Hello, everyone! Tonight's post is something that I often share with people individually, and I thought it was time to share it with a wider audience who might appreciate having it in their practice. As pagans we feel a strong connection to the earth and the animals in it, and so many of us feel a deep sadness when we see animals who have been killed at the side of the road. There is a small rite I've been doing for them for decades whenever I was driving around, and I thought it might be useful to you as well. I've also used it during crossing over ceremonies for pets, and at my altar for animals who are at the mercy of factory farming.
The inspiration for this ritual came from an old book called Magical Rites from the Crystal Well by Ed Fitch. Published in 1984, it was a compilation of articles and ceremonies from a pagan newsletter, The Crystal Well, that was around in the 1960s and 1970s. The book, with its original deep purple cover, was a bit hard to get for a time (I believe it was out of print...I have to hunt down copies for my students at used bookstores), but I am happy to report that it appears to be in print again with a new cover on Amazon. I'm not an Amazon advertiser, but here's a link if you want to take a look, for your convenience:
It is an amazing book to add to your witchcraft library, and it has a rite of release in its pages that inspired my own mini-ceremony that I am about to share here.
It is generally believed that the spirits of wild creatures have a much easier time returning to nature than us modern humans, who often set ourselves apart from the wild. Nevertheless, the deaths of these creatures are often sudden and violent as being hit by a car can be, and I often worry that sometimes the souls might be in shock and unable to move on as gently as we would like. i also worry for the kin of the animal who might be suffering a loss nearby. let's face it, you can't stop by the side of the road to do a ritual for every animal you see - in some cases, doing so might put you at risk of becoming a road kill yourself - and so I try to offer my assistance in the form of a ritual as I travel nearby.
Upon seeing the body by the roadside, I make the sign of the Horned God with my fingers (you can also just use one finger) and draw an invoking pentagram (starting and ending at the top of the star) to begin the rite. I then say the following words after a moment of silence in respect for the life that has passed:
May your spirit move on to that good and kind place
May your suffering be at an end
May you know peace.
May you and yours never be lonely,
May you travel through the next realms easily
And may you know joy.
I then think of sending strength and healing to any clan the animal has, and then picture a doorway of white light opening in the air to the east of the body. I picture the spirit leaving the body, and the empty body settling, ready to be returned to the earth. Through the doorway is a beautiful, unspoiled natural habitat for the creature, and I encourage them to move towards it. They move through the doorway, and it fades. If the animal is very young, such as a fawn, I picture a herd of deer on the other side of the door, waiting to welcome the deer into their herd. If the animal looks like it was a lost pet, I send energy to anyone who was looking for them to find peace and healing in their loss and on the other side of the doorway is a cottage in the country, with a warm hearth and one of my ancestors waiting to welcome them inside for food and comfort. I then use inscribe a second pentagram in the air, starting and ending at the bottom 9that's the way i was taught) to close the rite.
If performing a ritual such as this fits your practice, please feel free to use mine and pass it on, or to craft one of your own (and I hope mine provides inspiration.)
We are witches. And witches heal, and guide the way towards the wild in all of us.