I was asked to show our script for Samhain.  I think it is appropriate as it gives a sense of what many Wiccans do tonight or tomorrow night.  So below the fold I have reproduced our script.

SAMHAIN, 2010

I.
Individual and Group preparation

A. Individual: private ablutions and
meditation.  Dress in black.

B. Bring pictures of those who have passed
away

After grounding:

II.
Stating of Purpose: 

On this night all
roads cross, all gates open.  All
nights, all dreams, all worlds are come together at the death of the old
year.  On this night the ancients
said that the gates of the other world opened wide, and the veil grew
thin.  And so we seek guidance from
those who have walked before us.

III.
Invoking of Elements-

IV.
Consecration of elements-

V. Cense and
Asperge altar, athame-

VI. Casting
the Circle (3X)

VII. Cense and asperge
Circle-

VIII. Calling
the Quarters-

 

IX.  Honored Dead Invocation:

Ye dead who lived in wisdom strong and plain,

Who worked of old the work we now begin,

Come work and feast, and walk with us again,

Who
are in spirit as in flesh your kin.

X. Invoking
the Goddess- HP

I invoke you beloved
Hekate:
You of
roads and crossways,
Saffron
cloaked Goddess of the Heavens, the Underworld, and the sea.
You who
come among the tombs, dancing with dead souls
the Bacchic
rite.  

You daughter of Perses,
lover of the Wilderness,
exulting
with the deer and dogs, in the night.  

You,  unconquerable Queen.
Deshevelled
One of compelling countenance!
You,
bull-huntress, universal sovereign empress: You mountain-roaming
guide,
Nurturer of youth, I entreat O maiden, your presence at
these our
sacred rites, with grace to your children,
and a
joyful heart eternal.

 

(crown with
lavender and mugwort)

XI. The Words
of the Dark Lady-

You who seek the mysteries of the Earth, the
secrets of air and darkness, of blood and fire, the silence of the outer-most
stars, come unto me, and I shall whisper to you in the depths of midnight.

You shall approach Me in silence, and as a sign
that you are free from fear, your throat shall bare to My blade, for fear has
no place in My mysteries, and the knowledge you seek will destroy you if there
is fear in your heart; so of you I demand the truth of all you are, and in
return I give all that you may be. 

For I am the dolmen arch beyond which stretches
the mystery of the infinite. I am the fire that harrows the forest and quickens
the sleeping seed.  I am the
silence before birth and beyond death. I am the mirror before which your soul
stands naked. 

I am mist in the twilight, the sky of midnight,
and the shadows on the Moon. All come unto Me at the end, and yet I am the dark
womb from which all life emerges. 
Behold, I await you at the crossroads, and I will lead you through the
darkness within.

 

XII. Invocation
of the God-

Dread Lord of Shadows

God of Life and the
Giver of Life

Yet is the knowledge of
Thee the knowledge of death.

Open safely, I pray
Thee,

The gates through which
all must pass

That our dear ones, who
have gone before,

return this night to
join us, if they will. 

And when our time comes,
as it must,

O Thou, the Comforter
and Consoler,

The Giver of Peace and
Rest,

we will enter Thy realms
gladly, and unafraid,

for we know that when
rested and refreshed among our dear ones,

We shall be reborn again
by the grace of the Great Mother.

Let it be at the same
time and in the same place as our beloved ones,

And let us meet and know
and remember and love them again.

Descend we pray Thee,
upon Thy servant and priest, ­­­­­____.

– – – – – –
Listen to the words of the Dark God, he who of old was known among men
as
Thatanos, Iakchos, Donn, Anubis, Hades, Setesh, Herne, Hoder,  and
by many
other names…

XIII: The
Words of the Dark Lord-

I am the God who waits
in the dead of the year, in the dark of life, at the end of the lane where no
birds sing.  There you will come
again to My hand.  Be not afraid to
look upon My death’s head, for I have other faces and another hand to give
again that which I take.  And
more.  Come gladly when I
call!  The Great Mother holds my
promise; and no evil shall harm you as you rest in My hand.
I am the
shadow in the bright day; I am the reminder of mortality at the
height of
life.  I am the never ending veil of Night where the star
goddess
dances.  I am the death that must be so that life may continue;
for behold,
life is eternal because the living must die.

Remember that you
trusted Me in the Spring-green child-places, finding enchantment; found Me
merry in summer attendance when you wed; feared not to meet Me in the autumn
glow, the final harvest of life abundant. . . . So shrink not from Me now in
Winter’s dark.  This is My
time.  But have you not seen the
return of life to the earth, safe from My keeping?  Is not My lesson repeated with every year?  Will I do less for you who love the
Earth, the Gods, and one another?

I am the great Lord of
Death who awaits you.  Have faith
in Life; and trust in Me.  The love
which sustains all things, sustains the time of death as well.

Blow me a kiss when the
sky is dark, and I will smile, but no kiss returns; for my kiss is the final
one on mortal flesh. As the great cycle of the year brings forth the time of My
domain, take Me into your hearts, as I have always taken you into Mine.

Come now, light your
candles.

XIV: Everyone comes
to the altar to light a votive or other candle  around which pictures of their beloved dead have been
set.  They invite their departed
loved ones to visit, if they will.

The
Dark Lord goes to the West, and cuts an opening enabling the spirits invited to
enter.  Members continue to send
out their invitations. 

SOMEONE:

Behold! In the West is
the Summerland, the land of the Dead, where so many of our loved ones have gone
for rest and renewal.  On this
night we hold communion with them. 
As our circle is opened I call upon all of you to hold the image of your
loved ones in your hearts and minds, 
that we may reach out to them.

The circle is then
closed.

 There will be a period of silence for
personal meditation.

XIV: HPS

We thank you for your
presence and your blessing, Lord of Death and Rebirth.  Return now, we ask, to your realm to
which all must each ultimately go.

He leaves

XV.  Cakes and Wine

HP: As the athame is the
male,

HPs: So the cup is the
female

Both: And conjoined they
bring blessedness.

Both: O Queen most
secret, bless this food unto our bodies; bestowing health, wealth, joy,
strength, peace, and that fulfillment of love that is perfect happiness.

 

XVI. The Feast
with the Dead

Everyone
makes his or her own prayer to those they invited and places some food and
drink before their picture or other symbol.

 

Farewell to the
Dead.  Everyone makes his or her
own prayer to those they invited.

Farewell to Goddess
and to Quarter Guardians

 

XVI: Closing
and Benediction- HP

In the name of Dryghton,
the ancient providence, which was from the beginning and is for all eternity,
male and female, the original source of all things, all knowing, all pervading,
all powerful, changeless, eternal. 
In the name of our Lady of the Moon and the Horned Lord of Death and
Resurrection; in the names of the Mighty Ones of the Four Quarters, the Kings
of the Elements; Blessed Be this place and this time and they who are here with
us.

Grounding of Circle