Altars & Rituals
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org,
please feel free to visit the school website)
Introduction
History Of Altars
What Is An Altar?
What Is A Ritual?
Why Do People Build Altars?
Why Do People Create And Enact Rituals?
Elements Of Altars And Effective Rituals
Create An Altar
Create A Ritual
Conclusion
Bibliography
Written by Nova Love
Introduction
Humankind has a historical, as well as a current, relationship with the use of both altars and rituals. The age-old questions of "Who am I," and "What is the purpose of my existence?" have driven us on the quest for greater inner knowledge. A worldwide search for connection to the mysterious circumstances of existence may be shown to be at the foundation for the use of altars and rituals. Ritual and altar use are outgrowths of religion and spirituality, the maps we use on the search. They are used as tools in the quest that these questions have guided people to. Worldwide evidence of the use of these often interrelating elements of spirituality is abundant.
Why do people build altars? Are Altars & Rituals useful in one's journey through life? What do we hope to convey or accomplish with the assistance of an altar? Why do humans create and enact rituals? What need is a ritual intended to fulfill? Does ritual and altar use provide people viable avenues of exploration to assist in the personal quest for some measure of solace or celebration in this life? What is it specifically about altars and ritual that has and continues to "work" for people. By examining examples of Altars & Rituals the student will be presented with a number of answers to these and other questions. Another method we will pursue in this course is to seek an answer to these questions by designing rituals and altars that have meaning to the student, and in so doing seek to personalize the experience, thereby allowing the answers to present themselves.
The Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary 11th Edition describes ritual as "a ceremonial act or action...an act or series of acts regularly repeated in a set and precise manner." Altar is defined in this dictionary as "a table on which the Eucharistic elements are consecrated or which serves as a center of worship or ritual." In these definitions, the student will begin to see the religious and worship elements connected with altars and ritual as they are inexorably tied up with the human reaction to the greater than mortal elements of existence.
This course will introduce the student to some of the known ancient usage of altars and ritual as well as several modern examples. We will cover what an altar is, along with what a ritual entails. Why these tools are important to people will also be covered.
History Of Altars
The history of altar use is expanded with virtually every archeology discovery that predates our current scope of knowledge. In 1994 the discovery of the Chauvet Cave paintings in France dated to be up to 30,000 years old also unveiled a block of stone with a skull of a cave bear placed upon it, evidence of the oldest altar yet discovered. Robert Farris Thompson states in his book Face Of The Gods: Art And Altars Of Africa And The African Americas (1993), "The altar appears in the art history of virtually all of the world." For those societies that have knowledge of their ancient cultures, such as the Greek and Chinese, the memory of altar use stretches back into the depths of time to the immemorial.
Ritual history is less easily dated than altar use, with the late invention of written languages as we know them, the long-standing oral traditions are forever blurred in the fog of our past. Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, while discussing the history of fire states in his book, Grimoire For The Apprentice Wizard (2004), says, "Gathered around our hearths and campfires, we sang our first songs, chanted our first chants, made our first music, danced our first dances, told our first stories, and performed our first plays." These elements were and are still the foundation for many rituals. Ancient sites show evidence of the probable marriage of ritual and altars as early as Stonehenge, where the "altarstone," as named by Inigo Jones, challenges modern thinkers to imagine the exact uses and inspiration for such mighty works. Jewish history with its written texts is a trove of information for the history and use of altars in Hebrew tradition. Milt Maclin quotes [Deuteronomy 27: 1-8] in Joshua's Altar (1991), "...you shall set up these stones about which I charge you this day on Mount Ebal and coat them with plaster. There, too, you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones...you shall offer on it burnt offerings to the Lord your God...rejoicing before the Lord your God."
What Is An Altar?
Kay Turner explains in her book Beautiful Necessity: The Art And Meaning Of Women's Altars (1999), "... from the very beginnings of human consciousness, a particular religious artform has assuaged the terror of separation by creating a special site to serve the human desire for relationship with the unseen gods and spirits. We call that place an altar, a place set apart to house the images of powerful sacred beings, who by their presence there can be called upon for help and comfort. An altar makes visible that which is invisible and brings near that which is far away; it marks the potential for communication and exchange between different but necessarily connected worlds, the human and the divine." The terror she mentions is that uniquely human perception that we are disconnected from the divine as a consequence of our self-consciousness.
