Pantheacon (14) – Authenticity in Ritual

The motivation for the next workshop was to create and produce more dynamic rituals.  There was a feeling that many large rituals are difficult to create and pull off; people are reluctant to participate; leaders are unfocused or lack energy.  How to fix that?
 

By taking a deep approach, apparently—by being more “authentic.”

In other words:

Be more open to the Authentic—feelings, fears, thoughts.

Don’t use scripts (“No Scripts Ever”).  With scripts you lose authenticity (and mobility).

But—what is “Authenticity?”  We were told it is connecting to energy and to the group.  

How do you achieve the deep, ecstatic state?  Know your intention and speak from the heart.

Authenticity is different from performance; Authenticity is speaking what you believe.

You want to be Receptive, Respectful, and Supportive.

After the initial presentation, we experimented with a few spontaneous rituals.  They worked well, I thought—very experiential, and helpful for going deeper into ourselves and the group.

(A series of thoughts occurred to me during this workshop.  The saying I mentioned in the previous blog post—“Magic is Intent but Intent is not Magic”—may actually have come to me during this workshop.  Perhaps someone mentioned this idea.  I know that at one point—either because of the workshop or because of a novel I had been working on—I asked myself “What attracts?”  Smiles, I thought; or Response; or Beauty).

(I thought about a poem I had written a long time ago:  “The time will come, when I shall speak with the Lion’s Voice.”  The Lion’s Voice!  But what is the “Lion’s Voice?”).

(And, immersed in this attempt to ritualize but not perform, I remembered a saying of Quentin Crisp:  “Exhibitionism is a drug; you get hooked.”  I suppose that is a danger of “performance!”).

On the way down the hall afterwards, I recognized someone I’d known ten years earlier.  I admired her long black hair.  She remembered me also.  We enjoyed seeing one another again.  I was happy that she was pleased to see me—that was an affirmation of my own value.