{"id":1579,"date":"2013-11-12T17:56:35","date_gmt":"2013-11-12T23:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=1579"},"modified":"2013-11-11T20:12:57","modified_gmt":"2013-11-12T02:12:57","slug":"putting-mystery-in-your-rituals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2013\/11\/putting-mystery-in-your-rituals.html","title":{"rendered":"Putting Mystery in Your Rituals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I\u2019m in awe of Jason Mankey.\u00a0 He can\u2019t sleep, so instead of popping a couple benadryl and turning on SyFy till they kick in, he gets up and writes this excellent post<\/a> on the necessity of mystery in ritual.\u00a0 Jason discusses a ritual he attended that looked OK but just didn\u2019t feel right:<\/p>\n

my friend\u2019s ritual felt wrong to me because it lacked mystery. It wasn\u2019t lacking mystery in the sense of \u201cI know what\u2019s coming next,\u201d but mystery in the sense that it didn\u2019t connect me to a higher power or idea. Talking about the Wheel of the Year is one thing, feeling it and experiencing it are something else, and that\u2019s when the true mystery of Pagan ritual done properly comes to the forefront.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of my most popular posts is this one called Common Ritual Errors and How to Avoid Them<\/a>.\u00a0 It\u2019s a collection of things I\u2019ve seen done wrong \u2013 and things I\u2019ve done wrong myself \u2013 and what to do right instead.\u00a0 But it\u2019s a rather technical post \u2013 it deals primarily with planning and logistical errors in rituals.\u00a0 These are errors typically made by beginning ritualists\u2026 and by experienced ritualists who haven\u2019t learned from their mistakes.<\/p>\n

I used to have a boss who liked to ask \u201cdo you have ten years\u2019 experience or do you have one year\u2019s experience ten times over?\u201d<\/p>\n

Putting mystery in your rituals is a lot more complicated than making sure your script has all the necessary directions or that your ritual is appropriate for the size of the gathering and the venue where it will be held.\u00a0 If mystery was simple and straightforward it wouldn\u2019t be mystery!\u00a0 Still, there are things you can do to help your rituals speak to the participants\u2019 souls and not just their brains.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Probably the most common mystery killer is explaining too much.\u00a0 In a public ritual you\u2019re almost certain to have a few people with very little knowledge of Paganism.\u00a0 Maybe they know a thing or two about Beltane and Samhain, but do they have any idea about Imbolc or Lughnasadh?\u00a0 Even if they\u2019ve been to several generic Pagan rituals, it\u2019s likely they don\u2019t know much of anything about the Egyptian temple rituals<\/a> we do every Summer Solstice.<\/p>\n

We have to give these people enough background information to understand the context of the ritual.\u00a0 But the key is to provide context<\/em>, not an encyclopedic explanation of the origins, survivals, and contemporary expressions of the occasion.\u00a0 A paragraph or two at the very beginning of the ritual is usually sufficient.\u00a0 Once the ritual proper begins, limit yourself to words of introduction, such as \u201clet us now cast the circle, to create sacred space in which to work.\u201d\u00a0 A dissertation on the history and theory of circles is both unnecessary and unhelpful.<\/p>\n

When in doubt, show, don\u2019t tell.<\/p>\n

Another mystery killer is a lack of participation.\u00a0 When you\u2019ve got more than ten or twelve people, there simply aren\u2019t enough parts to go around \u2013 and splitting parts too many ways makes for an clumsy ritual.\u00a0 Unless your ritual is unique and dramatic and riveting, non-participating attendees\u2019 minds will start to wander and even if there is mystery involved, they\u2019re likely to miss it.\u00a0 Good pacing and good presentation help, but getting everyone involved in the ritual is best.<\/p>\n

Singing and chanting get people involved (just keep it simple so you don\u2019t need handouts).\u00a0 So does dancing \u2013 spiral dances and circle dances are traditional, but any group movement will help.\u00a0 Processions are a great way to start a ritual.\u00a0 At Beltane, we stopped our play at various points and asked \u201cwhat should this person do?\u201d\u00a0 At Samhain, the attendees became part of a play when the Unseelie Court arrived and made to carry off the mortals.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve had great success with issuing a call and inviting people to respond.\u00a0 Sometimes this is a call to come forward and make an offering.\u00a0 Sometimes it\u2019s a call to choose a token, or to receive one at random. \u00a0Sometimes it\u2019s a call to light a candle, or to swing a hammer, or to do any of a million symbolic acts.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In addition to being participative, these acts provide an opening for mystery.\u00a0 As a ritual writer, you know what swinging a hammer at Brighid\u2019s forge means in a traditional sense, but you have no way of knowing what the combination of hammer, anvil and metal mean to each and every participant.\u00a0 They may not know until they pick it up, or perhaps not until well after the ritual is over.<\/p>\n

