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What is Ceremony?
By WolfSpirit
Hi SL
I wanted to ask you all what you
understand by the term Ceremony? I have always assumed this
word to mean something very grandiose and not for someone as
far down the spiritual food chain as myself. But whilst Ii was
staying with Mouse, I would often find myself walking up and
down her back lawn, always in the same place. Then one night
I felt a real sense of Joy and stood on that line with my arms
outstretched thanking Creator for all the gifts I had received.
Ok it was dark so none of Mouse's neighbors could see me (I
hope! ). Then when I got to Washington, SEDD had a little book
about Ceremonies that she bought at the Airport whilst waiting
for my flight to come in. I read a couple of pages whilst I
was with SEDD and thought "interesting". When I was
leaving Washington, I walked straight to that book in the first
shop I visited at the airport, and SEDD had not told me where
she bought it! So, I figured I needed to learn about Ceremony,
and read that book in Toronto. It taught me a lot. So I wanted
to ask you all what Ceremony means to you? I don't want to look
at individual Ceremonies (i.e. Solstice Ceremonies etc.), just
what "Ceremony" means to you?
SilverEagleDreamDancer:
I'm still
laughing about that BTW. To me, ceremony, when I do it at all,
helps me narrow and clear my focus for whatever it is Spirit
is leading me through. But it's never about whether I have the
'right' colored candle or stand on my head facing north LOL.
It's just the things I do to honor myself and find a deeper
tuning to the universe than the waking work-a-day consciousness.
WolfSpirit:
“But it's never about
whether I have the 'right' colored candle or stand on my head
facing north LOL”
This is what I was getting at when
I said about me never thinking I could do Ceremonies.
CinnamonMoon:
Personally
ceremony to me is a ritualized focus to direct energy or honor
something, someone, or my path. There are healing ceremonies...serious
recipes for bringing in and directing healing energies. There
are ceremonies for just about anything you can think of. High
Ceremony, that has more of a religious context to it IMHO and
would be led by a Holy Person, Medicine Person, or religious
leader. However there are little ceremonies we all do all the
time. Ritual is the recipe used within the ceremony. It's serious
focus and it serves to summon the specific energy/energies needed
to accomplish a task.
WolfSpirit:
“High Ceremony, that
has more of a religious context to it IMHO and would be led
by a Holy Person, Medicine Person, or religious leader.”
This is what I had always assumed
Ceremony meant, until I read the little book. I never realized
that Ceremony could mean something else and that all of us probably
do Ceremony in some way every day, without really realizing
we are doing it. What I am trying to do in this thread, initially,
is to ask people what they understand about the word Ceremony
and then perhaps move on to explore what we might use Ceremony
for other than the High Ceremony you speak of.
Mouse:
For
those among us who do not have that book or are too familiar
with the depth of these words... can we have a brief outline
of the difference between ritual and ceremony as used this thread?
Earthwalker:
I
would say ceremony is giving praise or honor to something or
someone. It can be simple or complex.
SilverEagleDreamDancer:
Here's the link to the book - The Book of Ceremonies There's
a function where you can read just a bit of it too.
CinnamonMoon:
Briefly
I consider ceremony to be the stages and steps used in conducting
either honoring, celebration, or healing on some level. The
ritual is the words and actions within a portion of the ceremony
to summon and direct the energy/entities needed as stated above.
An example: In High Ceremonial Magic the practitioner is going
to draw a circle and mark it with sacred symbols to protect
the area in which they are working. Once this is done the altar
is set up and there will be stages marked. Candles lit, the
elemental forces brought in through sprinkling consecrated salt
water, lighting incense, and having earth represented in some
fashion. After this is done the consecrated salt water, lighting
incense, and having earth represented in some fashion. All elemental
parts of the ceremony (set up) are in place and then perhaps
a bell is run to signify the next stage, that of the ritual
itself. The ritual is an incantation, spell, or some regulated
method of summoning. After this is done the energy is released
and the work concluded. Next is a thanking of the forces or
entities involved and releasing them to their abodes. The altar
is then taken down as the incense is allowed to burn out, the
candles to burn down, and the circle is broken. In marriage
the act of getting married is a ceremony. The words spoken are
the ritual. The songs sung honor the ceremony and the couple.
