One of the most important steps in undertaking any sort of spiritual training is a thorough examination of your core values. Your core values are the values that you hold important as a human being, based on your experiences and your own spirit. They are your most basic and deeply ingrained beliefs and personal ethics. Your opinions on ethical situations, your chosen path in life and even how well a spiritual path will fit all depend on the values you hold deep inside you.
Knowing these core values is vital as you embark upon any spiritual path, take training from any spiritual teacher or make any other major choice in your life. Your spiritual path is an important one because it deals with a higher aspect of yourself: your spirit. All of us, as spiritual beings are here to learn and develop through our experiences and choices, which makes a person both vulnerable and powerful. Vulnerability comes when the desire to learn is so great that unscrupulous people can take advantage of you or lead you in a direction that your spirit does not want or need to go. The power comes from the realization that your life is more than just living day to day, it is a quest for your spirit to grow.
Knowing your core values will give you the tools you need to make the right choices with regards to your spiritual education. By knowing them, you can compare them with the values and practices of prospective teachers and religious/spiritual groups. The voice inside you, that is your spirit, will be heard easier over the glamour that is a new spiritual path or teacher. If your core values do not match, there may be a feeling of extreme discomfort, which will leave you vulnerable and prone to being hurt in the process of learning this is not the right path for you. If your core values do match, you will feel a synergy unlike any other because you are in tune enough with yourself to know what is right for you.
In this exercise, you will be employing the form of meditation known as contemplation. This form of meditation will prove to be most valuable in all areas of your life since mastering it helps you to take a situation, look at all of its aspects and remove yourself emotionally from it in order to make a good decision. It will also prove to be quite valuable throughout this course as you contemplate each lesson and how it fits into your spiritual path.
Your goal is to discover your core values since many know these on a subconscious level, but have not actually brought them forth to the conscious level.
Process:
Bring a pen and some paper with you to your favourite meditation place and prepare yourself for contemplative meditation.
By this time, you should be able to get yourself into the right frame of mind to meditate. This is not a trance working or exercise involving the subconscious directly, but it is a good idea to ground yourself and focus completely on the task at hand.
Once you are ready, ask yourself the following questions and write down whatever answers come first to your mind:
- What are my Strengths – What skills or talents do I have? What am I really good at doing? What do others say I am good at doing?
- What are my Weaknesses – What would I like to improve about myself? What have others told me I need to improve about myself?
- What are my personal Ethics – What values do I strongly hold? Why? (Look at your causes if you need help with this one: What causes do you strongly support? Environmentalism? Humanitarian work? What are your opinions of controversial subjects such as abortion, hunting animals for fur, or domestic violence? What issues burn deep within you? What do you demand justice for?)
- What are my Values – What values do I hold? Why? (For help, think of the qualities you most admire in people, as well as the ones you despise. Those are the values that you hold dear or clash with – write these all down)
- What is my Learning Style – How do I learn best? (If you are stuck, look at your favourite and least favourite teachers in your life. What common features can you find? These contribute to discovering your personal learning style)
- What are my spiritual beliefs – For this one, try not to think of any religious studies you have taken. Look more at the things you like or dislike about the religions you’ve been exposed to. What is desirable? What pushes you away? These basic things are your core beliefs.
When you have finished your session, simply ground and center using your method of choice. Leave your written answers for a while and have something to eat or drink. Engage in an activity that has absolutely nothing to do with this exercise. Later on, have a look at what you’ve written. Some things may surprise you!
You may want to do this exercise a few times since it will take a few times to really get used to looking within yourself.
Put all of your results into an envelope and look at them again when you reach the end of this course. You will be asked to do this exercise again at that time and then compare notes.