Involve all the senses.\u00a0 Those of us who grew up in Protestant churches (including Unitarian Universalism) must constantly be on guard against the idea that worship is about the spoken word.\u00a0 Hey, I like preaching as much as the next recovering Baptist, and there\u2019s a place for (very short, very focused) oratory in Pagan rituals, as well as inviting invocations, worshipful prayers, and magical spells.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t ignore the other senses.\u00a0 Show, don\u2019t tell \u2013 and make it pretty too.\u00a0 Burn incense and decorate with fragrant flowers and evergreens.\u00a0 Use touch:\u00a0 have people hold hands, carry candles and pass ritual objects.\u00a0 Vary the foods and drinks in the simple feast.\u00a0 And the sense of sound can be used for much more than the spoken word \u2013 good music can improve most any ritual.<\/p>\n

As Pagans who honor a world of ancestors, we have access to countless myths, stories that are full of meaning and mystery that can speak to us on many levels.\u00a0 We can present these stories in dramatic format.\u00a0 We can re-enact them in ritual fashion.\u00a0 If they\u2019re well known we can simply refer to them.\u00a0 When I\u2019m starting to plan a circle, one of the first things I do is look for stories and myths that can be used as a starting point or as the main event of the ritual.<\/p>\n

All these ideas and suggestions have been helpful to me, but they pale in comparison to the ultimate way to put mystery in your rituals:\u00a0 invoke the gods.\u00a0 Dedicate your ritual to a particular deity or group of deities.\u00a0 Invite them to join your circle.\u00a0 Make them welcome \u2013 offer them food and drink.\u00a0 Tell \u2013 or show \u2013 their stories.\u00a0 Give people an opportunity to experience the presence of a goddess or god.<\/p>\n

This is the primary job of a priest or priestess:\u00a0 to present the gods and goddesses to the people.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I don\u2019t do Drawing Down in public rituals.\u00a0 It\u2019s too intimate and it\u2019s too risky for both priest and participants (I have done it in closed rituals).\u00a0 I do, however, spend extended time in meditation with deities prior to leading rituals in their honor \u2013 nothing improves connections with goddesses and gods like listening to them.\u00a0 The Cernunnos Ritual<\/a> was inspired by Him at a level I\u2019ve never experienced before:\u00a0 the structure, the movements and the words came easily.\u00a0 Part of that is because I have a long relationship with Him, but part is because I was listening closely to Him before I started writing the ritual.<\/p>\n

Whatever else they may be, the gods are mysteries.\u00a0 Invoke them and let people experience what they can experience.<\/p>\n

One final recommendation:\u00a0 when the ritual is over, resist the urge to explain it all.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been part of initiation rituals that ended with an explanation of the symbols of the group.\u00a0 That\u2019s fine, although I prefer to close the ritual first and handle any explanations informally.\u00a0 But if you\u2019re not revealing secrets to a proper person properly prepared, close the ritual, offer a blessing and let the mystery speak for itself.\u00a0 Explaining too much at the end of the ritual can be just as bad as explaining too much up front.<\/p>\n

Different people come to Paganism for different reasons, but one of the most common is a yearning for mystery.\u00a0 The mainstream world has been exorcised of magic; it\u2019s been measured and deconstructed and explained until there\u2019s nothing left.\u00a0 We\u2019ve cut open the goose and convinced ourselves there was never any gold.<\/p>\n

As Pagans, let\u2019s re-enchant the world.\u00a0 Let\u2019s put the mystery back in our rituals.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Different people come to Paganism for different reasons, but one of the most common is a yearning for mystery. The mainstream world has been exorcised of magic; it\u2019s been measured and deconstructed and explained until there\u2019s nothing left. As Pagans, let\u2019s re-enchant the world. Let\u2019s put the mystery back in our rituals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":1580,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[207,107,4,5,208,25],"class_list":["post-1579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ritual","tag-jason-mankey","tag-mystery","tag-pagan","tag-paganism","tag-re-enchantment","tag-ritual-2"],"yoast_head":"\nPutting Mystery in Your Rituals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Different people come to Paganism for different reasons, but one of the most common is a yearning for mystery. The mainstream world has been exorcised of magic; it\u2019s been measured and deconstructed and explained until there\u2019s nothing left. As Pagans, let\u2019s re-enchant the world. 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