A Bit About Ritual: What it is, to me.
10/27/2009
When we pagans use the term “ritual,” it often conjures up an image of a cast Circle, complete with called Quarters and specific tools. It’s important to remember, though, that a ritual can be something as simple as a daily cup of tea, a weekly walk in the park, or a monthly visit to the theater or ballet (one of my favorite rituals!). A ritual is an action, or series of actions, that holds special/particular significance for those participating, and may be repeated on a regular basis.
So, for example, making snickerdoodle cookies with my mother is a Christmas ritual that helps me feel connected to my mother, to my childhood, to my family and their traditions. It also gives my mother and me time to talk, to catch up and connect as women – something that we have less of now that I’m out on my own and living in another state. Likewise, coloring a mandala for healing is a ritual in which I get to connect with my inner child (who loves coloring! Especially with crayons!) and work with her to create an image-prayer of what I’m asking Deity for.
All this is to say that ritual is not only something we do with other people, on big holy-days, with great ceremony and planning. Ritual can also be intensely personal, found in the small, ordinary experiences of life. One person may see a task that I find tedious and boring – like doing dishes – as a ritual of cleansing and take that opportunity to reflect on the day, on hir commitment to a clean, usable space, or what sie needs to “clean” in hir own life. Likewise, a ritual I value immensely like going to the ballet and losing myself in music, movement, and story, may be boring and tedious for someone else.
Eventually, I want to talk more about what ritual can do for us, why group ritual can be very, very good for some purposes, and even more about why I love ritual, both group and personal…but this is the core of why I love it: ritual helps me take care of myself in a thousand small, precious, luxurious ways by helping me stop, reflect, and connect.
