This rite may  be used for either New or Full Moon.  The
difference is in  your meditation and mental attitude in preparation.  Remember
that the New Moon  is a time of  outward work and thought,  building
to the peak which is the Full Moon.  At  the Full Moon, you should be
preparing to lessen the outward flow of energy, bit by bit, until the
period before New Moon, during which  you are passive,  building a pool  of
energy within you, in preparation for the New Moon..

          The altar should  be placed in the  center of the ritual area..
On it should be placed a rose or stick of incense on the eastern side,
a red votive candle to the  South; a cup of water on the West, and a
bowl of salt or living plant on the North..

          Around your ritual  area, you should place an unlighted  candle
at the cardinal point of each direction..

          To begin your rite,  enter your darkened temple, carrying  one
burning candle, white or lavender, with you.   Place it on the center of
your altar, sit, and meditate  on the meaning of  the rite.  When  you
feel the time is right, stand,  and go to the eastern point,  carrying
with you, the burning taper.   Light the votive at the eastern point
and go to the  southern, picturing, as  you do, an  arc of pure  strong
light curving from one candle to the next.  Continue to the West, and then
to the North, lighting the candles as  you go, and then walk to
your eastern  candle again,  having formed  a circle  of protective light
surrounding the area in which you worship..

          Return to the  center of the circle, replace the  candle on the
altar, and say:

          My Lady of  the Moon, who is called Diana,  Artemis, Levanah,
Isis and by any other names,  I come to you to  bring you my love and  my
devotion.  May you grant me the joy of your presence..

          Mentally divide the room  into four quadrants by visualizing a
line of  silvery moonlight from  the southeast to the northwest,  and from
the northeast to the southwest.  Go the  East, taking with you the
rose or incense.  Say:

          Sweet Goddess, the gentle breeze is the touch of your loving
hand, the wind of storm a reminder of your strength.  The sound of the
trees in the wind is your voice, and the fragrance of flowers borne on the
wind is your gift of beauty..

          Place  the rose  next to the  votive candle,  then stand  there
as you picture  the  quadrant  filling with  moonlight.    See  the
moonlight streaming quietly and gently into the room, filling the quadrant
          from center point to the edge of your circle..

         When this is  complete, take the red candle  to the South..
Place the gift and see the quadrant fill with moonlight.  Say:

          Most beloved  Lady, the light  of the candle is  a guide along
our path leading to you; its warmth  the reassurance of your presence  and
your love.  The light of the Sun is the knowledge you impart to us,
driving out ignorance and those things which can survive only in darkness..

          At the West:

          Lovely One, the  quiet pool is the  serenity of your being.   The
vast sea  where life  began on this  planet is  the vast sea  of your
being whence all life came; its waves  are the ebb and flow of the
universe you rule..

          At the North:

          Goddess of  all, the fertility  of the  earth is a  sign of  your
fertility, from whence all  life arose.  The solidity  and permanence
of  it are  still less than  yours.   The Earth's  fertility
feeds our bodies, and your fertility feeds our souls..

          Go to the center of your temple, which is now filled with moonlight..
          Everything in the  circle is touched  by it, blessed by  it,
including you.   Sit down and feel this  moonlight around you.   Know that
it is the  Goddess.  Realize that you are in the center of a sphere of
light that is half above and half above and half below where you sit..
Begin to breathe slowly and  evenly, deep breaths that penetrate  your
whole body.   When this rhythmic breathing becomes natural, imagine
that the moonlight by which you are surrounded enters you, fills you
entirely.  With each exhalation of your  breath, some of the essence  of
yourself leaves your body, and with each inhalation, the light enters you..
 You are  being filled  ever so  gently with  this beautiful  light..
This light, which  is the presence, the being of the Goddess, is
within you as well as without.  With each breath, you  are less yourself and
more the Goddess..

          When you are filled with light, filled with the Goddess,  the
shell of your body fades  away.  You have no body; there is nothing to
separate you from  the entire being  of the  Goddess.  Nothing  exists but
 the being of  which you  are apart.    You have  ceased to  be a
separate entity.   You are nothing and everything.   All that was, that
is, and all that will be, you are..
 
          Enjoy this  feeling as long as  you like.   When you feel it  is
time, picture the outer  shell of  your physical body  reforming,
becoming solid again.  It is being built out of the Universe of which you
are a part..

          Now,  as  you continue  your slow  deep  breathing, see  the
moonlight flowing out of your body, as gently  and slowly as it entered..
As  it flows out, realize there is a difference.  Because you have
become one with  the Goddess, with the Universe, your  being has changed..
As the moonlight flows out  of your  body, it takes  with it  a part of
that which was  yourself, now part of the Goddess, and leaves behind a
part of the Goddess, forever now part of you.  You become yourself again, solid as you were, but changed.  You are surrounded by the presence of the Goddess, which now contains a part of yourself ..

          Move again to the  East.  As you  speak, and after, picture the moonlight  in  that quadrant  flowing back  to its  source, leaving thatquadrant as it was..

          Do this at each quadrant, until  all the moonlight has returned
to the Moon..

          At the East:

           My Lady, guide my thoughts.  Let them lead always closer to you..

          At the South:

          Gracious Goddess, guide my actions.  Let them  always help and never
          harm others or myself..

          At the West:

            Lovely One, guide  my emotions:   Let  them be  healing and touched
          always by you..

          At the North:

            Sweet Goddess,  let my mind always be fertile and strong, that I may
          grow always toward you..

          Return to the East to complete the circle and say:

          Queen of Heaven,  I thank you for your presence,  both now and always..
          My love and devotion are yours.  Blessed be!

          All  spirits who  have joined  me  tonight may  depart, with  my love..
          Return to your proper places..

          Walk again around your circle,  but this time counterclockwise,
extinguishing the quadrant guards as you go, and at the same time,
mentally erasing the white line which surrounded your circle.  When the
candles are out and the circle gone, rap on your altar and say:

          The rite is ended..