Prayers said are ritualized forms of asking for blessings. One
is the overview (ceremony) the other the internal recipe (ritual).
On a mundane level the meal is a ceremony of eating and the
prayer or grace spoken prior to it is the ritual portion. A
vision quest is a ceremony from start to finish and there are
ritualized stages (4 as a rule: 1) the acceptance of the calling
to quest while preparing the sacred space, 2) the purification
(usually a sweat lodge and fasting) 3) seeking the vision, and
4) the assimilation.). Each stage has its own ritualized process
and purpose in fulfilling the overall ceremony. A rite of passage
of any sort is done in ceremony, the words spoken are the ritual
portion.
Centering
is a summoning ceremony, the words or images used are the ritual
form. Grounding is a releasing ceremony, the words used or images
conjured are the ritual form. Does that help?
WolfSpirit:
Earthwalker said: “I
would say ceremony is giving praise or honor to something or
someone. It can be simple or complex.” This is what I want
to show that Ceremony does not have to be complex or deeply
ritualized. Mouse asked the difference between the two types
of ceremony. OK, I am not too familiar with High Ceremony in
the Native Indian culture, but in the Christian culture, to
me at least, Mass would be high Ceremony: as Cinn points out,
as said by a priest, and nigh time prayers would be a simple
ceremony that we all do. But there must be other Ceremonies
that people undertake, like me standing in Mouse's garden Thanking
Creator for the day, that we do not even realize are in fact
Ceremony. To me there are many more, but before I start going
into examples and what the book says in more detail, I want
others in the community to express their thoughts.
SEDD, Thanks for the link, i would
never have thought of that!
Cinn, Thanks for your input and for
explaining the difference between ritual and ceremony! And also
for explaining about the four elements in Ceremony: I didn't
know that! What I am trying to do in this thread is to explain
how learning came to me on this subject of simple ceremonies.
It was a surprise to me to realize that stuff we do every day
without that much thought can actually be described as simple
ceremony: I had walked up and down the lawn maybe four or five
times before realizing that I always walked back and forth on
the same line in the lawn, realizing this I suddenly stopped.
Standing there, at about 12oclock at night, I felt the need
to be still for a moment. I then felt the need to open my arms
out wide and look up into the stars. It felt so blissful! It
felt free of any kind of "knowledge": just me and
the stars. As I stood there, I could feel energy coming to me
and a deep connection with not only my current guides and helpers,
but with new guides and helpers who would be guiding me. I thanked
the Universe and sent my Love out to the Universe. It felt like
something pretty special had happened: I felt like I used to
feel when I was a young boy and first started serving as an
altar boy in the Christian Church (yep all my secrets are coming
out now ), when all the ritual of the mass was a wonder to me.
When I read the book, it seemed to be saying that what I had
done that night on Mouse’s lawn was create Ceremony. So
the purpose of this thread for me is to share this experience
and the learning I received from it with the rest of the community:
I think most people would understand High Ceremony or the more
formal types of ceremony that they create for particular reasons,
but how many of us realize that other things we do are actually
Ceremony: It might be something we just "do", but
to other members of the community it might be a means to attain
a deeper relationship with Creator.
Mouse:
Hmm
- okay... Am I correct in then seeing that I use showering as
a form of ritual to get myself into a more ceremonial space?
For instance, sleeping, in my experience, is a form of ceremony,
and I tend to have a shower before going to bed, as a form of
cleansing, removing the day before I enter the night. I finish
my mundane activities, have a final smoke, walk through the
house switching off lights, or picking up that last stray toy,
perhaps put another load of laundry on... but it is all a part
of gathering and bringing closure to the day - after which I
shower and go to bed. Alternatively, upon waking, I need to
have a little welcome back to the day ceremony. Part of that
ceremony is going to the loo, having a cuppa, having a smoke,
and then quietly opening myself and my senses to the new day.
