Ritual

Creating Sacred Space (Workshop)

Guiding the Journey (Workshop)

Moving into Sacred Realms, by Selene Vega (1983)

Danda Nata Festival in Orissa, India, by Selene Vega (1996)

The purpose of ritual is to change the mind of the human being. It's sacred drama in which you are the audience as well as the participant and the purpose of it is to activate parts of the mind that are not activated by everyday activity. . . As for why ritual, I think that human beings have a need for art and art is ritual. I think that when we became sapient, we became capable of artistic expression. - Sharon Devlin

Ritual is to the internal sciences what experiment is to the external sciences. - Timothy Leary

Ritual cuts through and operates on everything besides the "head" level. In this culture, this heady, agnostic, Christian, scientific, materialist culture, ritual is ignored. Since ritual is a need, and since the mainstream of Western civilization is not meeting this need, a great deal of what's happening these days is simply people's attempts to find ways to meet this need for themselves. - Aidan Kelly

(The purpose of rituals is) to end, for a time, our sense of human alienation from nature and from each other. Ritual seems to be one method of reintegrating individuals and groups into the cosmos, and to tie in the activities of daily life with their ever present, often forgotten, significance. It allows us to feel biological connectedness with ancestors who regulated their lives and activities according to seasonal observances. Just as ecological theory explains how we are interrelated with all other forms of life, rituals allow us to re-create that unity in an explosive, nonabstract, gut-level way. Rituals have the power to reset the terms of our universe until we find ourselves suddenly and truly "at home." - Margot Adler

Ritual is a spiritual psychodrama done for magical or religious purposes. - P.E.I. Bonewits

Initiation means The Journey Inwards: nothing is changed or can be changed; but all is trulier understood with every step. - Aleister Crowley

The first stage of ritual is almost always the rise of the singer on his own song to a plane of power - a place of contact with the forces that move the universe. The words and sounds of a song are only the small visible aspect of a far greater mystery which lies beneath and beyond syntactical speech. - Jamake Highwater

Bibliography

Achterberg, J., Dossey, B., & Kolkmeier, L. (1994). Rituals of Healing: Using Imagery for Health and Wellness. New York: Bantam Books.

Amberson, C. (1995). Deepening the Power: Community & Sacred Theatre. Victoria, B.C.: Beach Holme Publishers.

Baldwin, C. (1994). Calling the Circle: The First and Future Culture. Newberg, OR: Swan, Raven & Company.

Beck, Renee, and Metrick, Sydney Barbara. (1990).The Art of Ritual: A Guide To Creating and Performing Your Own Rituals for Growth and Change. Berkeley: Celestial Arts.

Bell, C. (1997). Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bell, C. (1992). Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. New York: Oxford University Press.

Cahill, S. & Halpern, J. (1992). Ceremonial Circle: Practice, Ritual, and Renewal for Personal and Community Healing. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco.

Dacey, J. & Weygint, L. (2002). The Joyful Family: Meaningful Activities and Heartfelt Celebrations for Connecting with the Ones You Love. Berkeley, CA: Conari Press.

Dahlke, R. (1999). Everyday Initiations: How to Survive Crises Using Rituals. Woodside, CA: Bluestar Communications.

Farmer, S. D. (2002). Sacred Ceremony: How to Create Ceremonies for Healing, Transitions, and Celebrations. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House.

Garfield, C., Spring, C., & Cahill, S. (1998). Wisdom Circles: A Guide to Self-Discovery and Community Building in Small Groups. New York: Hyperion.

Grimes, R. L. (2002). Deeply Into the Bone: Re-Inventing Rites of Passage. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Hammerschlag, C. A. & Silverman, H. D. (1997). Healing Ceremonies: Creating Personal Rituals for Spiritual, Emotional, Physical and Mental Health. NY: Perigee.

Imber-Balck, E. & Roberts, J. (1992). Rituals for our Times: Celebrating, Healing, and Changing Our Lives and Our Relationships. New York: HarperCollins.

Klein, T. (1992). Celebrating Life: Rites of Passage for All Ages. Oak Park, IL: Delphi Press.

Paladin, L. S. (1991). Ceremonies for Change: Creating Personal Ritual to Heal Life’s Hurts. Walpole, NH: Stillpoint.

Sargent, D. (1994). Global Ritualism: Myth & Magic Around the World. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications.

Somé, M. P. (1993). Ritual: Power, Healing and Community. Portland, OR: Swan, Raven & Company.

Starck, M. (1993). Women’s Medicine Ways: Cross-Cultural Rites of Passage. Freedom, CA: The Crossing Press.

Starhawk & Valentine, Hilary. (2000). The Twelve Wild Swans: A Journey to the Realm of Magic, Healing, and Action. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco.

Starhawk, Baker, D., & Hill, A. (1998). Circle Round: Raising Children in Goddess Traditions. New York: Bantam.

Turner, V. (1969). The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Wall, K. & Ferguson, G. (1994). Lights of Passage: Rituals and Rites of Passage for the Problems and Pleasures of Modern Life. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco.