Another Witches Weekly...

I know - it's 2 in a week - but I had to catch up. ;-)

What method do you use to plan through rituals or spellwork? (such as a ritual outline, etc) Give a brief rundown of how a particular ritual for you goes.

I have a ritual outline? uhhh ok... No, seriously, I don't do "pre-planned" rituals - not even for High Holy days or anything. I don't believe that it's there for anything but show, and since I'm a solitary practitioner, I don't have anyone to play to but my inner God/dess.

My rundown is normally to decide to do a ritual outside my normal meditation, and then meditate in front of my alter, concentrating on what I want to achieve, and seeing the goal being completed positively. I will light a few candles, and possibly burn some incense if I feel the need... Most times I look on such things as extras that I don't *need* - candles and incense provide a focal point to get me meditating on what I want to accomplish with the ritual - just as a pre-planned version does. I look on it this way: If you don't already know exactly what it is that you are wanting to accomplish with the ritual, you'd best not be doing it in the first place - it'll almost always go wrong, and you'll find yourself asking the wrong questions - or worse, asking the right question for the wrong reason. Nothing like asking to live til you're 200 and waking up the next morning as a Galapagos Tortoise.

The other thing about rituals is that it's too easy to become the local "authority" in how to do [insert ritual name here]. There is, honestly speaking, no *wrong* way to do a ritual, as long as the tenats and precepts are followed that the ritual was created for. For instance - as long as it is understood that Midsummer (a.k.a. Litha) is the marking of the Summer Solstice, it is understood that it is the celebration of fertility and merrymaking prior to the harvest, and when the goddess, and the land, shows the first major signs of growth.

It's when those who feel that they are an "authority" on the subject of rituals end up making a hodge-podge of the different festivals that I end up getting really touchy. I'm not normally a picky person when it comes to how you want to do your ritual - but it still boils down to the whole "Be careful what you wish for - and HOW you wish for it". If you're simply mashing up different ideas and festival precepts because it's easier than opening a book and reading about it, then it follows that your ritual results will be equally as mashed up and indecisive. Not at all good for a quality result...

~M