The rising sun, the breeze that touches my skin and awakens
my hearing by singing through the trees, the birds who greet
each other and sing to me and to the world around them... the
taste of sun, wind, sometimes the taste of snow in the air or
rain... then, when I feel my body is back in the world I walk
in now (daytime reality), I center with the directions and then
ground myself and state my intent for the day ahead. Which part
of that would be ceremony and which would be ritual?
Unregistered Guest:
Ceremony in one sense to me is a
gathering to celebrate, to mourn, to revere, etc.... Ritual
is the part of the ceremony. It's the things done and said as
part of the ceremony. Every morning I perform rituals. Feeding
the livestock and watering them, letting the dogs out to play,
greeting the cats with a smile and some friendly scratches.
As the animals are eating I spread my arms wide, throw my head
back, close my eyes and let out a howl. I thank Spirit for letting
me greet the dawn and how much I look forward to doing Spirit's
work.
CinnamonMoon:
The
simple ceremony you did Wolfie, is tapping into walking your
talk, seeing a need for living life in a spiritual way is a
ceremony in itself. In that sense ceremony shows appreciation,
it was ceremonious because it came from your spirit naturally
and passed thought the heart into the world to celebrate that
awareness. You didn't need the "ritual" to do that.
It was simple and simple is very powerful. I'll back off on
this and let others speak now.
WolfSpirit:
Cinn, Thanks for this!
“it was ceremonious because it came from your spirit naturally
and passed thought the heart into the world to celebrate that
awareness.” This is the point I am trying to make, sometimes
Spirit just moves us and we don't often realize that it is Ceremony,
but it becomes something we do to celebrate our spirituality!
What I am trying to find here is what other people have found
and use.
Earthwalker:
Wolf,
Isn't ceremony simply intent expressed, ritual the presentation
of the intent repeated?
Marila:
this
is what I learned from my Native American teachings:
Ritual: The
procedure is the same since "the beginning of time"
- this means it is not changed and only performed by trained
people. Each changing will have an effect that may not be in
the sense of the ritual. In this sense I participated in ritual
but I did not perform it on my own. Ceremony: These are actions
that are performed in changing steps and according to what is
needed in that moment. It is also to be performed by "everyone".
In this sense I am doing ceremonies - according what I get.
I start with cleansing (smudging), then inviting the helpers
and guides and the directions.... I give my intent... And then
the ceremony starts... (I mostly go along with a certain structure
that I prepared - but it may be that it changes during the ceremony
- according to what is needed...) After that I close the ceremony,
thanking the helpers and guides, too. It also may be that I
get some "homework" to do (or my clients) - then the
ceremony holds a certain action even after closing the ceremony
itself. It also may happen that a ceremony unfolds without being
"planned"... I love these joyful moments and gifts
unfolding... :o)) This is in very short terms what I got. Ceremony
is a beautiful help to work. Ritual - as I learned it and as
I feel it - needs a deep understanding and training to be performed...
TerraMoon:
Greetings! To me, Ceremony
is the intent. Ritual is the action. I wake in the morning intending
to start my day. Getting up and getting to it is the action.
Simple? Yes! Too simplistic? Not to me. Who do we do Ceremony
for? Others? Ourselves? or Spirit? I feel that any Ceremony
comes down to Spirit and me, the connection we have made, Heart
to Heart . When Ceremony and Ritual are too strict it becomes
a practiced action. Practiced actions don't always come from
the Heart. IMHO! I have heard that Prayer should come from the
heart and not a repetitive poem from a book. And yet that same
person gets stuck on Ceremony do's and don'ts. To me Prayer
is a form of Ceremony, thus both should be done from the heart.
WolfSpirit:
Ok I started to get a little
confused here with all this talk of Rituals in Ceremonies! This
reflects my understanding: “In marriage the act of getting
married is a ceremony. The words spoken are the ritual.”