In its most basic structure an altar is any surface, usually flat upon which special items are placed. An altar, by being set aside in space, is a trigger to the self to recognize some element of life other than the mundane. These special items placed in this special place are a natural focal point to any observer, and especially to the individual or organization responsible for the altar. Modern altars are constructed from any number of materials: wood, glass, cardboard, and stone are often used. Many an end table or bookshelf has been converted into altar-space, as well as simply an area covered with a cloth. Milk crates, cardboard boxes and brick and board shelves are on one side of the spectrum of useable materials, with elaborately carved artworks and crystal surfaces on the other. Kay Turner writes in Beautiful Necessity: The Art And Meaning Of Women's Altars (1999), "Contemporary altar-builders range from the very traditional to the radically revisionist". There are traditions today that follow set guidelines for construction such as Catholic and Jewish, which trace directions to the sacred texts of those faiths. Also to be found are ever evolving altars such as one observes in Santeria.
Beyond this basic level of what an altar is physically we find the deeper truth as to what an altar really is. People build altars as a portal to and as a reflection of the Divine. Marie Romero Cash explains in her book Living Shrines: Home Altars Of Mexico (1998), "Altars project the faith of the believer into the heavenly realm, which they know exists but to which they have no access other than by the daily prayers said to the saints on the altar. They serve as a means to establish and maintain the communication that provides the spiritual well being of those who pray to the saints."
Altars personalize the grand mystery of the universe by bringing the vast into the manageable. Modern pagans, among others, use altars as reflections of this universe, by presenting the macrocosm in the microcosm using images of divine and natural forces as embodied in earthly forms. Yasmur Flores-Pena writes in Santeria Garments And Altars: Speaking Without A Voice (1994), "Believers construct statues and altars to honor the spirits just as in many other faiths." Most people of European Christian faiths travel to temples and churches to experience the use of altars. This likely stems from the concept that a recognized intermediary in the form of a priest is to be responsible for the communication between humanity and the divine. Catholic and Jewish sacred spaces feature prominent altars, while Protestant altar display has been reduced considerably to a simple table that holds the sacred text within the church.
In contrast to the above most Meso-American Christians practice an avid dedication to the construction of and maintenance of home altars and shrines. This is similar to Afro-Caribbean and neo-pagan practice. Dana Salvo says in his book Home Altars Of Mexico (1997), "Mexico's Indian and mestizo peoples, in acts of private devotion, regularly construct home altars to commemorate their relations with their ancestral past and their place within a grander cosmic order." An explanation of why this may have come to be the norm for American Latinos is discussed by Marie Cash in Living Shrines (1997), "Because priests and churches were spread over vast areas, the people developed their own home liturgies and church events...The Altarcito de Casa (home altar) was used for either formal or informal prayer. This community practice of devotion at home nurtured the faith of the people and strengthened their faith."
What Is A Ritual?
Ritual and ritualization are defined in practice as some set of actions carried on in some structured form. The term "rite" is analogous to ritual, and both are defined in Webster's Dictionary as "A ceremonial act or action." The process of performing a ritual leads to its ceremonialization, by way of drawing away from ordinary processes to enact some special display. Serge Kahili King, Ph.D. in his book Urban Shaman: The Healing Rites Of Ceremony And Ritual (1990), writes "I know that the word ritual can be used to mean any set pattern of behavior that may be carried out consciously or unconsciously (i.e., smoking, driving, exercise), but I'm using it...to refer to consciously organized behavior intended to impress and influence." This is also how we will use the term for the purpose of this course.
Some of the most common rituals modern people enact include: going to church services, creating personal worship outlets, marriages, funerals, baby showers, graduations and the like. These events like most rituals are created for and carried out to be meaningful delineation's of pastimes during one's ordinary life. Similar to the way altars are set aside in order to be special, rituals stand apart to denote meaning.