Ritual Basics
One of the most beautiful ways to connect with the spirit is through the use of ritual. For many modern Pagans, ritual is a large part of their spiritual practice. What is ritual exactly, and how does one do it?
| The dictionary defines ritual as: 1. a. The prescribed order of a religious ceremony. b. The body of ceremonies or rites used in a place of worship. 2. a. The prescribed form of conducting a formal secular ceremony: the ritual of an inauguration. b. The body of ceremonies used by a fraternal organization. 3. A book of rites or ceremonial forms. 4. rituals a. A ceremonial act or a series of such acts. b. The performance of such acts. 5. a. A detailed method of procedure faithfully or regularly followed: My household chores have become a morning ritual. b. A state or condition characterized by the presence of established procedure or routine: “Prison was a ritual reenacted daily, year in, year out. Prisoners came and went; generations came and went; and yet the ritual endured” William H. Hallahan. adj. 1. Associated with or performed according to a rite or ritual: a priest’s ritual garments; a ritual sacrifice. 2. Being part of an established routine: a ritual glass of milk before bed. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
From the daily routine, weddings, funerals, inaugurations all the way up to seasonal celebrations, rituals are a part of every day life. They help us to establish a sense of routine, as well as a sense of ceremony to honour events, seasons, things, animals or people. In the case of groups, rituals can create a sense of unity and identity. In the spiritual sense, rituals can help us to connect with the spirit, the Divine, Nature and each other.
In this course, we will be examining rituals in the spiritual sense.
There is no universal standard for rituals and they can be performed in a manner that the practitioner sees fit. Some people opt for very involved and theatrical rituals, with costumes, scripts and large groups of people. Others prefer a quiet place to sit, meditate and leave a small offering of thanks.
The important thing with ritual is the connection. Do you feel connected to what it is you are trying to connect with? Does the method of ritual you are using feel “right” to you? Many books, articles and websites will provide instructions on how to perform a ritual, but in the end, it is up to you to decide which methods work best for you. The best rituals are the ones you write for yourself!
While there are many ways of conducting a ritual, these are the basic elements you will need:
- Claiming sacred space. This can be anything from casting a full circle to simply declaring that you are using this space for ritual use and blessing the area with consecrated water or incense. It is always a good idea to ask the spirits of the place if you can use the ritual space. You will know the answer is yes if it feels “right” to be there. If you feel very uncomfortable, there’s a good chance the spirits of the place do not approve and you’d do well to find another area to conduct your ritual. The main purpose, however, is to shift focus and make your working area sacred space for the time being.
- Calling upon Deities or Kindreds – This is the time to invite any spiritual guests to your ritual. This is usually done with some sort of respectful invocation and a small offering, such as lighting a candle, burning some incense or placing something like wine or a food item on your altar for them. Typically, the Kindreds called are Deities, Ancestors, Land/Sea/Sky and any other spiritual beings that you have chosen to invite. Some traditions also take this time to leave an offering to other spirits to ensure that they do not disturb the ritual.
- Stating the purpose of the ritual – Once your guests are all present, it is time to state the purpose of your ritual.
- The Ritual Itself – This is the body of your ritual. It is the time to tell stories, meditate upon something, sing songs, dance, offer libations or perform some central activity.
- Closing Activities – With the ritual over, this is a good time to leave any final offerings and to ground and centre. This is the act of returning to the mundane world since ritual often feels like being in a different place.
- Saying Goodbye to Guests – This is the time to thank all of your guests, both spiritual and human for attending your ritual. Normally, the Kindreds and such are thanked and dismissed in the reverse order that they were called.
- Unclaiming sacred space – As the last gesture, it is right to “unclaim” sacred space or declare that you are finished using the area for your ritual. Leave a small offering for the spirits of the place, declare the ritual ended and state that you are finished with the space in a respectful manner.
When designing a ritual, it is important to consider the following things:
- The purpose of the rite – What are you celebrating? The nature of the ritual depends on the purpose. Ritual occasions include seasonal celebrations, life passages (marriage, etc.), connecting with the Divine, requests for help or protection, helping others (healing rituals, etc.)…even your routine morning or nightly devotions are rituals!
