RITUALS FOR STORY GROUPS

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RITUALS FOR STORY GROUPS

• HUMAN GROUPS HAVE ENGAGED IN RITUAL FOR AT LEAST
  70000 YEARS.
• THE ANTHROPOLOGIST, VICTOR TURNER, WHO GREATLY
  INFLUENCED OUR IDEAS ABOUT RITUAL, DEFINED
  RITUAL AS PRESCRIBED FORMAL BEHAVIOUR FOR
  OCCASIONS NOT GIVEN OVER TO TECHNOLOGICAL
  ROUTINE, HAVING REFERENCE TO BELIEFS IN MYSTICAL
  BEINGS AND POWERS.

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• HE BELIEVED THAT
• RITUALS ARE COMMUNAL AND PURPOSEFUL.
• THEY HAVE UNIVERSAL MEANING EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE
  LOCAL, USED BY A SPECIFIC GROUP IN A SPECIFIC
  TIME AND PLACE

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• TURNER THOUGHT THAT RITUAL IS ESSENTIAL IN THE
  DEVELOPMENT, INTEGRATION AND SUPPORT OF THE HUMAN
  COMMUNITY,
• AND,
• THAT RITUAL IS MOST AUTHENTIC WHEN ENACTED IN
  MARGINAL GROUPS WHERE UNCERTAINTY, INFERIORITY
  AND AMBIGUITY ARE PRESENT.

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RITUAL THROWS US INTO THE MYTH

• IT BRINGS MY BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT INTO CLOSER
  RELATIONSHIP WITH EARTH AND BEYOND.
• CONFRONTED WITH THE MYSTERY, WE TELL OUR
  STORIES.

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OUR STORIES

• SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF SYMBOL AND MYTH.

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QUESTION FOR REFLECTION Reflect on your own
experience of ritual. What rituals increase your
awareness of holy mystery? What rituals put you
in touch with holy myth? What were your
feelings? Thoughts?
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• RITUAL INVOLVES THE USE OF SYMBOLS WHICH, IN
  THEMSELVES CARRY A SURPLUS OF MEANING AND CAN
  LEAD US INTO MYSTERY.

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SYMBOL

• TURNER DEFINED A SYMBOL AS THE SMALLEST UNIT
  OF RITUAL WHICH STILL RETAINS THE SPECIFIC
  PROPERTIES OF RITUAL BEHAVIOUR

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• TURNER THOUGHT SYMBOLS REVEAL CRUCIAL SOCIAL AND
  RELIGIOUS VALUES.
• THEY ARE TRANSFORMATIVE FOR HUMAN ATTITUDES AND
  BEHAVIOURS.

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CARL JUNG WAS FASCINATED WITH THE SIMILARITY OF
SYMBOLS ACROSS CULTURES AND TIME.
HE BELIEVED THAT OUR SPIRITUAL SELF-PORTRAITS ARE
ALWAYS EXPRESSED SYMBOLICALLY.
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• QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
• What symbols carry the most meaning for you?
  Your family? Your small story group? Your
  culture?
• What meanings do you associate with these
  symbols?
• How do you know which symbols are spiritually
  authentic and which are not?

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• CHRISTIAN LIFE COMMUNITIES AND OTHER SMALL FAITH
  SHARING GROUPS BENEFIT FROM THE CONSCIOUS USE OF
  RITUALS AND SYMBOLS BECAUSE THEY ARE WAYS TO
  AWARENESS OF THE DIVINE.

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• THE RITUALS OF THE FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS ARE
  FOUNDATIONAL TO SMALL STORY GROUPS.

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THE RITUALS OF FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS

• WE SHARE OUR STORIES, ONE AT A TIME, IN THE
  FIRST ROUND THESE ARE OUR EXPERIENCES REFLECTED
  ON IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT.
• IN A SHORT SECOND ROUND, WE DISCERN WHAT WE HEARD
  IN THE FIRST ROUND AND ASK TWO QUESTIONS
• WHAT STRUCK ME AS OTHERS SHARED?
• WHAT COMMUNAL WISDOM IS EMERGING THAT IS BIGGER
  THAN THE SUM OF US?

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Victor Turner
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LAZARUS AT THE GATE

• RITUAL IS ESSENTIAL TO THE EVOLUTION AND
  INTEGRATION OF THE HUMAN COMMUNITY.
• AUTHENTIC RITUAL IS BORN AT THE MARGINS OF
  SOCIETY (Liminal), WHERE UNCERTAINTY, INFERIORITY
  AND AMBIGUITY DWELL.
• VICTOR TURNER, Manchester School

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JACQUES DERRIDA

• A STANCE OF INTENTIONAL UNCERTAINTY IS ESSENTIAL
  TO THE SURVIVAL OF THE HUMAN SPECIES AND EARTH
  HERSELF.
• THE GREAT RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS ARE PROFOUNDLY
  DISTURBING BECAUSE THEY CALL CERTAINTY AND
  SECURITY INTO QUESTION.

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BUT WE CRAVE CERTAINTY, EVEN THOUGH WE KNOW LIFE
IS FRAGILE, AND WE HAVE LITTLE CONTROL OF EVENTS.
LIFE, EVEN IN TRAGEDY, IS A MYSTERY TO BE LIVED,
NOT A PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED. (Patrick OSullivan,
SJ)
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THE TRAGEDY OF THE GREAT TSUNAMI
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AUTHENTIC RITUAL AND SYMBOL ALLOW US TO ENTER
INTO THE MYSTERY OF UNCERTAINTY.
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JACQUES DERRIDA
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MUDROOROO, AUTHENTIC PRACTICE

• FOR AUSTRALIANS, KINSHIP WITH EACH OTHER AND ALL
  LIFE AND MATTER IS CENTRAL.
• THIS INTERRELATEDNESS IS ENCAPSULATED IN THE
  DREAMING.
• THIS RITUAL IS A CONTINUOUS PROCESS OF CREATION
  WHICH BEGAN IN THE DREAMTIME.
• THE GREAT ARCHETYPES OF EXISTENCE ARE ACTUALIZED
  IN THE PRESENT.
• IT IS A RITUAL OF BRINGING A WORLD INTO BEING.

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"They say we have been here for 60,000 years, but
it is much longer. We have been here since the
time before time began. We have come directly out
of the Dreamtime of the Creative Ancestors. We
have lived and kept the Earth as it was on the
First Day". - Aboriginal Tribal Elder.
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KURUVILA AND LOIS ZACHARIAH