Ritual is part of the human condition. Tom Driver explains in The Magic Of Ritual (1991), "All over the world people perform rituals; and, from the archaeological evidence, it looks as if they always have...Most people in our society are not educated to think that the performance of ritual is a characteristic of human beings as is speaking language and living in social groups; yet this is what the record seems to show."
Why Do People Build Altars?
Any practice as widespread as altar building is will present the appearance of many or at least several motivations for the practice. Looking below the surface, one may begin to discover the deeper similarities between apparently disparate human actions. These fundamental urges we act out, and the subconscious reasons beneath our actions tie humanity to one another, and reminds us of our family-hood.
As stated in the introduction, religion and spirituality can be seen as the maps humans have employed to chart a course on the great adventure of our search for self-purpose and the reason to existence. Charting a path into the unknown is cause for some amount of concern, especially when that trail leads us into the realms in which energies and/or entities exist that are larger than our mortal envelope. In a quest to find a tool with which to interact with these Others, humankind has found some success in the form of the altar. Grand concepts and divine mysteries can be easily symbolized, with objects agreed to stand for these macrocosmic residents.
A portal of communication has been sought to bridge the chasm we imagine exists "between" these human and divine realms. Kay Turner writes in her book Beautiful Necessity: The Art And Meaning Of Women's Altars (1999), "An altar makes visible that which is invisible and brings near that which is far away; it marks the potential for communication and exchange between different but necessarily connected worlds, the human and the divine." Because the answers can not be known on the human plane when charting the course into the unknown, people have striven to receive inspiration and guidance from the divine. The altar is the nexus point at which duality is released and the holy certainty is experienced.
The altars themselves are not representations of the divine. Rather, they house or host space to display the divine. Milt Machlin in the book Joshua's Altar (1991) describes primitive altar-like stones: "The practice of setting up commemorative stones, of maseboth, survives from very ancient times,...The Israelites erected maseboth without ascribing divine qualities to them..." An altar can be said to be a tool that holds other tools. Edain McCoy states in her book Entering The Summerland: Customs And Rituals Of Transition Into The Afterlife (1996), "On the practical side, an altar serves as a place to organize and set out tools and other items that will be needed during the rite, or which lend ambiance to the occasion..."
Symbolically the altar represents the "All That Is," the canvas upon which reality is painted. It raises the sacred objects physically above the floor as symbol of raising the witch's attention of these things...All the objects upon the altar are representations and also channels for the larger ideas and concepts beyond the simple objects. Because of the belief in imminence the altar objects become sacred — reflections and manifestations of the greater Divine."
Why Do People Create And Enact Rituals?
Rituals are moments of designation. The very nature of ritual is to separate some transition from normal daily life. Our human need to create religion seems beyond question, Roy Rappaport begins his book Ritual And Religion In The Making Of Humanity (1999), "...humanity could not have emerged from its pre- or proto-human condition...in the absence of what we, in a common sense way call religion...The absolute ubiquity of religion, however defined, supports the attribution of such profound significance to it." Religion can only become overt with the enactment of ritual. The inner landscape of belief can only be witnessed outside of the self through enactment. In the book Spirals: A Study In Symbol, Myth And Ritual (1979), Walter L. Brenneman, Jr. writes, "Ritual plays the role of an instinctual action and myth of the psychic image which apprehends that action. Myth, then, could be understood as archetypal image expressed in word, and ritual, as archetypal image expressed in gesture. Both are stylized, abstracted and iconified from the life-world and thus function as models..."
In the human personal quest for peace of mind and spirit throughout life, while using the maps of religion and spirituality, rituals become the milestones and signs along the way. Through times of celebration, times of challenge, and times of growth and change, ritual allows specific set aside moments that become helpful because of the dynamics of our psyches which embrace ritual. In the text Religious And Social Ritual (1996), edited by Michael B. Aune and Valerie DeMarinis, Richard K. Payne writes, "It is a widespread popular prejudice that, unlike science, ritual is not effective...ritual tended to be assigned to the lower, more primitive level called magic. The usual explanation is that magic's failure led on the one hand to science as a true technological mastery of the natural world, and on the other hand to religion as a true spiritual relation to the transcendent. If such a view of ritual were true, the advance of the science and secular institutions should have led to the disappearance of ritual... On the contrary, ritual remains a part of modern society... If we do see people as fundamentally pragmatic, then the retention of ritual would indicate that ritual continues to serve some useful function in contemporary society..." In other words ritual works, and is natural, Peggy Papp in the Forward to Rituals In Psychotherapy: Transition And Continuity (1993), by Onno van der Hart, writes, "Throughout history mankind has used rituals and ceremonies to mark the passage from one state of experience to another. It is an innate characteristic of human beings to dramatize important experience in this fashion."
