Basic Symbolism (From our Handfasting)
Circle: (sacred hoop, ring): An ancient and universal symbol of unity, wholeness, infinity, the goddess, and female power. To earth-centered religions throughout history as well as to many contemporary pagans, it represents the feminine spirit or force, the cosmos or a spiritualized Mother Earth, and a sacred ritual space.
Elements and Directions: The four basic Elements to many pagans are Earth (the direction of North, stability, the home and hearth, the physical, stone, plants, crystal, security, money, the winter, the pentacle, and midnight) Air (the direction of East, thought, intelligence, truth, the athame [or ritual blade], incense, the spring, and the dawn) Fire (the direction of South, the creative spark, the cleansing fire, passion, sexuality, inspiration, action, lit candles, the summer, and noontime) and Water (the direction of West, intuition, emotion, feeling, the oceans, lakes, and seas, the chalice, the Autumn, and twilight). The Directions represent: Above (the sky, the stars, clouds, dreams, the flight of the dance and what is literally above your head), Below (the rich soil, the roiling center of the earth, and literally what is below your feet), and Within (the internal, the creative/intuitive/passionate/life spark that comes from deep in your belly and the deepest, truest, most hidden part of yourself.
Pentacle or Pentagram: The Pentagram is an image of an up-right, five-pointed star (single point on top) drawn inside a circle with a single continuous line making the five points equally spaced. An ancient symbol, it represents the four basic elements (Earth, Air, Fire, and Water) plus a fifth element - Spirit. To a pagan the pentagram image is often symbolic of the mysteries of creation.
The Goddess: The sacred feminine that we believe resides in all of us, the Mother Earth, Gaia (Greek name for the Goddess Earth), Aphrodite (Greek goddess of love) Freya (Norse goddess of beauty and love) Venus (Roman goddess of love) Inanna (Sumerian Queen of Heaven [Ishtar to the Mesopotamians, Astarte to the Egyptians] the greatest of all the mother goddesses of the Sumerians. Goddess of fertility, goddess of sex, goddess of the moon, goddess of war. Lady of heaven, lady of sorrow and battles. The great lover, the great mother).
The God: The sacred masculine that we believe resides in all of us, the Father Sky, Cernunos (Horned god of virility) Eros (Greek God of Love) Adonis Beloved of Aphrodite, god of vegetation and re-birth. Lug also Lugh, Lleu ([Celtic] A sun god and a hero god, young, strong, radiant with hair of gold, master of all arts, skills and crafts). Pan [Greek] God of herds, music, laughter, fertility and male sexuality. Dionysus ([Greek] God of religious ecstasy and wine, accompanied always by satyrs and nymphs. The force of life in all growing things.)
The Full Moon: Adulthood, fertility, as well as the bearing and nurturing of life, full maturity, projects in their prime, coming to full fruition and manifestation.
Handfasting: A wedding that is either non-state registered or one in which a marriage license is filed. For some it is a year and a day, renewable "so long as love shall last" and for others it is a commitment to be together through many lives. The hands are generally bound with a cord as part of the ritual.
The Great Rite: "Sing, feast, dance, make music and love, all in My presence, for Mine is the ecstasy of the spirit and Mine also is joy on earth." - from the Charge of the Goddess by Doreen Valiente. One of the most sacred rituals in witchcraft is the Great Rite. Most often it is performed with the athame and the chalice, though lovers who are also working partners, may sometimes make love in private ritual. Whether symbolic or actual, the Great Rite is a powerful form of sex magic, evoking the powers of feminine and masculine, and bringing this duality into union and balance within the Circle and within the priest and priestess.
The Labyrinth: An ancient symbol that relates to wholeness. It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path. It represents a journey to our own center and back again out into the world. Labyrinths have long been used as meditation and prayer tools. Walking the labyrinth is a metaphor for your life's journey. This is similar to moving through the events of your dreams. Each is real in its own space-time. Each is there for us to guide us to the end of the game - the center of the labyrinth - the metaphoric the source of creation. [Feel free to walk the labyrinth if you wish.] Here is a jpg of the labyrinth design I created for people to walk during our handfasting.
