(^30) A Wiccan Bible
this religion. Besides, if you are uncomfortable being naked in front of no one but
yourself, I still believe that you should seek professional help. Let’s just face it, if you
are not willing to take your clothes off for so much as a shower you are not going to fit
in well with others because you will smell bad.
Preparing the Temple
At the very core of Wicca, the temple is the home. This is the base for the Wiccan
view of community, that the largest of community is a collection of smaller communi-
ties and that the smallest community is the family. But rites do not always take place in
the home; offering rites that are open to the public should not be conducted in the
home, lest the home be identified to the potentially baneful actions of hateful people.
Instead, a place large enough for the rite is established. If indoors, part of prepar-
ing the temple might involve renting a facility or maybe getting a permit to use a local
park. Should the rite be held outdoors, ensuring there is nothing for someone to trip
over is a good idea. Make sure there are no holes even if you were certain there were
none yesterday. Remember that our furry critter friends sometimes work long hours.
Just prior to the rite, with guests now in attendance, either host, hostess, or both
stands in the center of the area where the ritual will take place with brooms called
besoms in their hands. For added effect, small bells can be attached to the besoms.
Starting from the center of the Circle and moving in the direction of banishing (counter-
clockwise), the area is swept with the intent of cleansing. However, it is not necessary
for the brooms to hit the ground or move any dirt at all. The idea here is to instill the
intention of cleaning in your guest’s mind, not to soil their feet with dirt or pelt them
with bits of gravel. So if the area is in need of a good sweeping, do so prior to your
guests’ arrival and then again symbolically once they are present.
Asperging and Smudging
The acts of asperging (blessing with water) and smudging (blessing with smoke)
are done with the intent of putting your guests in the right atmosphere for what will be
taking place in the rite. As such, the smudging and asperging will change with intent.
As with the lustral bath, one can use water that has been salted with sea salt for
asperging. Some folk use plain water, but using the given recipes for the lustral bath
will work well so long as you use a very weak concentration. That way, the water of
asperging can be used to influence your guests towards the matter at hand, but their
clothing won’t be stained in your attempt to do so.
I have seen some truly inventive tools used for the asperging, but my favorites re-
main the hand or a branch of wood selected in accordance with the intent of the rite.
However, on a hot summer night using the besom for asperging is not only appropri-
ate, it is welcome. Keep in mind that if you are going to dip your besom into a cauldron
of water and shower that water down on your guests, you should probably get their
consent ahead of time. Later on in the ritual, if dance is involved during a hot summer
g WB Chap 0.p65 30 7/11/2003, 5:47 PM
barré
(Barré)
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