It happened this way:
When the time was right, when the season had come, he came to the deadly place and was sacrificed. Knowingly he came, willingly he came, in honor and sorrow he came, to do what had to be done.
His death made life possible; from it sprang the food we eat. Grain grew where his blood flowed, animals walked forth from the shade of his fallen body. Like an ash felled by an ax, his body lay and, with its rotting, nourished the ground.
This is the way it happened, and the way it happens today.
For each moment dies and nourishes the next as it is birthed by the Goddess. Each year dies and nourishes the next as it is birthed by the Goddess. Each life ends and nourishes the next as it is birthed by the Goddess.
You who die and are reborn, in this season of death, we remember your deeds.
You who die and are reborn, in this season of life, we remember your sacrifice.
You who die and are reborn, in this season of life and dead, we remember what happened, and we praise you in our living, and we praise you in our dying.
Serith, Ceisiwr — A Pagan Ritual Prayer Book