What IS A Ritual? (You already know the answer)

by Deborah Globus

What exactly IS a ritual? 

I get that question a lot.  

Ritual is a lot of things but mostly it's a framework.

????????????

Let me explain...

You’ve been to a wedding, right?  

Then you already know everything you need to know about what goes into creating a ceremony or ritual.  Below are the parallels between the wedding ceremony we all know and creating personalized authentic rituals of our own.

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The church = Sacred Space

The only difference between a wedding and your own personal ritual is that the wedding has a space already prepared and dedicated to ceremony and ritual.  You’ll create your own sacred (or intentional) space.

“Dearly Beloved…” = Intention

“We are gathered here to witness the union of this man and this woman in holy matrimony” is the phrase we all know by heart.  It’s an intention – it’s what we intend to do while we are in that sacred space.

Intentions change.  A wedding has an intention and a funeral has a very different one.  Your intention changes based on your emotional need. It’s that simple.

The Body of the Ritual = Symbolic Acts 
(or what we do specifically to fulfill the intention.)

In a wedding we exchange vows and rings.  If our ritual was to bless and welcome a newborn we might christen them, or bestow wishes upon them.  Blessing an office space might mean smudging with sage.

Different symbolic acts serve to fulfill different intentions.  You choose what to do based on your need.  The only limit is your imagination,

“You may now kiss the bride…” = Closing the ritual 

We all wait for it – we know it’s coming!  It signals the end of the ritual and the start of the celebrating.  In other words the return to the ordinary world.

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