Aerieann V. Coe

SUPPLIES

• Athame (or Ritual Dagger) • Chalice of Milk • Lupercal “Blood” (or other blood substitute, recipe below) • Hand Mirror • Red Candles • Pomegranates (and other red fruits) • Poppies (and other red flowers) • Fire Pit (or other fire-safe container) • Lighter • Sage Wand/Smudge • Parchment Paper (hand-pressed is best) • Red Ink/Pen • Censor and Copal Resin • Mask (party or masquerade mask) [optional] • Wolf Votives (images, statues) [optional] • Fertility Votives (images, statues) [optional] • Sexual Votives (yoni and phallus) [optional] • Red, black, silver crystals/stones [optional] • Red, Black, or Silver Ritual Attire [optional] • Drum or Singing Bowl [optional]

SET UP: Place altar in the center of your ritual circle. You will be in front of the altar. Cover the altar with red, black and silver crystals and stones, and Wolf/Fertility/Sexual Votives. Place the drum and singing bowl within arms reach. Place the Athame/Ritual Dagger on the Altar, as well as the Chalice of Milk and red Fruits and Flowers. Place the mask next to the Hand Mirror and Athame. Light all candles, and prepare the fire-safe container. Place the Red Ink/Pen and parchment near the drum and singing bowl.

PART ONE: Purification

- Cast a circle (or your form of creating sacred space) - Smudge the space with the Sage - Clear the energies with the singing bowl

PART TWO: Grounding

- Place your mask near the wolf votives - Beat the drum, while humming/singing/making noise along with the drum sound, (grounding yourself) - Take out the Athame/Dagger and dip it in the Lupercal “Blood” (or blood substitute) - Pick up the hand mirror and smear the “blood” on your forehead - Ground your root chakra and meditate on an aspect of your life that needs a kick - Place the mask on your face, over the “blood”, and light the Copal Resin

PART THREE: Invocation & Ritual

- Call upon Lupercalian Deities:

Horned Deities (Pan/Faunus/Lupercus, Hathor, Amun, Cernunnos, the Horned Serpent, Baphomet, Lucifer)

Wolf Deities (Artemis/Diana, Leto, The Morrighan, Skadi)

Fertility Deities (Ubasti/Bast, Heqet, Osiris, Kokopelli, Xochipilli, Akna, Ishtar/ Inanna/Astoreth, Rosmerta, Babb/Aranyanya, Ēostre, Freyja, Dionysus/Bacchus, The Dagda, Kostroma, Rainbow Serpent)

Sexuality Deities (Oshun, Astarte, Rati/Ushas, Eros, Pathos, Venus/Aphrodite, Lilith)

(These are just some examples. If you have a Matron/Patron deity, and want to honor certain aspects of them that pertain to Lupercalia, feel free)

- Ask them to bless the coming year with their energies/Say a prayer to them - Offer the fruits, flowers, milk and Copal to them (and any other offerings you wish) - Write down one part/person/aspect of your life that isn’t serving you anymore on the

parchment with the red ink/pen - burn the paper in the dish while praying to the deities that they help you remove this

part/person/aspect (A Lupercalian “spring-cleaning” of the Spirit)

PART FOUR: Divination (Optional)

- Do a Tarot Reading around Love/Hate, Hope/Despair (opposing forces in your life)

PART FIVE: Thanks & End

- Thank the Deities you invoked, and dispose of the offerings accordingly - Thank the Universe - Clean up the space

• Lupercal “Blood” Recipe

⁃  1 part Myrrh

⁃  2 parts Dragon’s Blood

⁃  3 drops of Red Wine (or however many it needs)

1. Grind the Myrrh resin and Dragon’s blood into a fine powder

2. Add the red wine until it forms a paste