Calendar of the Moon
6 Fearn/Elaphebolion
Elaphebolia: Day of Artemis
Colors: Silver, white, and pale green
Element: Earth
Altar: On a white cloth place woodland vines and branches, a silver crescent moon, a bow and
arrow, incense of cypress, a chalice of white wine, and the figures of many deer.
Offerings: Stag-shaped cakes of dough, honey, and sesame called "elaphoi", placed on the altar.
Make a promise and keep your word. Give something to women in need.
Daily Meal: Venison is best, or else rabbit or quail.
Invocation to Artemis
Hail, Lady of the deer hunt!
You who are both hunter and hunted,
You who wield the bow
And bring the prey to their knees,
You who are the doe
Who flees and eludes the pursuers,
Come to us and bless our hunt!
We too seek in the darkness,
We too flee through the darkness,
We too are both predator and prey.
Virgin of the crescent moon,
Implacable one with silver gaze
Who is called She Who Slays,
Fearless huntress, skilled tracker,
Shy deer who runs from our
Groping hands and clumsy feet,
Ray of moonlight that shows
Secrets beneath the forest leaves
That are glimpsed once and then
Never seen again in our lifetimes,
Archer with the fierce pack
Who hounds us through our weaknesses
And will not let us compromise,
Remind us that to shun compromise is to remain true
To something that we must keep alive or lose.
Chant:
New moon shining, Artemis, Artemis
(Pass around the chalice and pour out the rest as libation. Pass around the elaphoi and put the
rest out for the woodland creatures as an offering.)
[Pagan Book of Hours]