THE CHARGE OF THE GODDESS 

Listen to the words of the Great Mother, who of old was called 
Astarte, Artemis, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Ceridwen, Diana, 
Arionrhod, Brigid, and by many other names: 

"Whenever you have need of anything, once in the month, and better it 
be when the moon is full, you shall assemble in some secret place and 
adore the spirit of Me who is Queen of all the Wise. You shall be free 
and as a sign that you be free, you shall be naked in your rites. 
Sing, feast, dance make music and love, all in My presence, for Mine 
is the ecstacy of the spirit and Mine also is joy on earth. For My Law 
is love unto all beings. Mine is the secret that opens upon the door 
of youth, and mine is the cup of wine of life that is the Cauldron of 
Cerridwen, that is the holy grail of immortality. I give the knowledge 
of the spirit eternal and beyond death I give peace and freedom and 
reunion with those that have gone before. Nor do I demand aught of 
sacrifice, for behold, I an the Mother of all things, and My love is 
poured out upon the Earth."" 


Hear the words of the Star Goddess, the dust of whose feet are the 
hosts of Heaven, She whose body encircles the Universe: 

" I who am the beauty of the green earth and the white moon among 
the stars and the mysteries of the waters, I call upon our soul to 
arise and come unto me. For I am the soul of nature that gives life to 
the Universe. From Me all things proceed and unto Me they must return. 
Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices, for behold -  all acts 
of love and pleasure are My Rituals. Let there be beauty and strength, 
power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence with in 
you. And you who seek to know Me, know that your seeking and yearning 
will avail you not, unless you know the Mystery: for if that which you 
seek, you find not within yourself, you will never find it without. 
For behold, I have been with you from the beginning, and I am that 
which is attained at the end of all desire." 


     Alone, awesome, complete in Herself, the Goddess, She whose name 
cannot be spoken, floated in the outer darkness, before the beginning 
of all things. As She looked into the curved mirror of black space, 
She saw by Her own light Her radiant reflection, and fell in love with 
It. She drew It forth by the power that was in Her and made love to 
Herself, and called Her "Miria, the Wonderful." 
     Their ecstasy burst forth in the single song of all that is, was, 
or ever shall be, and with the song came motion, waves that poured 
outward and became all the spheres and circles of the worlds. The 
Goddess became filled with love, swollen with love, and She gave birth 
to a rain of bright spirits, that filled the worlds and became all 
beings. 
     But in that great movement, Miria was swept away, and as She 
moved out from the Goddess, She became more masculine. First She 
became the Blue God, the gentle, laughing God of love. The She became 
the Green one, vine-covered, rooted in the earth, the spirit of all 
growing things. At last She became the Horned God, the Hunter whose 
face is the ruddy sun, and yet dark as Death. But always desire draws 
Him back toward the Goddess, so that He circles Her eternally, seeking 
to return in love. 
     All began in love; all seeks to return in love. Love is the law, 
the teacher of wisdom, and the great revealer of the mysteries. 


     In love, the Horned God, changing form and changing face, ever 
seeks the Goddess. In this world, the searching and the seeking appear 
in the Wheel of the Year. 
     She is the Great Mother, Who gives birth to Him as the Divine 
Child Sun at the Winter Solstice. In spring, He is the Sower and the 
Seed who grows with the growing light, green as the new shoots. She is 
the Initiatrix, Who teaches Him the Mysteries. He is the Young Bull; 
She is the Nymph, seductress. In summer, when light is longest, They 
meet in union, and the strength of Their passion sustains the world. 
But the Gods' face darkens as the sun grows weaker, until at last, 
when the grain is cut for harvest, He also sacrifices Himself to Self, 
that all may be nourished. She is the Reaper, the grave of earth to 
which all must return. Thoughout the long nights and darkening days, 
He sleeps in Her Womb. In dreams, He is the Lord of Death, who rules 
the Land of Youth beyond the Gates of Night and Day. His dark tomb 
becomes the Womb of Rebirth, for at Midwinter She again gives birth to 
Him. The cycle ends and begins again, and the Wheel of the Year turns 
on and on. 


ALEXANDRIAN PENTACLE 

     The pentacle is the primary Earth symbol. Its gender, like that 
of the wand, is not usually emphasized, but as the symbol of the Earth 
Mother, it may be taken as being feminine. 
     It is the centerpiece of the altar, on which objects are 
consecrated; the water and salt bowls, too, are placed on it for 
blessing - some covens do not use a salt bowl but place the salt 
directly on the pentacle from which, after blessing, it is tipped into 
the water. 
     In persecution days, the pentacle used to be inscribed on wax for 
each Circle, so that it could be destroyed afterwards as a dangerous 
piece of evidence. Today it is usually a disc of metal, mainly in 
copper, and it is normally 5-6 inches in diameter. 
     The central upright pentagram is the primary symbol of the Craft. 
Together with the upright triangle above it, it forms the symbol of 
third degree initiation. The inverted pentagram, top right, is that of 
the second degree, and the inverted triangle, top left, that of the 
first degree. The Horned God symbol is bottom left, and bottom right 
are the waxing and waning Moon-cresents of he Goddess (also sometimes 
described as the breasts of the Goddess). The two SSs at the bottom 
represent the polarity of Mercy and Severity, in the form of the kiss 
(plain S) and the Scourge (S with a stroke). 
     

PENTACLE FROM THE LIBER UMBRARUM BY DOREEN VALIENTE 

     The five-pointed star or pentagram is one of the oldest signs in 
the world. It represents, among other meaning, magic itself, the 
dominion of the spirit over the four elements of the material 
creation. 
     The Circle which encloses it, being without beginning or ending, 
represents infinity and eternity. Another meaning of the pentagram is 
that it bears a rough resemblance to a human figure, as if standing 
upright with the arms and legs outstretched. Hence the pentagram in a 
circle is a symbol of the human being in relationship to the Infinite. 
     The eight armed figure in the center of the pentagram represents 
the Eight Ritual Occasions of the Witch's year, four Greater Sabbats 
and four Lesser Sabbats. The Greater Sabbats are Candlemas, May Eve, 
Lammas, and Hallowe'en. The Lesser Sabbats are the equinoxes and 
solstices. The eight of this symbol plus the five of the pentagram 
makes 13, the traditional number of the Witches coven. 
     The three X-shaped crosses around the pentagram represent the 
three annointing of the initiation ceremony, 'two above and one 
below'; that is, two above the waist and one below it. The two spirals 
or S-shapes represent the ancient symbol of the twin serpents, the 
dual forces of positive and negative, yang and yin, masculine and 
feminine, that underlie all manifestation. 
     The symbols on the three upper points of the pentagram are the 
two crescents of the waxing and waning moons, and the circle of the 
full moon. Together they represent the primordial Goddess of Nature, 
often depicted in triple form as Nymph, Mother and Crone, the three 
phases of the moon. 
     The symbols on the two lower points of the pentagram represent 
the two aspects of the ancient God of witches. They are 
conventionalized drawings of a horned head and a skull and crossed 
bones. The former sign represents the Horned God of Life and Fertility, 
and the latter is the God of Death and what lies beyond.