Calendar of the Moon
20 Luis/Gamelion
Warding Night
Color: Black and orange-red
Element: Fire
Altar: Upon cloth of black and orange red lay many bunches of rowan berries, dried from the
past year and tied with red thread and a single animal's bone. Set around the altar many candles
in jars that can be carried, and a large bowl of salt water.
Offerings: Offer to protect those you love from harm.
Daily Meal: Can be any food, but it should be put into separate bowls, and all will eat while they
keep separate vigils on guard.
Warding Night Invocation
Within these walls no harm shall come.
Within these walls shall set no foot
Intending to do wrong to those inside.
Within these walls shall come no ghost
Or spirit seeking to feed on the
Warm life of flesh and blood.
Within these walls no sorrow
From outside may creep in,
Save that it offer itself to be healed.
Within these walls stands the haven
Of sacred ground, and we shall stand
As guards to protect our sacred space.
Let no one enter lest they understand
That what lies within shall touch them,
And they shall not go away unchanged.
Go now, and guard our home
Like the mother bear protects her young,
Like the mother serpent defends her nest,
Like the father wolf prowls his territory.
We ward this home against all evil
And evil shall be turned by the strength of our hearts.
(Each takes a candle, chanting a wordless chant, and goes to a different part of the house,
passing first through the kitchen in order to take their meal. With meal, and candle, and such
handwork as they choose to do, each shall retire to a different part of the place alone, or in
groups but only if there are enough that each solitary part of the home has its guardian. There
they shall wait, and watch, and keep vigil, and strengthen the wards on the home with their
minds and the flame of the candle. When it has burned down, or midnight comes, they may
retire.)
[Pagan Book of Hours]