The ritual here is of the Ceremony and this would be my take
on the difference between the two: the Ceremony is the whole
thing and the rituals are the “doing” bits. But then
I thought a little harder, and realized that we could have ceremony
amidst the rituals. Taking again the Ceremony of the Christian
Mass (as one that most people will understand) the Mass is the
Ceremony, and what goes on within that Ceremony, to me, has
always been the ritualistic element. But when I think about
it, the Breaking of Bread is a Ceremony within the Ceremony
of the Mass. It’s like we sometimes have little "Ceremonies"
within a larger "Ceremony", like Mouse’s “welcome
back” Ceremony:
“I need to have a little welcome
back to the day ceremony. Part of that ceremony is going to
the loo, having a cuppa, having a smoke, and then quietly opening
myself and my senses to the new day.”
One part of that "welcome back
Ceremony”, having a cuppa, involves ritualistic elements:
taking the cup, opening the coffee, putting a certain amount
of coffee in the cup, flicking the switch on the kettle etc
etc: these we do almost without thinking when making a cuppa
for ourselves: they are ritualistic. So, despite initially feeling
a little “confuddled” as Owl would say, on what is
“ceremony” and what is "ritual", I think
I agree with Cinn here:
“Briefly I consider ceremony
to be the stages and steps used in conducting either honoring,
celebration, or healing on some level. The ritual is the words
and actions within a portion of the ceremony to summon and direct
the energy/entities needed as stated above.”
Assuming that the overall act of
honoring, celebration, or healing would also be called a “Ceremony”.
But again any type of ceremony that involves ritual to me is
more complex ceremony. And whilst I can see the value of Ritual
Ceremony on a communal level, on a personal level, I have always
mistrusted ritual, mainly because it is this that turned me
away from religion: where I felt that those around me in the
church often said the words/did the actions without any thought
or feeling. Earthwalker said: “Isn't ceremony simply intent
expressed, ritual the presentation of the intent repeated?”
I’m not sure Earthwalker, looking
at this definition of ceremony, to me it would depend on the
intent, or, more importantly, the feelings behind that intent:
the easiest way I can demonstrate my answer is by quoting the
parts of the book noted above that moved me (the quoted text
being the important paras and the descriptions between: to explain
the next quote where I have missed paras out):
“In the beginning, it (i.e.
Totality: a realization that we share life simultaneously with
all things in a Totality without beginning or without end) flowed
through the primordial bloodstream of humankind. And long ago,
whether through Ceremony or through simply gazing at the night
sky, the First People became consciously aware of their place
in the Wheel of Life. They recognized their connection to the
vast subconscious, and to various dimensions of Time and Space
and Spirit and Mystery, through the power of their conscious
awareness, the urgings of their Original Instruction.”
The book then speaks of how connected
our often long-forgotten fore-fathers were to the elements and
the natural world, to songs, colors, instruments, and how the
natural world and their ceremonies interacted:
“Times have changed, but certain
elements of the human condition have not, No matter how civilized
we humans have become, certain needs still flow through our
Primordial blood. And many are now seeking to satisfy their
need for Ceremony once again. But can we reconcile our sacred
relationship to all things with the way we have chosen to live?”
The book then speaks of how easy
it has become today to “buy” spiritual culture or
to visit a sacred or holy site from that culture:
“To judge the right or wrong
of all this or to criticize anyone does not serve the purpose
or intention of this book. The heart knows what is true. These
things may be good for some and bad for others, right for some
and wrong for others, but one thing cannot be denied: certain
elements of ceremony cannot be sold or purchased. The most critical
of all these are the elements that emanate from a good heart,
from the intentions of the good-hearted people that have been
brought to that Time and Space of Ceremony and share a belief
in the interrelationship of all things. And though anyone who
chooses can purchase the conduits of ceremony, not everyone
can enter into a ceremonial state of consciousness. To do this
one must have a good heart, whether that heart is celebratory
or joyous, or anguished and sad. The purity of the heart and
the sincerity of intentions are the master facts; they are essential.
They are vital, as is a conscious awareness of one’s relationship
to all the things within the ceremony – for we enter into
a ceremonial state of consciousness out of Love and reverence
for the sacredness and the beauty and the power of life and
life’s journey, no matter how grand or small that life
may be, or how wonderful or difficult that road is to walk.”
