Ritual Matters

[Badger]

Ritual Matters
What is important in ritual in the craft? Why is it important to
always do it the same way?

These are two very important questions but there are others that also
matter and are often not considered. Why do we do ritual?

The reasons are many, one important consideration is that there are
many lessons in ritual, especially in the seasonal rituals and they
are a supplement to the teaching that is given to the Seekers and also
the higher degrees. In the Path, rituals have not changed much in
many centuries and yet they are very simple in their structure. There
is no archaic language, no long speeches or invocations, and yet every
word and every gesture has a meaning and usually several levels of
meaning.

Ritual is done the same way over and over for good reasons. We do
ritual as our forbears did and in the same way because this makes the
ritual more powerful. It “resonates” through time. But, attempts to
make it appear old by using archaic language and long speeches are
counter productive. You cannot concentrate on what you are doing if
all your attention is focussed on following a script.

In the Path, ritual comprises of parts and many of these parts are
always very much the same, this is important as it makes remembering
ritual simpler. The seasonal rituals, the sabbats are the most
important ones we do. They honour deity, they remind us of the simple
things in life, they hold lessons for us and they bring us together.
Sabbats are not, however, something that you use to denigrate any
person or thing. That usage dishonours the very reason we have for
doing the seasonal rituals in the first place.

These celebrations, sombre or joyous need to be prepared for, and
entered into seriously and with reverence, to do otherwise is to
completely miss the point.


Walk in the Light
Badger