Long Night

(A working of the darkness into light)

Every death is not a sorrow,
And every birth is not rejoicing.

Ritual and Invocations

Casting of the Circle

Being the bearing of the God
Being the night that sees no end,
Being the pain of Mother in labor,
Being the time of painful beginning.

I call to the darkness to bring forth the night
I call to the darkness to forbid the light
I call to the darkness to fill this place
I call unborn god into our space.

In this time - Cerridwen bleeds!
Invoke the Maiden, attend her needs -
Release the knots, make dark the way,
Crone's long night admits no day.

The Directions

East

Covering the earth
Covering the womb
Blood like ice
Blood is fire
Blood and breath.

South

Strength that is consumed
Burning force within the womb
Force us out.

West

The God within
Float and swims.
Overwhelmed in love,
Tears like rain.

North

Enter aware
Knowing self.
Sceptre of the wise
Remember your lives.

The God

From the bardo of death
From the land where souls wait
From eternal restless motion
From the fall of great liberation.

Because he chooses to be born
Because he must now begin again
Because the currents shape his form
Because of this we recognize him.

Hail! the god now here with us.
Hail! the move from endless to begun
Hail! the trap to fall in time
Hail! the father who will die.

The Goddess

Born in pain
Creation of the dark
Nuit gives forth Hadit.

Shining | In darkness and pain,
Shining | At his birth he will cry,
Shining | But the whole world rejoice.
Shining | At his death the world weeps,
Shining | Though it be great liberation.
Shining | But not this time!
Shining | Meet incarnation with joy.
Shining | The end of your travels,
Shining | The start of your suffering.
Shining | Meet your being with weeping.
Shining | End eternity,
Shining | And race death.
Shining. | Shining.

The Birth of the Light

Formation of the Chakras

Muladhara

Rejoice!
Rejoice!!
Roll back the darkness.

Svadisthana

Death must die.
Night must end.
Stasis ceased.
Begin. Again.

Manipura

Rejoice!
Rejoice!!
There is to be no darkness.

Anahata

From the center of the night,
From the middle of the dark,
Enter now the flowing soul -
Breath of life, and spirit's spark.

Vishuddhi

Behold!
Behold!!
The god is among us.

Ajna

A child has no memory
Of what has been before.
Infants have lost most of that
Greatness they have borne.

Sahasrara

He cries!
He cries!!
And therefore we rejoice!

Closing

The Mother has bled and given forth,
From her nature to his form.
The god comes forth in fire and light,
Brings to close the long night.

Light in mind.
Light in heart.
Light in soul.
Light in body.

This light sweeps around us,
And rejuvenates our sight.
God reborn takes turn to Wheel,
From life to death to dark to night.

Blessings be upon us,
For observing the Wheel.

And for observing our Will,
So mote it be!

Adam Madgett
8 December 1994

"I've been talking about it since 1971, and what's interesting to me is, at the beginning, it was material for hospitalization; now it is a minority viewpoint and everything is on schedule. My career is on schedule, the evolution of cybernetic technology is on schedule, the evolution of a global information network is on schedule. Given this asymptotic curve, I think we'll arrive under budget and on time, December 21, 2012."

- Terrence McKenna