In many ways, ritual is one of the cornerstones of most Pagan
practice. Perhaps not the ornate, formal and complex rituals that
are detailed in many books, but definitely the ritual observance of
different events. I think that a lot of people have a particular
vision of what ritual is, and I believe that ritual is so much more
than is commonly included in it's definition.
Lets start by looking at the fancy book rituals. These were
something that really drew me in when I was first learning. I loved
the idea of these play-like rituals, where there were costumes,
scripts, distinct movements and everything had layers of meaning. I
still like this type of ritual, although it is very rarely a part of
my practice.
I think these rituals have use. They are great for beginners who are
just learning how to do things. They give you a framework and all
the details, which is wonderful if you aren't quite sure what your
own style is yet. In some ways, it is like a paint by numbers piece.
The outline is there, and there is a handy little key to show you
which colors go where. You make a nice piece when you are done, and
you can typically see why different colors go where they do. The
more you do, the more you start to know the colors before you look
them up, and the more you think of different patterns you might like
to paint or alterations to the outline that you might like better.
Formal rituals are also good for groups, especially groups that may
have open invitations or include people who aren't as familiar with
ritual structure. I have been to wonderful free-form rituals and
have also participated in rituals that floundered because the
participants weren't sure what they should be doing (even those who
were nominated to do specific actions like calling elements). What
structured rituals give is a cohesive, working model with which you
can run a ritual. This is especially great if the person hosting the
ritual isn't wanting to do all the work themselves or doesn't have a
lot of people who are comfortable stepping into different roles
without a lot of direction.
But ritual isn't always these grand productions. Ritual is, at it's
essence, a set of actions that is done a particular way. It doesn't
have to be spiritual or religious at all. Most of us have rituals we
do every day that we may not even be aware of. I do the same things,
in the same order when I wake up and when I get ready for bed. These
are daily rituals for me. If I don't get to do them, I feel sort of
disjointed.
What ritual brings to the table is consistency. Whether it is a
ritual you do every day (like daily prayer or meditation) or one you
only do once a year (like Sabbats), each time you do the ritual, you
are adding another bead onto the string. Alone, each ritual has
power, but when you look at them all strung together, they become
more than the sum of their parts. Each time you do the ritual, you
are reminded of the other times you have done it. This adds both
weight and meaning to the rituals.
The repetition of ritual behaviors lets us both build upon and fall
back on the bones we have set up. Our lives all have times of ebb
and times of flow. Some days we may find ourselves particularly
inspired or deeply spiritual. At these times it is natural to take
the rituals we do and deepen them. We may spend more time on it, or
rework parts of it to better suit our needs. We may find ourselves
spending hours planning new layers for our rituals or creating art or
tools that we will use in them. Other days we may feel particularly
drained. While we know that we want to do our rituals, we may not
have the energy to really throw ourselves into it. Because of the
nature of the ritual, we can let ourselves rely on our past
experiences to honor the ritual and often we may find that just
making the decision to go through the actions gives us a sense of
peace and comfort that helps us through the hard times.
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