- The people attending the rite – Who will be there? Is this a solitary ritual or a public ritual? The number of people involved will affect how the ritual is set up.
- Solitary Rituals – What are you honouring? What style works best for you? If you are just starting out, most of your rituals will likely be of a solitary nature, which is a great way to develop your ritual style. Since you will be the only celebrant, you have more choice in what you will do.
- Public rituals – Most Druid public rituals are exactly that: public. Anyone may attend and rituals are advertised with full location and contact information through a number of mediums such as signs, posts on e-lists and word of mouth. When planning public rituals, you can assemble a ritual team, or group of people that you will be performing the ritual with and assign roles to each person. Also, you will want to plan a ritual which will keep everyone involved and interested. This can be done by adding elements of dancing, music, or activities to the ritual.
- The beings who are invited to attend – Like any event, the organization of a ritual should also depend on the guests of honour. In any ritual, one usually calls upon Deities and Kindreds (spiritual beings such as guardian spirits, totem animals or spirits of the place) to attend and bless the ritual. Like people, Kindreds and Deities have preferences in how things should be done and you will learn about what those are as you get to know them. These preferences are to be taken into consideration when planning the ritual.
Some things to bear in mind:
- Deities and Kindreds are to be treated with the respect. They are your guests of honour after all. A good rule of thumb to remember is to look at the invited beings like VIP’s being invited to an event that you are hosting for them. How would you organize an event for a VIP like a government official or a celebrity? For solitary rituals, look at it like inviting a VIP guest over to your house. You’ll want to ensure your venue is clean, your guests’ needs are met, preferences are considered and that your guests are welcomed appropriately.
- Who is called upon usually depends on the people involved in the ritual and whom they feel close to. Who are you honouring?
- Also, in the case of seasonal rituals, Deities traditionally honoured at those times are usually called upon to attend. (i.e.: Brighid at Imbolc)
- Location of the ritual – What is the Venue? A house, a single room, public hall, private hall, local park, gymnasium, etc.? What is used in the way of implements, number of people attending and noise levels, etc. all depend on the venue.
- Private Home – Implements used during ritual will depend primarily on the householder’s preferences as well as size of room, how many people will be in the room, location of smoke alarms, etc. Naturally, one will not be using a large sword or a lot of stifling incense for anything in a small living room, packed with people! If you are sitting at home alone, you may want to light some incense and candles to help set the mood.
- Rented Venue (public/private hall, gymnasium, etc.) – Each rented venue has specific rules with regards to fire regulations, etc. Some halls will not allow candles to be burned. Others have noise regulations or other events happening at the same time, so attention to other people in the building may be necessary.
- Outdoors – When performing outdoor rituals, either with people or alone, it’s good practice to use as little in the way of implements as possible. If you do use implements, please be mindful of environmental factors such as risk for fire (droughts, etc.), weather, privacy, etc. When making offerings outdoors, ensure they are safe for animal consumption. Berries and untreated (unflavoured or salted) nuts are a good idea for natural offerings. You can find animal-friendly seeds and such at pet stores. Also, be aware of animal feeding regulations in the area. Most public parks have regulations in place for not feeding the animals, so another offering such as pouring blessed (clean) water into a stream or bringing a small bit of plant food for a tree might be more appropriate.
- When performing a ritual at any venue, always take care to leave the space exactly as you found it and follow any regulations to the letter.
- Time of the Ritual – Some traditions have specific requirements for times and such that certain rituals are performed. (Some at sunrise, sunset, phase of the moon, etc.) What dates and times are best for you or other attendees?
- Guests’ Special Requirements (for public and semi-public rituals) – Allergies, sensitivities, etc. To do this, one must ensure the safety and comfort of all of guests and ritual team if others are involved. Aspects like the age, knowledge level, physical ability level and allergies should be considered when planning public rituals. If conducting a solitary ritual, you have a lot more freedom with regards to how you celebrate.