From The Book of Ceremonies by Gabriel
Horn. Two or three sentences shouted out to me:
“And long ago, whether through
Ceremony or through simply gazing at the night sky, the First
People became consciously aware of their place in the Wheel
of Life. They recognized their connection to the vast subconscious,”
To me this is the feeling I got in
Mouse’s back yard: I recognized in a whole new way the
feeling of connection. I have had glimpses of this before: odd
moments of pure bliss and joy, but this time it carried on for
days within me: it’s still there every time I think about
that connection or whenever, without thinking about it, it just
pops into my mind: like when I see a friend smile who has had
a hard time doing that of late.
“from the intentions of the
good-hearted people that have been brought to that Time and
Space of Ceremony”
And: “And though anyone who
chooses can purchase the conduits of ceremony, not everyone
can enter into a ceremonial state of consciousness.”
This said to me that whilst anyone
can learn a ritual or learn to use a tool (i.e. through the
application of intellect), not everyone can enter that state
of Ceremonial Consciousness. Here, written in black and white
was exactly what I had felt about religion, that had made me
lose that connection in the first place! That feeling I had
as a small boy when I first took started serving on the alter
was what came back in Mouse’s back yard, and here it was
confirmed! But this statement in particular also brought something
else to mind: a person may not have the kind of intellectual
mindset or the memory facility to be able to perform complex
rituals or to use tools in a prescribed way: but if their heart
is true they, probably more so than someone who sees things
only from an intellectual perspective, can attain Ceremonial
Consciousness. How many people here at SL have been held back
in the past because they were afraid of “getting it wrong”.
How many more true hearted “lurkers” would come forward
now if they knew that this is all that is required to share
their journey? On a more mundane level, most modern societies
today believe that scholarly learning is more important than
innate abilities. How many people suffer self-doubt needlessly
because of this kind of scholarly conditioning? To quote Gabriel
Horn again:
“Times have changed, but certain
elements of the human condition have not. No matter how civilized
we humans have become, certain needs still flow through our
Primordial blood. And many are now seeking to satisfy their
need for Ceremony once again.”
There will always be a need for more
complex, ritualized group Ceremonies, but if indeed that need
for Ceremony does exist, and with the virtual collapse of organized
religion (at least in the UK), someone has a true heart, then
any expression of that need must surely be valid?
“Isn't ceremony simply intent
expressed,” If from a true heart Earthwalker, Yes, I agree,
it is.
Earthwalker:
Wolf,
I think the intent, and the simplicity and magnificence of ceremony
can be found in these words by Chief Luther Standing Bear (Touch
the Earth by T.C. McLuhan 1971). "The man who sat on the
ground in his tipi meditating on life and its meaning, accepting
the kindship of all creatures and acknowledging unity with the
universe of things was infusing into his being the true essence
of civilization. And when native man left off this form of development,
his humanization was retarded in growth."
WolfSpirit:
Earthwalker's post said:
“accepting the kindship of all creatures and acknowledging
unity with the universe of things was infusing into his being
the true essence of civilization” I read this a couple
of times before I read it right: for some reason i kept reading
"kinship" instead of "kindship", I'm not
sure if that is what Standing Bear said and the "d"
is a typo or if kindhship is correct? If kinship is correct
this quote would describe how I felt that night in Mouse's yard
and how I have felt since whenever I still myself: as if I could
reach out and connect with all things: reach and connect with
"Totality", as if all that could be imagined was coming
to greet me in a single moment: an intense feeling of being
home and peacefulness.
But that feeling requires no logical
thought: it is almost an instinctive action rather than a ritual
one, yet it seems far more powerful than any connection I have
ever felt in meditation, in prayer or any other situation I
have ever been in.
So getting back to my original point,
and phrasing it in light of the statement in the last paragraph:
what do other members do "instinctively" that feels
ceremonious?
ImperviousChild:
Okay, I read this thread
when it first started and was going to answer it... but forgot.
