Linde - Taking sacred back: the complete guide to designing & sharing group rituals

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

Taking Sacred Back: The Complete Guide to Designing & Sharing Group Rituals 2016 by Nels & Judy Linde.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

As the purchaser of this e-book, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. The text may not be otherwise reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, or recorded on any other storage device in any form or by any means.

Any unauthorized usage of the text without express written permission of the publisher is a violation of the authors copyright and is illegal and punishable by law.

First e-book edition 2016

E-book ISBN: 9780738749662

Book design by Bob Gaul

Cover design by Kevin R. Brown

Cover image by Shutterstock/144847312/Anna Jurkovska

Editing by Lunaea Weatherstone
Interior illustrations on pages by Mickie Mueller
Interior illustrations on pages by Llewellyn art department
Photos on pages by Jenna Touchette
Photos on pages by Harmony Tribe Photo Archives
Photo on page by Kim Brady
All other photos by Nels and Judy Linde

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

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Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

Contents

: Your Ritual Plan

: What Is Ritual?

: Getting Started

: Ritual Conception

: Your Purpose

: Your Ritual Toolbox

: Ritual Organization

: The Ritual Begins

: The Sacred Space

: Engage the Subconscious

: Awe and Wonder

: Raising Energy

: Pulling It All Together

: Amazing Props and Tools

: Adapting Ritual to Scale

Introduction

We watched as the male shape, covered in feathers and matches, and the female shape, wrapped in clay snakes, each burned, to reveal the opposite-gendered image hidden beneath. Then, when they were joined, we knew that together they forged our strength of spirit. Seeing the participant reaction to this transformation, and experiencing a ritual devoid of words of instruction, helped set us on this path to Take Sacred Back!

The Union of the Elements ritual

Neopagan religions are among the fastest growing in the world, in part because they empower a personal relationship with the sacred. The resurrection of engaged ritual has inspired and introduced a whole new generation of seekers to embrace the sacred experiences possible in a group setting. Ritual can be a safe and creative method of fulfilling our spiritual needs regardless of personal belief or religious affiliation.

In the years since we first came to the Pagan community much has changed. Knowledge in ritual organization, engagement, and theater is passed informally and by regional cross-fertilization among ritual facilitators. These lessons and principles can be used to avoid many common mistakes and jump right to offering the inspired expression you have within. The purpose of this book is to give you the benefit of years of ritual experience and help you overcome the fear of learning leadership skills. We all have our special talents, and whatever yours are, this book will help you form a team that can take your community on the journey you envision!

In the following pages, we will share principles and techniques of developing and presenting successful large-group community rituals. These are drawn from our own observations, personal experiences, and presentations over the course of the last twenty-five years. Large group rituals are designed to engage a broad audience and feel inclusive and welcoming for whoever chooses to attend. Our goal is to help you develop your own ritual toolbox, filled with suggestions and methods to design and increase the impact of your rituals.

Who we are, our personal story, is unique because we each were creating ritual when we met, and then we married, becoming life partners and a team designing and presenting rituals for our community. We speak in this book mainly from the we voice. We each also have had personal experiences in ritual, and when we speak from that personal perspective, we will identify ourselves as such.

Nels: I first experienced ritual with my introduction to Paganism. In 1986 I was convinced by a friend to attend Circle Sanctuarys Pagan Spirit Gathering (PSG). The day after my arrival I went to the co-created mens ritual, and as luck had it I ended up perfectly in the South of the circle of men. During the walk to the site I had met the ritual priest, and at the appropriate time he said, Nels, please invite the fire of the South to join us. I have no idea what I said as I turned, raised my arms, and spoke, but it was good enough for the magic to touch me that day. Several times that week in ritual I danced, sang, chanted, and cried. After five days of ritual I went back home with my head spinning! I became an eclectic Pagan and started reading. I had no coven or group, and those first few years my Pagan practice became a yearly journey to PSG and participation in the festivals co-created rituals. As an artist and creative thinker, for 51 weeks a year my head would fill with ideas to include in ritual. Then for a week each year I became a ritualist. After a few years of contributing I figured out that no one else could create the ritual I envisioned. If it was going to happen, I would have to organize and lead it; no one else could do it for me. I began sponsoring Samhain rituals at my home that involved large effigy figures set aflame. I eventually contributed this prop-building skill to the main rituals at PSG and three times was priest for the mens ritual there. My vending as a craftsman took me to many festivals around the country, where I always participated in and deconstructed their rituals. And then at one festival I met Judy.

Judy: My fascination with ritual began early, as a child raised in a very traditional, preVatican II Catholic church. The doctrines and dogma never made much sense to me, but the ritual experiencethe mystery, incense, chiming bells, burning candles, and chanting which flooded my sensesthat is where the magic was. Later as a young artist I began to study symbology, which led me to tarot, which led to Qabalah, Hermeticism, Ceremonial Magic (and yes, even through the doors of the Gnostica Bookstore), and on from there to the Pagan community in the Twin Cities, where I found a home in the Craft. The Wiccan teaching circle I was working with at the time celebrated every Sabbat with ritual. These were commonly attended by anywhere from 20 to 60 people. Here again I found the burning candles, incense, chanting, and chiming, and now the dogma matched the intent. Not only could I attend, as I had when I was a child, now I could also present ritual. By the time I met Nels I was surprised to find