The Five Fold Kiss

The five fold kiss is an important part of Wicca and is pat of the initiation rituals for each of the degrees. In the first degree, the initiate is taken to the West, the quarter of the rising sun. The initiator kneels before the initiate. This is an important and moving part of the ritual. It is an act of humility on the part of those who are initiating and a reminder that the initiation is both a privilege and a great responsibility. It should be done by the most senior HPs or HP present:

"In other religions the postulant kneels while the priest towers above him/her, but in the Art Magical we are taught to be humble and so we kneel to welcome and say:

FIVE FOLD KISS FEMALE

"Blessed be thy feet, that have brought thee in these ways.
Blessed be thy knees, that shall kneel at the sacred altar.
Blessed be thy womb, without which we would not be.
Blessed be thy breasts, formed in beauty.
Blessed be thy lips, that shall utter the Sacred Names."

For the kiss on the lips, they embrace, length-to-length, with their feet touching each others. When he reaches the womb, she spreads her arms wide, and the same after the kiss on the lips.

FIVE FOLD KISS MALE

"Blessed be thy feet, that have brought thee in these ways.
Blessed be thy knees, that shall kneel at the sacred altar.
Blessed be thy phallus, without which we would not be.
Blessed be thy breasts, formed in strength.
Blessed be thy lips, that shall utter the Sacred Names."

For the kiss on the lips, they embrace, length-to-length, with their feet touching each others. When she reaches the phallus, he spreads his arms wide, and the same after the kiss on the lips

With each line, the initiator kisses the appropriate part of the body. For the initiate the kiss is a symbol of the sacredness of the body which has been given to us by the Gods so that we may experience the beauty and joy of the material world. For a woman, the body is considered a temple of the Goddess whose divinity she carries in the centre of the soul; for a man, his body is likewise a temple of the God; and for both sexes the body is a sacred and holy shrine to be revered and not despised, to be honoured, and not treated with shame.

So the kissing of the feet in the five-fold kiss is far removed from anything shameful or degrading - quite the opposite in fact.