The Power and beauty of ritual

We all use ritual to some extent in our lives, whether we recognise this or not. What is ritual and why do we do it?

Wikipaedia says – A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or revered objects. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterised, but not defined, by formalism, traditionalism, invariance, rule-governance, sacral symbolism, and performance. Rituals are a feature of all known human societies.

It’s interesting (and true) that rituals are a feature of all known human societies, and yet often in these times, we don’t see that they exist. How do we use ritual unwittingly and how can we make it more conscious, and what are the benefits of this?

Ritual has been a feature of human behaviour since time began. From acknowledging the power of the sun to give life, to giving gratitude for water and rainfall for the crops, through to the church and more formal rituals dictated by institutions and religious organisations.

In ordinary everyday life we have our own little rituals, the way we get up in the morning and the order in which we conduct our morning routine for example. We like to do things in a particular order and in a specific and familiar way. We have a designated place to keep things like our toothbrush. If things are out of place or if the order of things gets interrupted it can cause us to feel aggravated or out of sorts. So we find that even the ordinary and everyday can be a kind of subconscious ritual. 

Ritual is comforting. It gives a sense of reassurance and a rhythm to our life that enables us to feel that all is well. When we feel that everything is as it should be then we are more relaxed and at ease, less stressed and more able to function and focus on whatever it is we need to be doing on a daily basis. We are also therefore more likely to be nicer to be around than if we were stressed or feeling upset. In turn this reduces the stress response in the body. When we are emotionally heightened due to a stress response our digestion, circulation, respiration and other body functions all adapt accordingly. Over a prolonged period of time this becomes a trigger for chronic disease. So this comfort that we get from ritual can be not only reassuring psychologically, it can actually help to keep us physically healthy. 

As well as ordinary daily rituals that often go unnoticed there are of course more sacred or spiritual traditional rituals. You may wish to learn about and follow one 9if you don’t already) that resonates with you, or you can also create your own. A ritual doesn’t need to go on for hours, it can take just a couple of minutes. Some suggestions to consider are below.

Find a space where you can perform your ritual regularly (daily if possible). Somewhere that you will be undisturbed and to which you have easy access.

If possible have some objects or even a shrine type area in this space. You can add statues of deities, crystals, candles, incense, whatever you feel. Traditionally things like flowers, incense, flames and oils are used. 

You can learn a simple mantra (chant or phrase) or find a reading (or a book of sayings perhaps) that applies to your specific ritual to use within the process. Words carry powerful resonance and especially if spoken or chanted out loud. 

Make the ritual yours. Even if followng a specific belief or tradition you can still weave in your own unique flavour. This is your space, your time.

Ritual gives us space to just be. The chosen focus of the ritual (if more formal) can really help us in looking inwardly at ourselves as well as considering bigger thoughts and emotions that may arise. It gives us a commitment to ourselves, to sit with ourselves and to notice how we truly are. Sometime we may feeling like taking a day off, it’s worth noticing this too. What is it that we are trying to avoid? 

Ritual is beautiful. It is powerful. It reminds us that we are not the centre of the universe and it gifts us awareness every single time we choose to practice.