Explaining exactly why Altars & Rituals work for people could fill many books. Suffice it to say that they both enable us to feel connected and contented on some deep level. As part of the learning process of this course the student is expected to create an altar of sorts, and to conduct a ritual. This will allow the truths within each student to be added to the many other personal truths that explain why they work.
Elements Of Altars And Effective Rituals
As stated earlier, altars can be of the simplest design; a place set aside containing as few as one element. Generally, though, people use the opportunity of altar building as a tableau to feature multiple elements. Modern usage of altars can be separated into two categories: décor altars, and working altars. Décor altars are depositories for personally meaningful items, often gifted, found or purchased by loved ones. These structures tend to grow in an organic way, evolving as the keeper does in complexity and character. Working altars are created with purpose and intention as a place where time will be spent in a focused way. These are often created and maintained according to a tradition learned or created. Examples of these are the home altars of some cultures, as Kay Turner writes in Beautiful Necessity: The Art And Meaning Of Women's Altars (1999), "...domestic altars is a very old tradition practiced for thousands of years by women of different religious beliefs the world over. The home altar is ancient in its legacy and yet continues to this day."
What actually resides on an altar can be dictated by tradition, intuited personally, of some combination of these. A modern Wiccan altar is likely to be comparable to another created by unrelated builders. One can expect to find items such as candles in the cardinal directions, a container of water, and an incense smudge stick among others. Some traditions embellish to a great extent, as we read in Santeria Garments And Altars: Speaking Without A Voice (1994), Ysamur Flores-Pena explains, "The altars, which are usually built in a corner, display a variety of foliage or rich, beautifully suspended fabric... Transitional offerings of fruits and vegetables placed at the foot of the structure add the final decorative touch to the altars. This area is called the plaza." In many instances, statuary is an important element of altar design. The tremendous diversity of people can be expressed in what one chooses to display on this sacred stage. Dana Salvo begins to explain the motivation of object placement this way in Home Altars Of Mexico, (1997) "The sedimentary levels of history and experience represented by the particular emplacement of objects that adorn these domestic altars are powerfully emotive. Here objects, space, and time combine to conjure the holy." Yasmur Flores-Pena concludes, "The materials for the altar are considered sacred and are never used for anything else once they have been hung in or around a shrine."
Effective ritual creation is both a science and an art. The art aspect is one that will take years to develop, and the personal style you craft will evolve as your comfort level and skill level progress over time. Of course one should try to incorporate some elements of style and art into even the first and most basic rituals, because as we will see they have an important role to play. Keeping these additions simple in early rituals will help you focus on the task at hand, co-creating a ritual that has impact and influence on yourself and all other witnesses that may be present. As Serge Kahili King writes in Urban Shaman: The Healing Art Of Ceremony And Ritual (2000), "Ritual can serve many different purposes, but it won't serve them unless it is effective. An effective ritual is one which leaves a lasting impression and strongly influences people to reinforce or change assumptions, attitudes, or expectations. To do that it must be intellectually and emotionally satisfying...Otherwise it is no more than lifeless habit and dogma..."
