What is it for? Why do we do ritual at all? How do you define it? Does it need to be a formal affair, can it be intensely simple? What is the point? A selection of responses to the asked question:
Susa Black : To me, ritual is communication with Spirit, and calls on all our creativity. Everyone has something to bring to the ceremony, whether it’s dance, song, a wonderful blend of incense, a meditation, etc. As a Bard, I try to communicate in poetry.
Kris Hughes : To me ritual is the sacred art of stopping, listening and being. Whether we gather as a group to celebrate and connect, to share the inspiration of tribe or dance in the insanity of personal connection and vision. Ritual allows the humdrum of perceived normality to collapse beneath delicious connection as we reach out to our inspiration, to our ancestors and the spirits of place. Ritual is that place outside of time where we express the connection between tribe and land.
Emma Restall Orr : Ritual is, I believe, the process of taking time out of the rush of life in order to remember what is sacred, that when we return to the road we do so with a soul once again open to inspiration and creativity. How we do it – and how long it takes – to be effective depends on how scattered by distraction and tangled in need we are. It can be as simple as pausing, breathing deeply, acknowledging the gift of life, the land beneath, the sky above. It can take weeks of preparation, days of fasting, hours of concentration, to fall into the moment of realization about how we can live awake and with honour, not just believing nature is sacred, but unconditionally treating her as such.
Alan Friedman : Ritual to me is about taking the time to leave the hectic world we live in and creating a sacred space for centering, focusing, giving thanks, and celebrating. It is a time of inner contemplation and communicating with the ancestors, spirits, and gods / goddesses. It can be as complex and formal as you want it (it should never feel like a chore) or as simple as closing your eyes and giving thanks for a ‘gift’ you were just given. The gift can be anything, for example.. the meal you are about to eat, the knowledge you just received, a beautiful flower, etc.
Star : Ritual for me is that sacred space of letting go, a moment of release from the absurdities of life, giving time to find my inspiration to carry on, to find peace in that moment, to root down and connect with the earth. Ritual gives me freedom to grow and change, thus finding my creativity, a time to honour and give thanks. Hours of ritual can feel like 5 minutes and 5 minutes of ritual can feel like hours, either way has its beauty.
Phil Ryder : For myself ritual is a means to focus: a focus of intent and a focus on the spiritual. It is standing in the moment with no cares of yesterday and no fears for tomorrow, lowering your barriers and acknowledging your connection with the worlds around you. Having created that space we celebrate; giving thanks we honour our deities and honour those around us.
Dot Bentley : I am not yet a Druid but it has been in my soul since birth. My love and respect for the gifts of nature, particularly the adoration of ancient trees have made seek them out through all seasons and hug them, thanking them for their purity and strength. Surely this is an inborn ritual I perform of my own choice.
Michael Eric Berube : It sounds very technopagan, but for me experiencing ritual is akin to recharging my internal batteries. Whether undertaken with our Grove kin in one of the spaces that we’ve put aside for our planned rituals, spontaneously someplace else as a group, or personally with one of the several times a day that I try to take a moment to breath, connect with the Universe and experience real thankfulness and gratitude for all that I’ve been blessed with, ritual recharges my spirit with an enthusiasm for living life. All of these acts of reconnection with my loved ones, the land I walk and with Deity heals those small cuts and bruises in outlook and attitude which would dangerously add up over time and do real damage if left untended.
Louise Sutherland : My desire to create ritual usually comes from my need to give thanks for the overwhelming beauty and opportunity of the cycle of life through light and dark, winter and summer. At times my need for ritual comes from crisis, my need to understand something or to work with a particular god. Creating ritual space allows me to concentrate on the sacred in myself and in everything around me, to take the time to acknowledge it and honour it. Creating that sacred space makes me more fully aware of the spirits of place which hold my circle. Ritual allows my spirit to interact with the spirit of that which inspired the rite through beauty or pain. Ritual creates a space or a moment where I can honour the ancestors, where I can feel our connections, value our unique expressions and honour what I have learnt.
Doreen Taylor : Ritual, for me, is a time to connect with the Three Kindreds: The Nature Spirits, The Ancestors and The Deities, and to give them the honour and praise they deserve. I celebrate the turning of the Wheel of the Year, and I give praise offerings and gifts to those I honour. Ritual can be as complicated as you want (or not), but for me it a necessary part of my daily (and seasonal) life.
Oakwyse : For me, ritual is a way way to travel in time and space between worlds, between thoughts, between feelings. It is time out of time, and place that is no place. Therefore, it is alltime, and allplace. Because words tend to anchor me in the realm of my own understanding, I find actions (or not-acting) more important than discursive speaking.
Ximena Eduarda : Ritual is the bridge I display towards unseen worlds and towards my parts dwelling in other worlds. I do it to connect myself with those worlds or parts, and in consequence, with entities dwelling in them. With or without definition, ritual becomes crossing to the other world or worlds, implying the sacredness of the moment and space in which it displays. I find sense in the necessity to free myself from the density that for now contains us in order to connect over and over with more subtle worlds, and above all more akin to our essence. As connection with other entities, be them goddesses, gods, guides, guardian spirits, or other, the ritual is the communicative action with them. Any of these is an act of magic, where life recovers its magic and magic becomes life.