RITUALS FOR STORY GROUPS HUMAN GROUPS HAVE ENGAGED IN RITUAL FOR AT LEAST YEARS. THE ANTHROPOLOGIST, VICTOR TURNER, WHO GREATLY INFLUENCED OUR IDEAS ABOUT RITUAL, DEFINED RITUAL AS “PRESCRIBED FORMAL BEHAVIOUR FOR OCCASIONS NOT GIVEN OVER TO TECHNOLOGICAL ROUTINE, HAVING REFERENCE TO BELIEFS IN MYSTICAL BEINGS AND POWERS.”

HE BELIEVED THAT RITUALS ARE COMMUNAL AND PURPOSEFUL. THEY HAVE UNIVERSAL MEANING EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE LOCAL, USED BY A SPECIFIC GROUP IN A SPECIFIC TIME AND PLACE

TURNER THOUGHT THAT RITUAL IS ESSENTIAL IN THE DEVELOPMENT, INTEGRATION AND SUPPORT OF THE HUMAN COMMUNITY, AND, THAT RITUAL IS MOST AUTHENTIC WHEN ENACTED IN MARGINAL GROUPS WHERE UNCERTAINTY, INFERIORITY AND AMBIGUITY ARE PRESENT.

RITUAL THROWS US INTO THE MYTH IT BRINGS MY BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT INTO CLOSER RELATIONSHIP WITH EARTH AND BEYOND. CONFRONTED WITH THE MYSTERY, WE TELL OUR STORIES.

OUR STORIES SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF SYMBOL AND MYTH.

QUESTION FOR REFLECTION Reflect on your own experience of ritual. What rituals increase your awareness of holy mystery? What rituals put you in touch with holy myth? What were your feelings? Thoughts?

RITUAL INVOLVES THE USE OF SYMBOLS WHICH, IN THEMSELVES CARRY A SURPLUS OF MEANING AND CAN LEAD US INTO MYSTERY.

SYMBOL TURNER DEFINED A SYMBOL AS “THE SMALLEST UNIT OF RITUAL WHICH STILL RETAINS THE SPECIFIC PROPERTIES OF RITUAL BEHAVIOUR…”

TURNER THOUGHT SYMBOLS REVEAL CRUCIAL SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS VALUES. THEY ARE TRANSFORMATIVE FOR HUMAN ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOURS.

CARL JUNG WAS FASCINATED WITH THE SIMILARITY OF SYMBOLS ACROSS CULTURES AND TIME. HE BELIEVED THAT OUR SPIRITUAL SELF- PORTRAITS ARE ALWAYS EXPRESSED SYMBOLICALLY.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION What symbols carry the most meaning for you? Your family? Your small story group? Your culture? What meanings do you associate with these symbols? How do you know which symbols are spiritually authentic and which are not?

CHRISTIAN LIFE COMMUNITIES AND OTHER SMALL FAITH SHARING GROUPS BENEFIT FROM THE CONSCIOUS USE OF RITUALS AND SYMBOLS BECAUSE THEY ARE WAYS TO AWARENESS OF THE DIVINE.

THE RITUALS OF THE FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS ARE FOUNDATIONAL TO SMALL STORY GROUPS.

THE RITUALS OF FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS WE SHARE OUR STORIES, ONE AT A TIME, IN THE FIRST ROUND; THESE ARE OUR EXPERIENCES REFLECTED ON IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT. IN A SHORT SECOND ROUND, WE DISCERN WHAT WE HEARD IN THE FIRST ROUND AND ASK TWO QUESTIONS: WHAT STRUCK ME AS OTHERS SHARED? WHAT COMMUNAL WISDOM IS EMERGING THAT IS BIGGER THAN THE SUM OF US?

Victor Turner

LAZARUS AT THE GATE RITUAL IS ESSENTIAL TO THE EVOLUTION AND INTEGRATION OF THE HUMAN COMMUNITY. AUTHENTIC RITUAL IS BORN AT THE MARGINS OF SOCIETY ( Liminal ), WHERE UNCERTAINTY, INFERIORITY AND AMBIGUITY DWELL. VICTOR TURNER, Manchester School

JACQUES DERRIDA A STANCE OF INTENTIONAL UNCERTAINTY IS ESSENTIAL TO THE SURVIVAL OF THE HUMAN SPECIES AND EARTH HERSELF. THE GREAT RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS ARE PROFOUNDLY DISTURBING BECAUSE THEY CALL CERTAINTY AND SECURITY INTO QUESTION.

BUT WE CRAVE CERTAINTY, EVEN THOUGH WE KNOW LIFE IS FRAGILE, AND WE HAVE LITTLE CONTROL OF EVENTS. LIFE, EVEN IN TRAGEDY, “IS A MYSTERY TO BE LIVED, NOT A PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED.” (Patrick O’Sullivan, SJ)

THE TRAGEDY OF THE GREAT TSUNAMI

AUTHENTIC RITUAL AND SYMBOL ALLOW US TO ENTER INTO THE MYSTERY OF UNCERTAINTY.

JACQUES DERRIDA

MUDROOROO, AUTHENTIC PRACTICE FOR AUSTRALIANS, KINSHIP WITH EACH OTHER AND ALL LIFE AND MATTER IS CENTRAL. THIS INTERRELATEDNESS IS ENCAPSULATED IN THE DREAMING. THIS RITUAL IS A CONTINUOUS PROCESS OF CREATION WHICH BEGAN IN THE DREAMTIME. THE GREAT ARCHETYPES OF EXISTENCE ARE ACTUALIZED IN THE PRESENT. IT IS A RITUAL OF BRINGING A WORLD INTO BEING.

"They say we have been here for 60,000 years, but it is much longer. We have been here since the time before time began. We have come directly out of the Dreamtime of the Creative Ancestors. We have lived and kept the Earth as it was on the First Day". - Aboriginal Tribal Elder.

KURUVILA AND LOIS ZACHARIAH