PG15 Golden Cup

 In the Wiccan Great Rite, a ritual celebrating creation and birth, the chalice and athame (a black-handled ceremonial double-edged dagger) play a central symbolic role. The athame is placed in the chalice to represent sexual intercourse and the union of male and female. In other rituals, the chalice is filled with water or wine and blessed before being passed around the circle of coven members, who take a small sip. This symbolically unites the members.A part of the tradition of Celtic hospitality was that of welcoming guests with a drink from a quaich   (a special kind of shallow two-handled drinking cup or bowl). Sharing a cup was also seen as a sign of trust between the people drinking from it – because it is offered and taken with both hands, the drinker could not hold a weapon at the same time and the sharing of the drink was also a guarantee that it hadn’t been poisoned!It was used for dispensing Eucharistic wine during the celebration of Mass. A sacrament and the central act of worship in many Christian churches, which was instituted at the Last Supper and in which bread and wine are consecrated and consumed in remembrance of Jesus's death.