Calendar of the Moon
14 Ruis/Poseideion
Day of the Underworld V
Color: Black
Element: Air
Altar: The altar is the same as yesterday, but with sticks of incense lit in plenty. Windows should
be kept ready to be opened, regardless of weather.
Offerings: Whatever the Gods tell you.
Daily Meal: Good hearty food, to be consumed as soon as the ritual is over.
Chant: Our life is Death,
A downward path
Into the Earth
Where every breath
We dare to breathe
Is a farewell
Is a farewell
Is a farewell.
Underworld Invocation V
Let us then praise thee, Death,
For thy law which is law,
For thy power which is proven,
For thy silence which is unbroken.
Thou art past all sorrow and remorse,
Thou art past change and challenge and failure,
Thou art perfect, as darkness is perfect,
Thou art perfect, as light can only show flaw,
Thou art perfect, as all else is imperfect,
As even mighty madness is imperfect,
As we have learned, having ourselves been mad.
And Sun and Moon are only flaws
That flare and fade upon the perfect sphere
Of thy eternal space and time.
Let us then praise thee, Death,
Let us adore thy flawlessness
Which shall become the perfection
Of we who are imperfect now
Who shall yet become most perfect in thy law.
(All lie for a time about the altar, prostrate, and meditate upon Death, and then one who has
been chosen goes about and opens all the windows, and cries out:)
Awaken, awaken!
For the gates to the Underworld are open,
And there is one chance for you to return
To the time of living and breathing!
Breathe in the air, and follow that breath!
Follow the wind that carries the dead souls
Up to the upper world
Where they will find solace in the bellies
Of warm life and flesh!
Awaken, and follow the wind!
(All rise, and breathe deeply. One who has been chosen sings forth the verses of "Hel's Gates",
and they are echoed back. After the song, all cry in jubilation, and go forth to eat and celebrate.)
Hel's Gates
1) Open before me the gate of sorrow,
For I come with a song of joy
To bring light into the darkness.
2) Open before me the gate of sleep,
For I come with the summons of morning
To awaken the dead to a new day.
3) Open before me the gate of grieving,
For I come on the wheel of time
To begin a new year's turning.
4) Open before me the gate of silence,
For I come with the trumpets of daylight
To shatter the pressing glass.
5) Open before me the gate of drudgery,
For I come with willing hands
To find sanctity in the thawing earth.
6) Open before me the gate of fear,
For I come with a will unbroken
To brave the summer storms.
7) Open before me the gate of madness
For I come with the blade of clarity
To rend the veil in two.
8) Open before me the gate of weeping
For I come with the strongest heart
To endure the pangs of living.
9) Open before me the gate of hunger
For I come with words of hope
To fill the cup to the brim.
10) Open before me the gate of Death,
For I come with the breath of the future
To bring the dead back to living.
[Pagan Book of Hours]