Listen to the
Words of the Great Mother,
She, who of old, was also called among men
Artemis, Astarte, Athena, Dione, Melusine,
Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Diana,
Arianrhod, Isis, Bride
and by many other names.
Whenever ye have
need of me,
once in the month, and better it be when the moon is full,
then shall ye assemble in some secret place and adore me,
who am Queen of all Witches.
There shall ye
assemble, ye who are fain to learn all sorcery,
yet have not won its deepest secrets.
To these I will teach things that are yet unknown.
And ye shall be free from slavery;
and as a sign that ye are truly free,
ye shall be naked in your rites.
And ye shall dance, sing, feast, make music and love,
all in my presence.
For mine is the
ecstasy of the spirit,
and mine is also joy on Earth.
Keep pure your
highest ideal;
Strive ever towards it;
Let naught stop you or turn you aside.
For 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 unutterable.
Nor do I demand aught in sacrifice.
For behold, I am the mother of all living,
and my love is poured out upon the Earth.
From me all things proceed,
and to me all things must return.
Hear ye the
words of the Star Goddess;
she in the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven,
and whose body encircles the universe:
I who am the beauty of the green earth,
and the white moon among the stars,
and the mystery of the waters,
call unto thy soul: Arise, and come unto me.
For I am the soul 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 thine innermost divine self be enfolded in the rapture of the
infinite.
Let My worship be within the heart that rejoices;
for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.
And therefore let there be beauty and strength, power and
compassion,
honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you.
And thou who
thinkest to seek for me,
know thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not
unless thou knowest this mystery:
That if that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee,
then 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.
Attributed to Doreen Valiente
Cat's Commentary:
Since Wiccans have no actual scripture, even common liturgical literature is subject to revision. The Charge of the Goddess is one of the best loved pieces of Wiccan literature and there are many different versions of it. The version above is the one of the versions that I was given during my 1st degree training. I've chosen to post this version because I like the more formal language and the expanded poetry. I find that it works well within ritual. (Of course parts of it also work well within ritual taken alone.)
The charge of the Goddess is alternately attributed to Charles Leland (who was supposed to have received it from a gypsy woman) and to Doreen Valiente. This version seems to be very like the version published by Starhawk in Spiral Dance which she attributes to Doreen Valiente originally.
Below are links to some other versions of the Charge available on the web. I've chosen the sites below for several reasons. The first consideration was, of course, to have some different versions of the Charge. The next consideration was to link to pages which attempted to provide some information on where their information came from (i.e., who it is attributed to.) Finally, I tried to link to sites with nice design elements or which lead back to homepages with significant additional content. I hope that you enjoy the additional information:
Greenman's Charge of the Goddess Page
WLPA Charge of the Goddess Page
Shanem Falconfire's Charge of the Goddess Page
WLPA Charge of the Goddess Page
Kathry Huxtable's Charge of the Goddess Page
Arion Rhys' Charge of the Goddess Page
Salem Tarot's Charge of the Goddess Page