Discovering
the Power of Pagan Ritual
Pagans
perform rituals to mark or create change. Rituals
celebrate the cycles of the Sun and Moon and the
transitions of our lives. They are occasions for
sacred transformation, in ourselves and in the
world.
To
some, the word "ritual" suggests repitition without
meaning, a mindless going-through-the-motions. The
rituals of any religious practice remain effective
only as long as they are living and meaningful in
the hearts and minds of those practicing them. This
does not depend on whether the ritual forms used
are familiar or novel; it depends on the intentions
and attitudes of the participants.
Although
there are countless variations, many modern Pagan
rituals follow a similar pattern. The place is
prepared and anything needed is brought in an
arranged with care. The participants come together
and shed their mundane concerns and enter into a
shared sense of the sacred. They may be ritually
purified, by some action or words. Then the ritual
begins with a familiar word or act. A circle is
cast to create sacred space, the four directions
are acknowledged (along with the elements they
represent), and deity is invoked. Some special
activity is then performed to carry out the purpose
of the particular ritual. There is a symbolic
communion, representing the joining of Goddess and
God, or the joining of those present in the circle,
usually involving the sharing of consecrated food
and drink. Finally, deity and directions are
thanked and dismissed, and the sacred space is
dissolved.
The
formula has proven effective in countless contexts
across many times and cultures. Even in a solitary
ritual, which may appear very simple and
spontaneous, the basic pattern persists, even if it
is marked only by changes in the awareness of the
practitioner.
Ritual
serves two complementary functions simultaneously:
embracing continuity and creating change. For
Pagans, change is the nature of things. But change
is not random, pointless, or disconnected. It is
part of natural cycles, part of the ebb and flow of
life. Thus a Beltane ritual, for example,
celebrates the warming of the earth and the
blossoming and procreative forces of life in
motion, while also reminding us that the season of
spring has come and gone many countless times, and
many communities in different times and places have
celebrated those changes along with us.
Rituals
have many different specific purposes and hence
many different moods. They may be celebratory,
somber, spiritually intense, meditative, exuberant,
communal, private, playful, dramatic, empowering,
humbling, beautiful, painful, sensual,
thought-provoking, magical, comforting,
challenging, simple, or complex. A good ritual,
though, is never dull, never perfunctory, never
routine.
Ritual
allows us to honor times of importance in the flow
of life by treating them in a special way. Whether
it is a solitary practitioner casting a prosperity
spell in her living room, or a large gathering of
friends and relatives witnessing the handfasting of
a couple, ritual sends the message: at this moment
begins something new, something different,
something meaningful.
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