Symbolic Version of The Great Rite
In the symbolic version the High Priest plunges the athame, or ritual knife (the male symbol), into a cup or chalice (the female symbol) which is filled with wine and is held by the High Priestess. The Great Rite symbolizes creation in the union of the Maiden Goddess with the Lover God, and thus is also known as a fertility rite.
Read more about this topic: Great Rite
Famous quotes containing the words symbolic, version and/or rite:
“The act of bellringing is symbolic of all proselytizing religions. It implies the pointless interference with the quiet of other people.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)
“Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Deuteronomy 5:15.
See Exodus 22:8 for a different version of this fourth commandment.
“[T]he Congregational minister in a neighboring town definitely stated that ‘the same spirit which drove the herd of swine into the sea drove the Baptists into the water, and that they were hurried along by the devil until the rite was performed.’”
—For the State of Vermont, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)