Title: the art of ritual
1the art of ritual
- Creating and Performing Ceremonies
- for Growth and Change
- from the book by Renee Beck Sydney Barbara
Metrick
2Chapter 1understanding the role of ritual in
your life
3Ritual, a definition
- According to Webster A set form or system of
rites, religious or otherwise the observance of
set forms or rites, as in public worship - Making a ceremony of an event, especially a major
life event
4Or
- Anything you do in a habitual manner, usually
with some established or formal action, giving
the act a deeper meaning than it would appear to
have on the surface.
5- Ritual provides the bridge between inner and
outer worlds and creates a context for
reconnecting to the seat of our souls.
6- The end results of all ritual are increased
balance, strength, energy, and comfort.
7- The rituals handed down to us are frequently
insufficient to address and satisfy our personal
and spiritual needs
8POWER The ability to cause or prevent
change.
There are five kinds of power
9Exploitative
- subjects the weak to the strong with no concern
for the needs of the weak
10Manipulative
- power over another that requires the collusion,
collaboration, and cooperation of the weaker
11Competitive
12Nutrient
- power used for the other to meet the needs of the
other
13Integrative
- power used with another to build a better life
for both
14Bringing rituals into your life empowers you
- More choices
- Gain perspective on changes
- Increased grasp of relatedness
- Greater sense of balance
- Traditions
15When traditional ceremonies no longer hold the
sacred, it is necessary for people to expand and
deepen existing ritual or create new ones that
specifically and clearly address the needs of the
time.
16Meaningful rituals for life events can also lend
a structure to your consciousness that in turn
increases the meaning in your daily life.
17The journey into Self
- To deepen your experience of life
- Connect with the sacred
- Improve yourself, your relationships, and your
world
- 30 minutes each day for self-work a quiet time
for you to get to know yourself better and
reconnect with your idea of Spirit
18Rituals An Integral Part of Nature and Our
Daily Lives
19The Purpose of Ritual
- Something done in the physical world that is
related to the higher worlds - Done to increase balance and connection
20- An enactment of a myth the myth of our
lives, the images of ourselves in the world
and our connection to the world
- Visualization and actualization
21The 4 Functions of Mythology
- Mystical a state of wonder, from Universal to
personal
22- Cosmological the mystery which helps us
understand our world
23- Sociological verifies, nurtures and preserves
our beliefs and customs
24- Psychological a guide and support to people
throughout their entire lives.
25The Relevance of Ritual
- Mindfulness of being
- Being the creative composer of ones own life
26- Forms a connection not only with our own
unconsciousness but with the collective
unconsciousness of our ancestors - Stands out against the routine of life
- Shifts the focus from the minutiae of life to the
grander plan of life
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28- Directed energy causes change. To have
integrity, we must recognize that our choices
bring about consequences, and that we cannot
escape the responsibility for the consequences,
not because they are imposed by some external
authority, but because they are inherent in the
choices themselves. - Starhawk, Dreaming the Dark
29- choices bring about consequences because they
are inherent in the choices
30The Power of Ritual
- Opens the door to a state of timelessness, an
altered state of perception
31- This altered state then helps us be receptive to
other patterns of association and modes of
thought that lead to problem solving
32- Leads us to the feeling of majesty and a grander
level of experience
33- Creating and using ritual to assist us through
change gives us the power to handle that change,
even if it seems overwhelming or too full of
emotion to be controlled by will alone.
34- Ritual gives us a way to contain, accept,
control the intensity and dosage the change
we are experiencing.
35The Need for Ritual
- We go through our transitions alone, with
private symbolsso we feel disconnected - We want to find balance in both the spiritual
and global sense
36- Those not involved with a traditional religion
can have life-affirming rituals that they are
comfortable with - Those in traditional religions can gain a
greater understanding of the rituals they do
have
37- Both groups then bring this awareness of the
sacred in life event rituals to their daily
life, creating a greater awareness of the sacred
in all of life.
38Chapter 2myth, history and symbol
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