Calendar of the Sun
13 Wolfmonath

Compitalia Mania, Day of the Mother of Ghosts

Colors: White and Black
Element: Air
Altar: Upon cloth of black lay many sheer cloths of white, which each person takes as they enter and places over their heads. Lay out also four white candles, incense of myrrh, many loaves of bread made in the shape of men and women, and many skeins of handspun wool.
Offerings: Woolen effigies, to be made in the ritual. Make offerings in a graveyard.
Daily Meal: Fasting today until the evening meal.

Compitalia Mania Invocation

We call upon thee, Mania, Mother of Ghosts,
On this your day when you arise to admonish us.
Let not the spirits of the Dead torment us,
For we love and remember them.
Let not the spirits of the Dead pursue us,
For we wish them peace and rest.
Let not the spirits of the Dead wail in our ears,
For we cannot give them life, or comfort,
And so we beseech thee, Mother of Ghosts,
To take them into your dark arms
And sing them to sleep until it is time
For them to come once more
Into the world of life and breath and body.
(The bread loaves are passed around. Each is named with the name of someone dead who refuses to be forgotten. They are eaten.)
Hail, Mania, Mother of Ghosts!
We take these your children into our bodies,
We make them part of our lives,
And then return them again to the Earth.
May they live again in our flesh and blood
For these few days, and share our thoughts
And hopes, and dreams, and make themselves ready
To come once again into flesh of their own.

(The wool skeins are passed around, and fashioned into the shape of men and women, the Children of Mania, the Manes. These are hung about the house, over windows and doorways, in order to honor the Manes and keep them from tormenting the living.)