What makes something sacred? Is it a dusty manuscript battered with age, or is it something that is well known, much loved, and much used, regardless of its age? The following texts can be considered "sacred" as they are used and ingrained into the hearts of many witches.

Whenever you have need of anything, once in the month and better it be when the moon is full, then shall you assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of me, who am Queen of all witches. There shall ye assemble, ye who are fain to learn all sorvery, yet have not won its deepest secrets; to these I will teach all things that are as yet unknown. And ye shall be free from slavery; and as a sign that ye be truly free, you shall be naked in your rites; and ye shall dance, sing, feast, make music and love, all in my praise. For mine is the exstasy of the spirit, and mine also is the joy on earth; for my law is love unto all beings. Keep pure your highest ideals; strive ever towards them, let nothing stop you or turn you aside. For mine is the secret door which opens upon the Land of Youth, and mine is the cup of the wine of life, and the Cauldron of Cerridewen, which is the Holy Vessel of Immortality. I am the gracious Goddess, who gives the gift of joy unto the heart of man. Upon earth, I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal; and beyond death, I give peace, and freedom, and reuinion with those who have gone before. Nor do I demand sacrifice, for behold, I am the Mother of all living, and my love is poured out upon the earth.

I am the beauty of the green earth, and the white moon among the stars, and the mystery of the waters, and the desire of the heart of man. Call unto thy soul, arise, and come unto me. For I am the sould of Nature, who gives life to the Universe. From me all things proceed, and unto me all things must return; and before my face, beloved of Gods and of men, let thinge innermost divine self be enfolded in the rapture of the infinite. Let my worship be within the heart that rejoiceth; for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals. Therefore, let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you. And thou who thinketh to seek for me, know thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not unless thou knoweth the mystery; that if that which thy seekest thou findest not within nthee, thou wilt never find it without thee. For behold, I have been with thee from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.

Hear Now the words of the witches,
The secrets we hid in the night,
When dark was our destiny's pathway,
That now we bring forth into light.

Mysterious water and fire,
The earth and the wide-ranging air,
By hidden quintessence we know them,
And will and keep silent and dare.

The birth and rebirth of all nature,
The passing of winter and spring,
We share with the life universal,
Rejoice in the magical ring.

Four times in the year the Great Sabbat
Returns, and the witches are seen
At Lammas and Candlemas dancing,
On May Eve and old Hallowe'en.

When day-time and night-time are equal,
Whensun is at greatest and least,
The four Lesser Sabbats are summoned,
And Witches gather in feast.

Thirteen silver moons in a year are,
Thirteen is the coven's array.
Thirteen times at Esbat make merry,
For each golden year and a day.

The power that was passed down the age,
Each time between woman and man,
Each century unto the other,
Ere time and the ages began.

When drawn is the magical circle,
By sword or athame of power,
Its compass between two worlds lies,
In land of the shades for that hour.

This world has no right then to know it,
And world of beyond will tell naught.
The oldest of Gods are invoked there,
The Great Work of magic is wrought.

For the two are mystical pillars,
That stand at the gate of the shrine,
And two are the powers of nature,
The forms and the forces divine.

The dark and the light in succession,
The opposites each unto each,
Shown forth as a God and a Goddess:
Of this our ancestors teach.

By night he's the wild wind's rider,
The Horn'd One, the Lord of the Shades.
By day he's the King of the Woodland,
The dweller in green forest glades.

She is youthful or old as she pleases,
She sails the torn clouds in her barque,
The bright silver lady of midnight,
The crone who weaves spells in the dark.

The master and mistress of magic,
That dwell in the deeps of the mind,
Immortal and ever-renewing,
With power to free or to bind.

So drink the good wine to the Old Gods,
And Dance and make love in their praise,
Till Elphame's fair land shall receive us
In peace at the end of our days.

And Do What You Will be the challenge,
So be it Love that harms none,
For this is the only commandment.
By Magic of old, be it done!

Assist me to erect the ancient altar,

at which in days past all worshipped;

The great altar of all things.

For in times of old, woman was the altar.

Thus was the altar made and placed,

and the sacred place was the point

within the center of the circle.

As we have of old been taught that the point within the

center is the origin of all things.

Therefore should we adore it;

Therefore whom we adore we also invoke.

O Circle of Stars,

Whereof our Father is but the younger brother,

Marvel beyond imagination, soul of infinite space,

Before whom time is ashamed,

the mind bewildered, and the understanding dark,

Not unto thee may we attain unless thine image be love.

Therefore by seed and root, and stem and bud,

and leaf and flower and fruit do we invoke thee.

O Queen of Space, O Jewel of Light,

Continuous Once of the heavens;

Let it be ever thus

that men speak not of thee as One, but as None;

and let them not speak of thee at all,

since thou art continuous.

For hou art the point within the Circle, which we adore;

the point of life, without which we would not be.

And in this way truly are erected the holy twin pillars,

in beauty and in strength were they erected

to the wonder and glory of all men.

Altar of mysteries manifold,

the sacred circles secret point

thus do I sign thee as of old

with kisses of my lips annoint.

Open for me the secret way,

the pathway of intelligence,

beyond the gates of night and day,

beyond the bounds of time and sense.

behold the mystery aright,

the five true points of fellowship,

here where the Lance and Grail unite

and feet, and knees, and breast, and lip.

By the flame that burneth bright,

O Horned One!

We call thy name into the night,

O Ancient One!

Thee we invoke, by the moon-led sea,

By the standing stone and the twisted tree.

Thee we invoke where gather thine own,

By the nameless shrine forgotten and lone.

Come where the round of the dance is trod,

Horn and hoof of the mighty god!

By moonlit meadow, on dusky hill,

When the haunted wood is hushed and still,

Come to the charm of the chanted prayer,

As the moon bewitches the midnight air.

Evoke thy powers, that potent bide

In shining stream and the secret tide.

In fiery flame by starlight pale,

In shadowy host that rides the gale,

And by the fern-brakes fairy-haunted

Of forests wild and woods enchanted.

Come! Come!

To the heart-beats drum!

Come to ys who gather below

When the broad white moon is climbing slow

Through the stars to the heavens height

We hear thy hoofs on the wind of night!

As black tree-branches shake and sigh,

By joy and terror we know thee nigh.

We speak the spell thy power unlocks

At Solstice, Sabbat and equinox.