Definitions for "GREAT RITE"
Related Terms:
Sacred , Worship, Blessing, Priest, Priestess, Devotion, Ritual, Solemnize, Baraka, Benediction, Puja, Sanctify, Consecration, Holy, Shrine, Votary, Sanctification, Consecrate, Celibate, Vow, Adoration, Sacrament, Ordinance, Aarti, Consecrated, Yagna, Means of grace, Oblation, Bless , Glorify, Anointing, Piety, Devadasi, Dedicate, Unction, Iseum, Holy spirit, Relics, Saint, Votive, Fellowship, Holiness, Baptism, Rite, Blessed, Ex-voto, Ceremonial, Beatify, Commitment ceremony, High priestess
An act of ritual sex performed by many Neopagan traditions. It may involve actual sexual intercourse by a committed couple in private; alternatively, it may be symbolic in nature.
It is a ritual which symbolizes the union of the Goddess and the God. The ritual involves a symbolic sexual act between the High Priest and High Priestess which may be physical if both so choose. If the act is actual, it is always performed in private with both participants fully consenting. It is never a requirement that this ritual be an actual sexual one and is in most cases only performed in the symbolic sense.
A sacred ritual that includes actual or symbolic sex.
This is the most revered sacrament in the Wiccan religion and is the reunion, through love, of that which had become separate. This rite is normally associate with the sexual union of man and woman, but it can also be the reunion of, say for instance, the spirit of a particular person with that of the God or Goddess as divine lover. This ritual is about becoming one with the Beloved, in whatever form it is perceived.
Symbolic sexual union of the Goddess and God, often represented by lowering the athame into the chalice of wine.
A powerful Rite that done literally involves sex, but can be symbolized by the lowering of the athame into the chalice.
In Wicca, the major ritual of male-female polarity, which is also the third-degree initiation rite. It can be either symbolic, in the presence of the coven, or 'actual' - i.e., involving intercourse - in which case it is always conducted in private. In our tradition, only a married couple or established lovers may perform the 'actual' Great Rite together.
In Wicca, the major ritual combining the male-female energy polarity. Normally enacted in a symbolic manner.
Ritual Union of God and Goddess
the Craft's ritual of the "Hieros Gamos", or Sacred Marriage of the Goddess and the God, the Marriage of the Divine Polarities, whether symbolic (in the presence of others) or actual (in private and only between established lovers and working-partners); it is an essential part of the Traditional Wiccan rite of Third Degree Initiation
The rite which is the main feature of the third degree initiation, and which is also laid down for certain festivals. It is sexual in nature, but may be `actual' (and private to the couples concerned) or symbolic, as the participants wish.
In Wicca, this is the major ritual of male/female polarity. It symbolizes the "Sacred Marriage" between the God and the goddess. The ritual may involve actual intercourse between the High Priest and High Priestess if they both are consenting (and preferably either married or established lovers), or it may be done symbolically by the High Priest plunging his Athame point down into the Chalice held by the High Priestess.
In Wicca, the Great Rite is either ritual sexual intercourse, or else a ritual symbolic representation of sexual intercourse. 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.