Rituals ... What are they?

While putting the finishing touches to the Kitchen Witch Elen ritual ready for next weekend I got to thinking about rituals in general.  What are they, why do we do them and what are the rules?

So I looked up the definition of a ritual and found this

A religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order.

Most pagan rituals will follow a set order, cast a circle, cleanse and smudge the circle, call the quarters and deity etc but they are anything but solemn.   While we are serious about reverence for deity we also believe there should be a bit of mirth and merriment in the mix too.   Our Kitchen Witch ceremonies are fairly relaxed and as we are a training coven we are always happy for people to ask questions about what we are doing. 

Pagan rituals should be joyous occasions; times of laughter and celebration of the turning of the seasons and the cycles of the moon.   We often make mistakes during our rituals but we are quite prepared to laugh at ourselves when we do.  We believe the Goddess likes to laugh along with us too.    I've been to rituals where the group have put on a bit of a skit to re-enact the myths of the season, I've even been witness to the fight of the Holly King and Oak King played out with rubber chickens.  So you can definitely have fun while still touching on the deeper mysteries.

As I am a Kitchen Witch I  don’t follow some of the strict Wiccan rules that some covens do but when I am attending someone else’s ritual I follow their rules and ask what will be expected of me during the ritual beforehand.   Quite often there is a dress code or a potluck feast and it is only respectful to the group to join in.  Something I personally like to do is bring an offering of some herbs or flowers for the altar.

While most Pagan rituals are relaxed there is one golden rule and that is attending a ritual is not like attending a party ... it’s not fashionable to arrive late.  In fact arriving after the circle is cast disrupts the flow of energy and focus for everyone in the circle.  If you’re running late let the organisers know and they may be able to delay the start of the ritual by a few minutes.  If you arrive after the ritual has started be considerate and hang back until the end.

When I first started out on my path as a witch there were no open rituals anywhere, now there are quite a few popping up and it is really lovely to see.   So as well as holding our Kitchen Witch rituals next year I hope to get along to some others and make some new friends along the way.