It’s the whole attention span thing when sleepy. Okay,
ceremony for me is the action(s) that use the energy gained
from ritual(s) and move it into healing, continuation, returning,
moving up, and ending (I think those are all the directions
) for the person(s) involved. It can be great or very minute.
One is in a mindset of focus on the event taking place as the
energy is being used and transformed for a greater good. Ritual
is the steps one takes with an amount of focus and intent...
whether it is engrossed in the steps or the mind is focused
off someplace else... to gain the energy necessary to continue
on; continuations. I guess the continuation is in ceremony,
but does it always have to end in ceremony immediately or can
rituals build up to eventually release the energy in the ceremony
farther down the road? This I think can and does happen... but
I'm not 100% sure. In either case, ritual and ceremony are hand
in hand. I do rituals and ceremonies all the time, especially
as a mother teaching her children to become self-sufficient
individuals and participating members of the greater community.
I also go through many rituals too as a mother, wife, daughter,
friend, and individual person regardless how small, simple,
highly detailed, and large; mundane and spiritual. Okay, that
is all I can think of right and sorry if it sounds like "the
nonsensical ravings of a lunatic mind." The girls fighting
in the background and my stomach eating its way through my backbone...
must find food... must find other energy outlets for children...
concentration is faltering... PS....it has just occurred to
me that ritual and ceremony when one is on the path of self-destruction...
they don't lead to greater good for the individual and in this
circle for those around them. Is ritual and ceremony neutral
then until it is created by intent... okay now that I wrote
that out, it seems a dumb question, but what do others think?
WolfSpirit:
ImperviousChild,
“Okay, ceremony for me is the
action(s) that use the energy gained from ritual(s)” Ok,
from my reading, to be able to perform more elaborate ceremonies
(or even just to participate) a certain state of mind must be
called upon. This state of "ceremonial consciousness",
a certain focused intent, requires a lot of preparation. In
the Old NA ways, a person might prepare for many months or longer
say to attend a Sweat
Lodge, or to Quest or whatever. Now,
the kind of simple ceremony I am talking about here is not that
kind of ceremony, but I still think that a certain consciousness
comes that moves us to enter ceremony. What do I mean by this?
Well, just a feeling that there is a lot more "out there"
than the mortal "I" a sort of humility that comes
from the realization that we are a part of All That Is and being
in communion with it. It's like a feeling of joy from "belonging",
a thankfulness for that feeling is the best way I can describe
it, but it can also come from a heartfelt sorrow and a desire
to attain that feeling of Joy: like when you see the sun when
you first wake in the morning and you feel connected in an indescribable
way to yourself and to the sun and you just want to acknowledge
that connection or when you are at your lowest ebb and you submit
all your being to Creator. So to me the energy comes first:
that ceremonial consciousness, and the ceremony is a means to
send that "thankfulness" or that cry for help to the
Universe or wherever it is needed.
“Is ritual and ceremony neutral
then until it is created by intent.”
Cinn described the difference between
ritual and ceremony earlier in the thread, and from that I would
say the we "enter into" ceremony and "perform"
ritual, but I may be wrong: that is just my perspective. I would
be interested to hear what others think. Again, whilst I am
only talking from my own perspective here, not from any particular
learnt knowledge, I would say that the energy comes from intent,
there is an intent to enter into ceremony, we enter from that
state of "Ceremonial Consciousness", the energy does
not come from the rituals. The rituals add to the energy of
the intent through our focus on them: harnessing and directing
the intent, but they are not, to me at least, the energy themselves,
albeit that in more complex group ceremonies the rituals may
invoke energies inherent within the ritual, but those are not
the kind of ceremonies I am talking about here. I am talking
about being in that state of consciousness where we are aware
that we are more than the "I" of this mortal reality,
and wishing to direct that intent somehow.
