The person didn't realize that the book is a definition junkies paradise ( most likely because they couldn't bother to read it. They just wanted me to read it and tell them how it ended. ) Margot Adler took her search to its zenith and I hope that she is pleased and proud of what she created.

What was really wanted was a rite to invoke the Goddess. I had never done that rite. Not, you know, officially. Have I ever felt joined with a presence that was distinctly feminine? Oh, geez, yes.

My approach to ritual is very brusque and business-like. I write prose, sure, but I get to the point. They are busy. So am I.

I have the pretty paperwork that some say will make or break a witch. I have only had one failure for a student. Most importantly, I have the experience, honesty and compassion that makes a witch. When I talk to my students, I warn them of the lure of pyrotechnics. That's my blanket term for Hollywood's special effects department. You want balls of fire, levitation and the raven in the corner. If you happen to like ravens, that's one thing. Don't come to me dressed like Elvira and expect me to take you seriously.

Bikers have "sidewalk commandos". The guys who "wanna be" bikers but no self respecting club will take them. Witches have "wanna be" witches. They show up and always ask in giggling voices if you can really do love spells. Or, if they have recently been told no by someone, they ask of curses. They are usually between 13 and 25, but not necessarily.

I used to try and teach such seekers of the shock value. After all, it's not as if I didn't use shock value once and while in my teens. I knew that was what I was doing, though. I didn't believe my own BS, I mean, come on!

I gave up after about six months because unlike such students, I am not a slow learner.

After that I always greeted my students with a lecture about what they WON'T get from me. My teaching of how to manipulate the material world is very guarded. I take the Rede very seriously, indeed. It would be nice if all did. If I give knowledge before there is emotional responsibility then I am harming everyone that gets hit by my power mad student. I say that the smart witch rules out all physical and mundane possibilities. The smart witch knows when NOT to use practical magick.

I teach my son and my students that there is no wrong way to talk to god. Satanists have evolved into agnostics but at least most are trying to be kind. There are idiots in every race and creed. I say that we, as humans, have the need to define ‘god' even though such experiences are always utterly subjective. Even if the people share the same dogma. We need to define something that has yet to be scientifically acknowledged.

Faith is believing in something without proof. Atheists /agnostics ( same thing by definition ) say they believe in nothing. With some of them it is that life has beaten them very badly. Others had nothing happen and their spirits are as bored as their minds.

I like to say that I am a philosopher because I would like to find out if I am right before I am dead. Or I say that I am a Free-lance Pagan. It sounds so much more lively than eclectic.

Students have to learn early with me that I talk to the dead. Some say it's a sin. I agree with Terry Pratchett. It's only good manners. I call it travelling if I am out. When someone comes to me, I call them hitchhikers. I've always been ready to let the dead speak and they have chastised me for it. It's like when I was 15 and went hitch hiking once and a while. I was always picked up by a middle aged man who lectured me on the danger of taking rides with strangers. To those men and to the dead I have always said with a carefree conscience: "Why? You didn't hurt me."

Such stunningly stupid logic makes those who truly love me groan in despair. I've been hurt by trusting the wrong people, sure. The closer they are to you, the more likely that they can dupe you. It doesn't matter. I would rather hand you my heart and trust you. To have to distrust everyone is just too painful to me. I think that if you believe the best in people, they will give it to you. If they can't, then that is something they should take up with their own shrink.

If you want to Draw Down the Moon and be touched by your god/dess, you had better be able to trust blindly.

You better have faith in your god/dess and yourself.

Because if you don't, No one will come to you. It's as simple as that. No practical magick will work. Not even a spitting candle. The Guardians will have no substance. Your rites will fall into the shadows, unseen. Unnoticed. Because if there is one thing that the gods won't tolerate; it's hypocrisy. There is no time or patience for that kind of crap.

"I need you now" is an invocation.

Or you can have the pomp and ceremony.....

Cast your circle. Be sure that you have inscribed the name of your goddess on the black (left) and the god on the white (right). You can dress the candles with an invoking oil or a commanding oil. Be careful about Commanding g-d. Things that are bigger/better/wiser than you often get annoyed when lesser beings Demand of them. Incense is usually psychic or a consecration. Stick or loose as is your personal preference.

Perhaps you are doing this to find out the "names of your gods"? The you want a vision, not an invoking. Different subject, different lecture. Another time, perhaps.

You will be acknowledging the elements and Guardians but you will not be asking them to attend. With what you want to do, invoking Guardians will leave you trying to watch too many elements.

Bless your water and salt. Mix them and do a self blessing.

Anoint yourself at the same points with either a spirit conjuring or a psychic/vision oil.

Sit cross-legged or lie down in the center of your circle. Be sure that you are comfortable because you need to forget about your body. Go to the bathroom before the rite, please.

If you want music, by all means but be sure that it will focus you inward. The music itself shouldn't distract you.

"I am one with all things. I breathe the wind. I sweat the seas. My body makes mountains and deserts. Nothing happens without my awareness. I am the Lady of Darkness. I am the Great Mother. I am the Huntress and the Maiden. I feel the passions of man and understand them. I feel the spirit of life and I belong to it. My body is the temple. May I be a worthy vessel for the Goddess."

What do you see? What do you feel? Let your mind drift and flow with the electricity that charges all living things. The fire on the altar, the incense fills your nose and lightness fills your mind. You weigh nothing.

When you come back, thank your goddess for the pleasant time. If it was an ugly vision/sensation, figure out what you did wrong. The Goddess will show up to tell you off. Ask Oz/Twyllwych/Terry. He knows that. There is no guarantee that just because she came, she was in a good mood or pleased with you.

Close your quarters and your circle. Have a decent meal around because it's a lot of hard work having the unseen running rampant in your body. You have just had a huge ethereal work out. If you find yourself queasy, aim for breads and crackers.

Some people see, I usually hear things. I have had so few "visions" that I once thought myself quite inadequate. It took a long time to accept that whispering in my ear or into the middle of my brain was just as acceptable. I do reading the same way. I stare off into the distance and I listen. I run about 75-80%. I've had people I couldn't read for the life of me yet the one right after was fine. Anyone claiming more than 80% better be giving a money back guarantee.

I mention that only because you may see something. You may only feel it. You may hear it. You may feel that it is something in your control but you may not. The joining through your belief in yourself and your god/dess is entirely yours. Even if this rite was done in a coven setting, each would feel/see/hear something slightly different from their neighbour. There is no way to avoid it because of the human element. And religious wars begin because some twit thinks that everyone must feel/see/hear the same thing as they do. Then they compound their stupidity by thinking that any other interpretaion is "wrong". Like my Dad taught me, an idiot is an idiot. No matter what colour coat he is wearing.

If you do this in a coven, then let your questions to your neighbour be asked out of honest curiosity. Not because you would covet or alter what they experienced.