Grass”

“A child said, What is the grass? Fetching it to me with full hands;
How could I answer the child?….I do not know what it is any more than he.

I guess it is the handkerchief of Divinity,
A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropped…

Or I guess the grass is itself a child….the produced babe of the vegetation.

And now it seems to me the beautiful, uncut hair of graves.

Tenderly will I use you, curling grass,
It may be you transpire from the breasts of young men,
It may be if I had known them, I would have loved them;
It may be you are from old people and from women, and from
Offspring taken soon out of their mothers’ laps,
And here you are, the mothers’ lap.

I wish I could translate the hints about the dead young men and women,
And the hints about old men and mothers, and the offspring taken
Soon out of their laps.

What do you think has become of the young and old men?
What do you think has become of the women and children?

They are alive and well somewhere;
The smallest sprout shows there is really no death,
And if ever there was, it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it,
And ceased the moment life appeared.

All goes onward and outward….and nothing collapses,
And to die is different from what anyone supposed, and luckier.”

HP offers a blessing to the loved one:

Examples:

May the gentle breezes over the Western Sea carry you safely into the Summerland. May Her warm waters comfort you, Her loving earth receive you and Her eternal sacred fires create for you a joyous life anew.

May the Air carry your spirit gently, towards new horizons.
May the Fire release your soul, bright spark accending.
May the Water wash you clean of pain, sorrow, and suffering.
May the Earth receive your body, beautiful form who’s work is complete.
May you rest in the arms of the Goddess, returned to the Source of All.
May the Wheel turn again, and bring you to rebirth.
May we merrily meet again.

Be free, be strong, be proud of who you have been,
Know that you will be mourned and missed,
That no one can replace you,
That you have loved and are beloved.

HP asks the God to protect and guide their journey the Summerland and asks the Goddess to welcome the loved one home for rest and preparation for rebirth.

When it feels as if the loved one has departed, Priestess will snuff out candle. She will then wrap the candle in silk, and ladle some of the cauldron water from the center into a container and present both to the mourner who has requested the ritual for use at Samhain, if they so desire (some people may prefer to have the candle burn overnight, so that the energy may aid the spirit of the loved one as they journey, then snuff as above after sunrise).

Cakes & Ale

Circle close

Feast

Some notes on the Passing Over Ritual:

This ritual does not need to be performed with the deceased's body present, or even immediately around the time of their passing.