Ceremony and Ritual

A ceremony or ritual, as I see it, is a tool used for concentration and focus. What follows is my interpretation and personal understanding of ritual and ceremony. During this discussion I'll use the terms ritual and ceremony interchangeably.

The instruments, implements, or sacred items used in the ritual have the purpose of further focusing attention or drawing energy to the task at hand. A ritual is more like a recipe the practitioner follows to insure success of the venture. The purpose of a ritual is to inform the practitioner and all participants something special is happening. This means all involved are informed of what is happening and given an understanding of what is being done and why. Rituals can be long and involved or very short and simple. Rituals can be traditional and learned or spontaneous and improvised on the spot to cover a specific instance. Ritual also shows the client the practitioner has some degree of competence in the healing he is about to perform.

Characteristics of a Ritual or Ceremony

adapted from "Urban Shaman" by Serge King

A ritual or ceremony is no more than focusing energy for a specific purpose. The purpose of the practitioner is to assist focusing of the energy of the group involved in the ceremony.

Energy flows where attention goes. (Serge King, "Urban Shaman")

Beginning:

There must be a definite beginning for a ritual or ceremony. This can be beating a drum, performing an invocation, or throwing a bolt of lightning. Here I state the purpose of the ceremony. This also focuses my attention. I perform an invocation invite the healing powers to attend and assist.

Place and Atmosphere:

The ceremonial space should be special --- a place is defined in some wayas special. It could involve the participants sit in a circle, smudging an area, placing candles, or whatever is convenient, comfortable, and symbolic. It could involve special incense and/or music which brings everyone into the mood of the ceremony by focusing the attention and energy of all involved.

Procedure:

The ceremony must be explained to the participants in some way so the the participants can be involved; their energy is necessary for the ceremony. Energy flows where attention goes. The actions and ceremonial gear involved must relate to the part of the ceremony being performed in a logical manner. The ritual must maintain the attention of all participants.

Special Clothing:

The person or persons performing the ritual must wear something setting them apart from the rest of the participants. It can be something as simple as a headband or as elaborate as a full costume. The special clothing must be appropriate to the situation. If the ritual is being performed on someone, there should be some article of clothing or something setting them apart.

Ending:

There must be a definite ending to the ceremony; it shouldn't die or fizzle out. A part of the ending can be a prayer of thanksgiving to the spirits who have attended and worked in the ceremony.

The purpose of ceremony is to encourage a group dynamic and group focus for all involved. All participants should be participating, not just being there.

Tie Breaking Ritual

This rutial was given me by my friend and teacher, Cindy. I'm sure she won't mind me passing it along. It's used to break unhealthy energy ties to another. The ties will be broken only IF the person wants to break the ties, otherwise they are impossible to break.

The following is my adaptation of the ceremony. Feel free to make modifications as you see fit.

1. Start Ceremony:

   • Arrange materials (knife, rattle, candles).
   • Light Candles: Sage (south), Sweetgrass (north), Juniper (west), Cedar (east).
   • Fill the area with Reiki energy.
   • Pass the tie breaking knife over the candles for cleansing.
   • Place the Reiki symbols on the blade.
   • Perform invocation to spirits I work with, asking for their help. Without their help, this tie breaking would not be possible. They're the ones who know where energies came from and to where they should be returned.

2. Surrender All Ties to Others:

   "(Name of Person), surrender all unhealthy ties to others, remembered or forgotten, married or unmarried, in this realm or another. All of these ties are broken NOW. (Name of Person), you will no longer seek to fulfill another's energy needs."
   At this time go around the person's body with the knife, cutting all ties. Sometimes this will be very difficult.

3. Others Surrender All Ties:

   "All who have unhealthy energy ties with (Name of Person), surrender all ties to (Name of Person), remembered or forgotten, married or unmarried, in this realm or another. You will no longer seek to fulfill your energy needs with (Name of Person)'s energy."
   At this time go around the person's body with the knife, cutting all ties. Sometimes this will be very difficult.

4. Return All Energy to Its Rightful Owner:

   "All energy belonging to (Name of Person), be returned to (Name of Person)."
   Make sweeping knife gesture toward (Name of Person)
   "All energy not belonging to (Name of Person) be returned to its rightful place."
   Make sweeping knife gesture away from (Name of Person)

5. Seal the Ceremony

   Go around the person with the rattle to seal off all of the ties that have been removed.

6. Closing of Ritual

   • "All who attended, protected, and guided this healing of (Name of Person), thank you. This could not have been done without your help."
   • Extinguish candles.
   • Put away all items used in ritual.

There are a few things to note. Sometimes ties are difficult to break; sometimes they can't be broken, no matter how much you hack at them, because the person is unwilling to break these ties at some level. When there are some very difficult ties to break, sometimes the person will awaken the next morning with a bruised feeling in the area where the ties were connected, usually the heart and solar plexus areas but it could be anywhere. Often breaking ties is painful for the person having the ties broken. Although some feel the ties should be broken gently, I feel the pain of breaking the ties isn't unbearable and lets the person participate and know the ties are being broken.

As you can see, this ceremony has a definite beginning and a definite end, ceremonial gear, meaningful action, and a well defined purpose.