Lichtenbergian Precepts: Ritual, part 1

/
ritual.jpg

The sixth Lichtenbergian Precept is RITUAL, and it’s usually the hardest to explain. For our newcomers, let me start by affirming what RITUAL is not: it is not an empty set of instructions followed by rote just because “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” Nor is it some dark, mystical, secretive rite of magick.

What is RITUAL, then?

From the book: RITUAL is a kind of structure, one that takes you from where you are to a new place, crossing over a line in some way to get there. Its purpose is to provoke change in yourself and/or the Audience. You find the structure in any religious service, in the Hero’s Journey, in all the superstitious little ways artists will arrange their work space and time to make that transition into a state of “work-mind.”

Here’s the basic structure:

  • Invocation

  • Drawing the circle

  • Taking the path

  • Numen/Connection

  • Breaking the circle

  • Benediction

Don’t worry, it will all make sense. Here, have a pretty picture:

shape of ritual.jpg

Here’s the basic structure mapped onto the pretty picture:

shape of ritual annotated.jpg

Think on that. We’ll continue this topic on Monday.