{"id":7511,"date":"2016-09-09T15:34:16","date_gmt":"2016-09-09T21:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/panmankey\/?p=7511"},"modified":"2016-09-11T14:07:54","modified_gmt":"2016-09-11T20:07:54","slug":"7511","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/panmankey\/2016\/09\/7511\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Ritual Is Hard (And Sometimes We Fail At It & That’s OK)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about rituals the past 48 hours. A lot of that is because John Halstead and I are sort of arguing over them and just how we should approach \u201cbad ritual<\/a>\u201d in public spaces. I\u2019m of the opinion that there will always be bad rituals, and that there\u2019s not much we can do about it. <\/p>\n

\u201cPublic Ritual\u201d is a skill-set that can\u2019t really be taught. It\u2019s a mix of writing, presence, theatre, experience, and about three dozen other things. One can read books on how to do ritual, and that can help, but it won\u2019t turn someone into a ritual expert. One can be \u201ctaught\u201d how to run a ritual, but I know people who have had that sort of training, and sometimes it still doesn\u2019t quite work for whatever reason. I\u2019ve watched people grow into ritual roles over the years, and I\u2019ve seen others never quite get there. <\/p>\n

\"Frog Princess\" by Viktor Vasnetsov . From WikiMedia. <\/a>
\u201cFrog Princess\u201d by Viktor Vasnetsov . From WikiMedia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Public ritual is hard<\/em>, and I don\u2019t think we acknowledge that enough. It can be difficult to come up with an idea that\u2019s not a cliche or hasn\u2019t been done a hundred times before. It\u2019s hard to juggle the energy of fifty or twenty strangers in a room, all with varying beliefs and backgrounds. And the bigger the group, the tougher it often is! How do you give 100 people something to do without creating a three hour slog of a rite? <\/p>\n

I think escaping the trap of Wiccan ritual in public settings can be especially beneficial (many of the public rituals I do today outside of home are not Wiccan\/Witch related), but that creates other difficulties. Will people pick up on what you are doing? Will people enjoy what\u2019s going on? I think there are a lot of Druid groups that do good work, but when they present things to groups that have done mostly Wiccan-style ritual over the years, many of the participants look a little lost. Is there time before the ritual to reset expectations and get everyone involved? <\/p>\n

I think more than anything good ritual is about connection. What that connection is or can be is going to vary from person to person, group to group, and rite to rite. The Autumn Equinox is coming up and my rites next weekend will most likely* be about connecting with where we stand on the Wheel of the Year. Sometimes my rituals are about my community or coven, and other times they are about deity or magickal work (we connect with energy there, Wicca is a magickal path!). Those are all valid things to work for, and they are all wonderful goals, but sometimes when people put on public ritual, they fail. <\/p>\n

They fail for a variety of reasons too. Sometimes they just aren\u2019t prepared, or perhaps they over-reached and tried to go for grand spectacle when simple competency would have worked better. Perhaps their ideas weren\u2019t fully realized, or they were unable to manage the ritual\u2019s participants. I have seen some of the best ritualists I know fail, completely and utterly, and sometimes it wasn\u2019t even their fault. Things just don\u2019t work sometimes for whatever reason. <\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>
My first athame and pentacle. An early bell and chalice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ve been pretty honest about not having a lot of faith in most public rituals, and that\u2019s generally because of the reasons I outlined at the beginning of this piece, but I\u2019ve seen some really work. I\u2019ve experienced a few moments of transcendence at public rites, and I expect to do so again in the future. However, I don\u2019t expect it every time. Do I have lowered expectations? You bet I do! <\/p>\n

There are days when I think it\u2019s just enough to be outside with friends and my extended community. The sabbats are meant to be celebrations first and foremost (thanks for Spring! thanks for the harvest!), they don\u2019t all have to be life-changing events. I like being with people and sharing a laugh with them, I think those are transformative things too. They might not tickle the soul, but it\u2019s the little things that often bring us together as a community. <\/p>\n

We also need room to fail. I think this is really important and I think it\u2019s something very easy to overlook. Since ritual, especially public ritual, is such a unique skill, most of us are not especially good at it right out of the box. People are going to stumble and fall before they run. We can certainly help first time ritual leaders (and those still learning) with their rites, but eventually we have to let go, and sometimes it won\u2019t be pretty. <\/p>\n

There are also lessons to be learned when we do fail in public. I think I\u2019m a pretty good ritualist today because I\u2019ve witnessed so many bad rituals over the years. Want to learn how to write good ritual? Visit a lot of terrible ones! Seriously, it\u2019s the best education for public ritual, and will expose your limitations, mistakes, and misconceptions. <\/p>\n

We also have to allow room for bad rituals, because that\u2019s how we grow. You can\u2019t learn how to do a great public ritual without failing a few times. I don\u2019t like seeing things that discourage people from trying. I think I didn\u2019t like John\u2019s initial post because it basically said \u201cdon\u2019t try<\/a>\u201c:<\/p>\n

Let me suggest a radical idea: It\u2019s better to not do a ritual at all than do a bad ritual. If it gets close to time for your Mabon ritual this year, and you don\u2019t really have time to plan the ritual, and you\u2019re tempted to half-ass it \u2026 just don\u2019t.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think it\u2019s better to try and to fail and to have that experience of trying and failing than to not do anything at all. It sucks when people half-ass a ritual, but some of the most amazing rituals I\u2019ve ever been a part of were spur of the moment type things, or \u201chalf assed\u201d ideas that ended up working! You never know what\u2019s going to happen if you don\u2019t do it, so give it a go even if you don\u2019t think it\u2019s your best. <\/p>\n

How do we fix \u201cbad Pagan rituals?\u201d I don\u2019t have all the answers, but I do know that we will never do it by discouraging people from trying in the first place. <\/p>\n

*It\u2019s not written yet, I know, shame on me! But I\u2019ve got confidence in myself and my High Priestess. We can McGyver the shit out of a sabbat. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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