Ritual Errors

This is a follow-up post from John Beckett on his Ritual Outlines post on Patheos.  I have been leading rituals for many years now (both Public and Private) and, again, John nails very common missteps that could happen to any leader.  The point of Ritual is to be in the light of your chosen deity.  It is not the job of the Priest/ess to get you there...our job is to create the space so YOU can get there.

There are many of us who are frightened of taking the lead on Rituals.  "What if I mess up?"  "I don't want to be the centre of attention"  "You do it so much better than me"...Let's look at this for a minute.

Some of us truly do not want to be in a position to lead the group (those people can be the ones that do the Blessings of the Elements or of the offerings).  However, it is unfair for everyone to have the same person lead all the time.  Circle should be a communal affair.  Big public circles can have a give and take by calling out ideas or people.  Smaller groups should have everyone taking turns.   Assigning a blessing or a meditation to someone is a wonderful way to start this.  The person that "always" leads/coordinates needs some time to be in the spirit of the circle as well.  Sometimes, it is difficult for me, when I am leading a circle, to be in Goddess-space because I am usually worrying about the candles or the incense or if everyone is in the right space.  You can easily be burnt out by this.  The teacher needs recess as much as the kids do.

I love how John puts this next paragraph on if you flub a line or incantation or whatever...

If there’s a minor error, either ignore it or quietly correct it and keep going. The ritual isn’t going to fail and Lugh isn’t going to strike you dead just because you left a line out of an invocation. If you realize you forgot to light the incense, quietly light it before the next invocation – it will look like it was supposed to be that way. Never, ever apologize or call attention to a minor error.

Personally, I am terrible at this.  I always point out my mistakes and laugh about it.  Ritual will always be joyful to me.  It is a place where I can be free.  When I feel that I cannot be free or joyful and it becomes tedious and you say out loud "I don't want to do this" then its time to move on....or take a long break...to get back to your center so you can get back to leading again.

Enjoy reading this article here.

Think about what YOU like to do in ritual...WHY do you go?  WHAT does it give you?
Please leave a comment or 2!

Peace
DM