• What is ritual?
Ritual is the way that people
recognize significant events, deeds, and activities in life.
These events are called "ceremonies," when done in
an orderly and intentional way. The order identifies the specific
purpose and rules of behavior to tell the participants how to
behave, what to do, why they are doing it, and how to understand
the reason for the ceremony.
Ritual helps us to understand
how to dress; where to sit or stand; what to say or when to
be silent; when to sing or listen; which mood is appropriate-
sad, happy, hopeful, mournful, and empathic. In general, ritual
guides one’s presence and participation. Ritual is not
something imposed so much as it is learned, often by example,
and used for comfort and guidance. It directs the appropriate
expression of feeling that best serves the purpose of those
attending. (Return to list)
• The purpose of ritual
Ritual can direct the journey
of a community or an individual through significant events.
It is meant to establish orderliness while one is in chaos,
to reach deep within the soul and enable one to see one’s
deepest state of being. It is the expression of what is going
on within the soul and mind. It creates order and clarifies
desires. It is to convey the presence of community with their
sympathies, congratulations, sorrows and hopes because of
what is being experienced.
Ritual helps us mark an occasion
- we recognize the event, rather than letting it go unnoticed
or glossing over it. It can help one to see what is real,
rather than imaginary or hallucinatory, so that one can make
it real for themselves, believe it, accept it, and deal with
it. Ritual is purposeful by helping a community define its
most fundamental beliefs, and build trust and reliance on
those beliefs. A community is richer when it can interpret
past experiences and the meanings of life’s events. With
this in place, a community can stand strong and face the fundamental
conflicts, joys, and sorrows of life, and conceive of ways
to live richly.
Good ritual will include the
silences, words, music, action, and public and private wonderings
that best serve the people’s needs. This includes leading
and encouraging people to reflect, question, understand, accept
or reject, to be brave or cautious, to commit to some ideals
or values, or to learn and to teach. (Return
to list)
• Who needs ritual?
Everyone does. All of us have
many rituals - how we dress and greet others, how we eat and
enjoy ourselves and how we work. Ritual can help us through
demanding situations, when great difficulty and disbelief
is overwhelming. We need ritual because we need comfort, recognition,
and acknowledgment during our most important occasions in
life.
Ritual is simple, profound,
gentle, and demanding. Ritual helps as we reach deeply within
and search for the greatest wisdom and courage. Ritual can
sometimes express complex feelings in very simple ways, such
as the unity expressed in the candle holder made by the family
above. Even when a community is awestruck and dumbfounded
and lacks answers about an event, ritual provides a way to
express or get in touch with feelings surrounding the event.
(Return to list)
• Elements of ritual
The elements of ritual are as
varied as the occasion demands. At a funeral, it is desirable
to be solemn sometimes, to speak to the bereaved at other
moments, to laugh and cry with them, to greet family and express
sorrow. The bereaved may want to bring a photograph, readings,
music, stories, or the deceased’s fishing rod or knitting
needles, or whatever else best identifies the person and conveys
affection and remembrance. In this context, the ritual employs
elements of place, people, behaviors, purpose, event and reason
that brings people together when remembering their loved ones.
(Return to list)
• Who guides ritual?
Due to the complexity of maintaining
ritual’s depth, simplicity, ease of expression, grace
and dignity, it is recommended to have someone well versed
and trained to guide the ritual. For some public occasions,
such as funerals, death, burials, wedding, etc., having the
ritual guided by such a person allows those most intimately
affected to deeply feel the experience and its benefits,
instead of worrying about the details of the ceremony. Although
having someone else lead the ritual has the greatest
chance of bringing out the most for the family and community,
one can create one’s own ritual very well. (Return
to list)