“It has just occurred to me
that ritual and ceremony when one is on the path of self-destruction...
they don't lead to greater good for the individual and in this
circle for those around them”
I would say that the key factor is
humility, without that then no, performing ritual cannot lead
to greater good for the individual or the circle of those around
them. Humility brings us to that sense of wonder when we look
up at the sun as it rises; humility from feeling all our mortal
beingness has been stripped to the point it feels like nothing
worse can happen in our lives. If we enter ceremony or perform
rituals from a sense of anger or from any other sense that is
not humble supplication, I would imagine that the ceremony would
intensify those negative feelings, eventually bringing us to
the point where it feels like our lives have reached rock bottom:
the humility of crying out for help. I would be interested to
hear what others think on your question though: this is just
my perspective at this time!
ImperviousChild:
Wolfie! I am going to write
more at a later time when I have more time. I had read your
reply and re-read my post and realized that I really, really,
was distracted and probably should have posted at a different
time I did not mean to say that energy for ceremony or ritual
only comes when one is preforming a ritual. Energy can be created
with just a thought and is magnified with intent and action,
hence the reason we have a need to channel it through many methods
and to ground ourselves by the end of the day, or throughout
the day for various reasons. I also realized that I did not
mention how ceremony is created by one's intent, mindset and
focus to bring one closer to All That Is, regardless of the
size of the ceremony. Ceremony takes the energy that there is
and gathers more within its process from it's beginning to its
end. and it's fulfillment for those involved within. Okay, now
I must go and jump-start my brain to write something back that
is a better example of my nonsensical ravings I am really hoping
for more thoughts from others on this. I can't get enough of
other people's take on topics such as this. It is the different
walks of life, different areas within the whole that we are
all in that makes conversation on this and other topics so fascinating!
EaglesHand:
I tend to think of ceremony
as a gathering of energy from all of those present and focusing
that energy on one common intention. And as has been said here
before, ritual is the format by which the energy is collected
and focused. I guess, for me the metaphor I'd use is that ritual
is the skeleton, the bones that give shape, and ceremony is
the body-the other aspect of the larger process that makes the
ritual take shape. While we can do ceremony by ourselves and
follow the process of a ritual, it becomes more intense and
more enriched when done with a group of people. The large ceremonies
I have participated in have all had one person called an Intercessor
who gathers the energies from all participants and becomes the
lens through which the energies are focused on the intention.
And who sends the energies and intention out to Spirit. When
I do ceremony and ritual by myself it feels very good and I
know my intention is heard - and yet it is so much more powerful
when done in a group.
Minna:
This is interesting reading.
Thanks, Wolfie and everybody. I've never been very good with
formal ceremonies. I am completely unable to even follow a recipe
with adding something of my own in. I have even tried to just
- go. by. the. recipe. Well, somewhere a strange and overwhelming
compulsion takes me over and I just have to do something of
my own in that recipe. So I'm not good at formal ceremonies.
However, it seems that all my life I've conducted impromptu
ceremonies. Some of you might remember when I had a friend who
was preparing to cross over this spring and I feasted to her
Spirit at my dining table. To me this was a ceremony. Another
time, years ago I found a picture of myself when I felt that
I looked like a victim. I ceremoniously burned this picture
and threw the ashes in an inlet behind our motel by the Corpus
Christi, Texas bay. This was another ceremony.
My husband and I have sat at our
little copper fire bowl out to the side of our house and spoken
our cares to throw into the fire. It actually flared up with
some of them. Again, to me this was a ceremony. Oddly enough
when I am smudging our home, this feels like a ritual. Maybe
this is because there are particular things I do and say that
involve creating this ceremony? I don't know what I call it
the times when all of a sudden I am just bowled over by Connection,
by Grace. To me, it's just when I am lucky enough to have my
'pipes open' for a moment. Ok - little thoughts.
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Libraries
are on this row
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INDEX
Page 3
(Main Section, Medicine Wheel, Native Languages &
Nations, Symbology)
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INDEX
Page 5
(Sacred Feminine & Masculine, Stones & Minerals)
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©
Copyright: Cinnamon Moon & River WildFire Moon (Founders.)
2000-date
All rights reserved.
Site
constructed by Dragonfly
Dezignz 1998-date
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