In order for ritual to be effective there must be "very specific elements," King states, present in at least some measure. First it must be set aside from all other time in some special way such as by having a beginning and an ending. Those present will only be able to distinguish the ritual as such if it can not blend into the normal events of the day. Make sure the transitions are distinct into and out of the ritual; a drum roll intro and applause at the end are examples of noticeable transitions. Next, a good ritual will involve as many of the senses as can be engaged. The sights, sounds, smells, movements, and even taste present in the ritual will involve each witness exponentially as a co-creator in the reality that the rite is reflecting. A ritual will also follow an at least somewhat known form in order to be understandable to those present. One would not begin a ritual at the end nor end a ritual somewhere in the middle if an effect other than confusion was desired. As discussed in Beginnings In Ritual Studies (1995), Ronald L. Grimes writes, "The sense of timing in a ritual process is as distinctive as it is in a piece of music..." The cues of familiar flow and reasonable expectations of event sequence are needed by ritual goers, as Robert N. McCauley and E. Thomas Lawson explain in Bringing Ritual To Mind: Psychological Foundations Of Cultural Forms (2002)," Although it may not always be immediately obvious, ritual actions are systematically connected to one another. The acts involved must follow in a certain order."
Create An Altar
Chances are that you already have some space that functions in some way like an altar. You may not consider it as such, but nearly everyone has a place that collects precious stuff. With some work and sanctification you may be a few steps from having a functional altar. If you do not have an interest in dedicating or maintaining a separate sacred space, you can craft an entirely mobile altar. Follow the steps below to at least create a temporary place of connection to the greater-than-mortal aspects of this universe.
Step one is to start with a clean slate. Remove everything from your chosen area even if only temporarily. Even if you have a working altar take this opportunity to disassemble it completely. Next, thoroughly clean the space. Wipe down, vacuum, scrub, and even repaint your spot if necessary. While completing this process, use directed Will power to energetically cleanse the area. Use gestures such as sweeping arm movements, or blow your breath over the area while imagining a wind of renewal clearing all the past energies of the space.
Now is the time to create some sort of delineation for your sacred space if needed. Many people use altar-clothes, which are pieces of fabric they find attractive, to frame the altar. If you are dedicating an entire tabletop from some structure such as an end table or dresser top, or even simply an overturned cardboard box, the edges of your structure will serve as the delineation.
Once the above steps are finished, you will be at a point to ritually purify the altar that is manifesting. Similar to the cleansing step, this is a process of energetic work. Many people find using a smoke bath from an incense stick or smudge stick a great way to purify a space. Others will use water or salt water sprinkled over the area. Using your imagination, these purifying tools will of their own nature cause an energetic shift. Allow yourself the inner certainty that the space is undergoing a process that leaves it different than it began, in a way that is appropriate to sacred work.
Next is the completely personal task of arranging the items you will display and use on your altar. Begin by collecting all the special items you have been gifted with or procured for yourself over your life. This may be overwhelming to consider, or it may be as simple as gathering a few trinkets you have been spiriting away. Through a process of energetic elimination, whittle down the items to the most appropriate number for display on your altar. If you follow a spiritual path that has a protocol for altar creation, you can gather the items that fit the dogma of your chosen path.
Cleanse each item to be used on you altar similarly to how you purified and cleansed the altar itself. Each item on your altar is representative of more than it may seem at first glance. Allow your emotional ties to each to speak to you about the deeper significance of the stuff. You will often find that archetypal or universal processes are represented by the otherwise mundane items. If you follow a prescribed setup design, ponder deeply the already thought out correspondences of the items you will be setting on your altar.
Now arrange the altar items on the surface of your altar. Allow intuition to be your first guide, this is not a time to be self-editing your every move. Sometimes creating an altar is similar to playing a game of magical chess: you place and move your belongings in a dance-like juxtaposition of evolving energetic give and take. Eventually a type of balance is reached, and an agreement with yourself is reached as to the placement of each special item of your new altar. If you follow a system that has altar placement agreements, you can still personalize the process as much as possible, being sure to reconsider each step of the process to deepen your connection to your chosen practice. Once the altar is set up, it is time to ritualistically inaugurate it. This can be to simply smudge it again, or a more formal prayer of sanctification and consecration. You may write down a few crafty lines or come up with appropriate words on the fly. The important thing to accomplish is to inform yourself on a deep level that the space that you have created is different from all other places in your life. The new altar has become your own personal gateway to the Divine. You have imbued it with energy through the creation process, and you have energetically crafted the matrix of vibration surrounding the space.
Congratulations! You are ready to put your altar to work.
