114 lines
5.2 KiB
Plaintext
114 lines
5.2 KiB
Plaintext
III.DAY THREE: BASIC RITUAL TECHNIQUES
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The previous two courses teach the full minimum necessary to work solo
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magick. The remaining two days will concentrate on group ritual. In
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Day Three, we will discuss the basic techniques.
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To explain the outline, relate the outline of the three Essentials of
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Eastern magick - mandalla, mantra, and mudra.
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A. Mantra - Music and Chanting
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Discuss the three types of mantra most often used in Neopagan
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ritual: memorized chants (for creating and focusing the Group
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Mind), impromptu chanting (for advanced meditation and growing
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together), and plainsong (for worship).
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1. Memorized Chants
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Teach them the chants listed below. Then run quickly (for
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familiarization purposes only) through "We Wander Now", "Hoof
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and Horn", "Burn Bright", "Circle 'Round the Fire", and any
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others that I can remember on the spot.
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a. "We All Come from the Goddess"
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We ALL - COME from the GODdess
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AND to HER we SHALL reTURN
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LIKE a DROP - OF - RAIN
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FLOWing TO the O-CEAN (repeat)
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b. "I Circle Around"
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I CIRcle aROUND, I CIRcle aROUND ...
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the BOUN-'DRIES OF the EARTH ...
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WEARing my LONG tail FEAthers AS I GLIDE ...
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WEARing my LONG tail FEAthers AS I GLIDE ... (repeat)
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c. "Air I Am"
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(evenly spaced, every syllable emphasized)
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Air I am,
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Fire I am,
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Water, Earth and Spirit I am ... (repeat)
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d. "The Goddess Chant"
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iSIS, aSTARte, diANna, HECaTE,
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deMEter, KALi - inNAna (repeat)
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2. Impromptu Chanting
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Discuss the uses of impromptu chanting: ecstatic magick
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(where one can't count on elaborate chants) and for deep
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probing rituals, where they are used for free association.
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As an example, demonstrate the three-word style that Starhawk
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teaches in SPIRAL DANCE. Emphasize the use of beat and tempo
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as unifying factors.
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3. Plainsong
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For contrast, sing the NROOGD classic, "O Earth Mother" to
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demonstrate that not all ritual music needs to be in the form
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of basic chants.
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B. Mudra - Movement and Dance
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1. Ritual Dance
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(This section has not yet been finalized. Current plans
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focus on simple circle-dance steps, the famed "spiral dance",
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and then brief discussion of free-form dance and ecstatic
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ritual.)
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2. Theater Techniques
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Remind people that one of the purposes of ritual is to catch
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and hold the attention of Child Self, and point out that the
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language that Child Self speaks best is melodrama. Instruct
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them that gestures and actions in the Circle should speak
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loud enough that words are not necessary. Then, since they
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undoubtedly won't get the point, do two exercises to rub
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their noses in it.
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a. Banishing Exercise
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Set up a circle, then pick out someone who seems to know
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a bit about magick. Get him to go to one of the
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quarters and ground and center. Then have him visualize
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a threat approaching from his quarter, and tell him to
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do a banishing. (He will inevitably do something
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traditional, elaborate, and sterile.) Relax him, then
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ask the class how THEY would have reacted, if THEY were
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attacking the circle, to what he had done. Pick an
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absolute novice, put him in the same place, ground and
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center, pump them up with melodrama and heroics, then
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describe a different menace and instruct them to scare
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it off, turn it away (don't use the word "banish"). See
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if the gestures aren't more dramatic.
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b. Charging Exercise
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Pick a couple who seem to know a bit about magick (if
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possible), and have them ground, center, and use the
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wand and chalice for a symbolic Great Rite. (See if
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they do anything more sexual than just stick the wand
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into the cup - I doubt it.) Relax them, then point out
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to the class that the energies to be raised in this
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exercise are to be earthy and sexual, EXACTLY like the
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"rush" or thrill of heavy flirtation. Then pick the
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most COMPATIBLE-looking couple (if possible) and repeat
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the exercise (and see if they don't make it more
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energetic).
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