Calendar of the Moon
12 Nion/Anthesterion
Anthesteria Day 2: Khoes
Color: Purple
Element: Earth
Altar: On a purple cloth set a pitcher of wine, the ship of Dionysos, some children's toys, six
purple candles, and a wreath of grapevines and flowers.
Offerings: Ritual sex. Giving up of things left over from childhood. Wine libations.
Daily Meal: Goat or lamb. Lentils. Greek food. Wine.
Khoes Invocation
On this day comes the child to his adulthood.
On this day comes the child to her readiness.
On this day he tastes the sweetness of maturity.
On this day she tastes the joy of ripening.
On this day we honor that which has come to fruition
And that which can no longer be protected.
We give up our self-enclosed innocence
For the promise of the deeper experience.
Come forth and join the rite of passage
That you may give up that which was before
And come to that which will be.
Io Dionysos!
Fair-Flowering, Reveller, Stormer,
Twice-Born, Lord of the Dance,
We who kneel before you pray
That you will be gentle with our
Little madnesses, and if you must
Drag us by the hair
To some new understanding,
Let it be done soon, and quickly,
For we would rather leap to doom
Than delay on the edge of the cliff.
(Let all make a circle, and let cups of wine be passed around to everyone. Let two who have been
chosen from inside or outside the community come forth and lay in the center of the circle, and
perform the hieros gamos, whilst the others turn their backs and chant wordlessly. Afterwards,
let the wine be poured out in a libation, with the last two cups used to anoint the couple, and
have them drink in a toast. Later that night, sex is appropriate between those whose vows do not
exclude it, but those who would lie together must meditate on the responsibility inherent in being
a sexually active adult, and how it brought them out of childhood and into adulthood.)
[Pagan Book of Hours]