Create A Ritual
As an example we will use a special-name adoption ritual to accomplish the formalization of taking on a nickname as a primary use name. To begin, set aside the time and place for your rite in which you will not be disturbed by visitors or phone calls. The time necessary will depend entirely on the complexity of design of the ritual; this example will be a very quick process, lasting only a few minutes. Prepare all the materials needed with a clear sense of purpose and intention. You may want to incorporate your new altar, in which case do all of the necessary work for that process also. Next, arrange any materials you will be incorporating into easily accessible areas, within reach throughout your ritual. You are now ready to begin.
Start strong by creating a noise that is not part of your normal daily routine. Pretend to be a trumpet fanfare, "Da da dad um, Ta da da dad a dum." Say in a strong voice, "Hear now all, this rite of naming," or some such declaration. Stand upright in the center of the area you have chosen and turn around slowly to the left in a full circle. Breathe out all of your breath. Take a deep breath and vocalize again, something like, "I have been known by the name for all of the time that this name held power for me. I am now releasing that name into the winds of time, and into the fires that consume, I allow the waters of renewal to cleanse me, and I now stand upon this ground renewed and ready to accept my new name. From this moment forward I am , and I shall be called that and known as until such time as I choose otherwise." Turn a full circle around to the right. Take a deep breath in which you visualize all of the virtues that you will possess and embody being drawn into you as you fill yourself with air. Hold your breath and think on the responsibilities you will shoulder as you grow into your new name. Then exhale and give a victory shout! If there are others present, each of them can say your new name back to you as they look into your eyes. Embrace, and say something like "It is done, may it be for the greatest good."
This naming ceremony is one example of a modern ritual which can be incorporated into your personal spirituality. A name that you call yourself is a symbol of your identity. Changing that name is a form of spiritual renewal.
Conclusion
Life and the cycle of birth through death and rebirth is ever-dynamic. Truly, "The only constant is change," and "Even this shall pass" are our only certainties during our short lifetimes on this planet. As we seek ways to cope with this against our desire to be stable, we find the wisdom that only by flowing like the river can we ride the tide of evolution. To this, we have a few tools that help us to take moments aside in order to gain the perspective that indeed things are OK. We can best adapt to our inherited condition of constant modification if we ritualize some aspects of life and spend some of our time at a special place. This focus brings harmony, blessings and well being within the self in all aspects of life. The magic of ritual and altar will surely help you attain spiritual well being harmony and spiritual evolution.
Bibliography
Face Of The Gods: Art And Altars Of Africa And The African Americas (1993), by Robert Farris Thompson. Large text exploring the "Black Atlantic World" concept of and evolutionary migration of altar use. This book is filled with photographs which chart African religions as they transition to the New World. I think this book does as it sets out to do by revealing the presence of African spirituality in modern and historic America. The illustrations and photos detail with stark clarity the artwork of varied peoples and sets these works in context of a deep belief as the sacred is built into the usable.
Joshua's Altar: The Dig At Mount Ebal (1991), is a text in which Milt Machlin's personal story as an author with interest in archaeology is focused on a point in time of Jewish history when, upon conquering the Caananites, the victorious tribe built the altar called for by their Lord. As an archaeological text it speaks little of altars as described in this paper. It does however set up historical context in a time frame moderners can relate to. Many questions remain unanswered about biblical accuracy, but this book discusses with frankness both the provable and the hypothetical.
Santeria Garments And Altars: Speaking Without A Voice (1994), by Ysamur Flores-Pena and Roberta J. Evanchuck gives an overview of Santeria or "Lucumi," the Caribbean Orisha worship religion as a necessary prelude to a vivid photo-documentation of the sacred clothing and altars of this Afro-Caribbean religion. Written by practitioners of the belief system, the information is accurate and detailed without being overly intellectualized. The personal voice of the text is interesting especially because Ysamur is a vanguard in a living tradition.
Beautiful Necessity: The Art And Meaning Of Women's Altars (1999), by Kay Turner, chronicles twenty-five years worth of research on personal altars of women. The text is richly illustrated with drawings and photographs both historical and modern. Giving voice to a long suppressed truth of human belief that the home-based feminine center of worship is the rootstock of spirituality. This book is engaging as both a source of history and more so as a testament to modern altars where all diversity is welcomed and inclusiveness is broad and beautiful.
In Living Shrines: Home Altars Of New Mexico (1997), the author Marie Romero-Cash brings her personal history and experience as an altar-using child into the present and her adulthood. She uses both Photo-documentation and quotes from many New Mexicans in a statewide exploration of shrines and altars. The many personal accounts make possible a wide perspective of altar use and belief within the Catholic based interviewees. The photos are exceptional in this book and one gets a real feel for this Southwestern reality.
In Home Altars Of Mexico (1997), Dana Salvo documents the traditional spiritual lifestyles of Mexico's mixed native people. Photographing scores of home altars from the most simple to the amazingly ornate. A rich tradition is conveyed through text and illustrations both historical and modern, with discussion ranging from Aztecs to today's Mexicans. Native stories, both personal and cultural, are told throughout this book as many details surrounding altars used by these people fill the rich pages.
Rituals In Psychotherapy (1983), by Onno Van der Heart, sets the basis for a scientific approach to ritual. I appreciated the inclusion of several traditional healing, therapeutic, and family continuity rituals. The final chapter discusses the functions of therapeutic ritual.
Understanding Global Cultures (2001) is a text book by Martin J. Gannon with a broad sociological overview of cultural metaphors, charting seven realities of modern culture as illustrated by multiple international examples of how humans address these states. I liked how culturally pervasive themes such as American football are equally considered with the Turkish Coffeehouse as food for thought as these metaphors are examined.
Bringing Ritual To Mind (2002), by Robert M McCauley and E. Thomas Lawson, is an intellectual read in every sense, fit for upper division focused study. The graphs within present the abundant verbiage in a way that may help visual learners doing a study of the cognitive theories of religious ritual.
The book Beginnings In Ritual Studies (1995), by Ronald L Grimes, is concerned with mapping modes of ritual. I was most drawn to the section of ritual and theater, but then found the "parashamanism" topic to be of the most interest.
Ritual And Religion In The Making Of Humanity (1999), written by Roy A. Rappaport, focuses on the religious aspect of ritual. The author completely disassembles and redefines virtually every aspect surrounding and including ritual. I found the definitions to be the most useful part of this work.
Urban Shaman (1990) by Serge Kahili King is a book that brings into practice the benefits of ritual. Relying on Hawaiian shamanism as a foundation for numerous rites inviting the reader to participate in suggested rituals. The section on "What determines effective ritual" has been the most useful to me, a concise, cogent presentation on crafting great rituals.
Spirals (1979) written by Walter L. Brenneman is a study of myth, symbol, and ritual. It is a reflection with a Jungian base note and modern mystical treatment. A literary treatise that is campy yet intelligent. I appreciated how ritual and myth are studied concurrently, paragraph by paragraph, throughout the dissertations on various topics.
The Magic Of Ritual (1991) by Tom F. Driver presents ritual as a fundamental part of our terrestrial embodiment. I enjoyed the light almost self-deprecating voice of the author as he links human ritual with animal ritualization as the basis for his approach to the study. The well chosen examples throughout this book engaged my interest.
Religious And Social Ritual (1996), edited by Michael B. Aune and Valerie De Marinis discusses modern ritual aided by examples from several cultures. The text leads to a section on psychotherapeutic ritual and the overlap between science and religion. The material on Shingon Buddhist tradition is of particular interest.
A Druids Herbal (1995) by Ellen Everet Hopman is for the most part a magical herbal, designed for use throughout the Western seasonal paradigm. Written from a Celtic Pagan perspective, the ritual material is a bridge between ancient Druidism and neo-druidism. I enjoyed the clear concise writing and the novelty of writing an herbal around a circular theme rather than as a linear index of plants.
Entering The Summerland (1996), by Edain McCoy, is full of ritual ideas and descriptions as related to its topic, that of death and dying. I rarely find the cookie-cutter style of ritual example useful, however this book contains so many facts, ideas, chants, and bits of interesting information that it is a treasury of ritual fodder.