As I type these words, it is Sunday morning, the 17th of April, 2022. Christians celebrate this day, along with many others, as Easter Sunday, the day when their Savior/God rose from the dead, according to the Greek Scriptures. Most will celebrate this day, with a varying focus on their Risen Lord, while others treat it like Christmas 2.0, where it's all about the children, with Easter baskets for the young ones & a feast of epic proportions later, where you're almost guaranteed to squirm uncomfortably in your tight jeans, unless you remembered to wear your sweats. But seriously, this might be one of the few days per year that you attend Mass at your local Roman Catholic church. If so, you've engaged in one of the oldest rituals in the history of Christendom. This ritual is by no means original to the Roman Catholic Church or even to Christianity itself. It is almost purely Pagan in its genesis!
On this Day of Days, I was led to ponder how "Life is all about Choice"! The choices we make are manifested in the actions we take, or obversely, in the actions we neglect to take. For instance, "as above, so below", one may choose to do this ritual or that, attend this service or that, even not to celebrate at all. We choose to do this instead of that, sometimes with no regard for the possible consequences & sometimes in spite of them. Some choices are harder than others ( to the Nth degree ), while others are as simple as, "I'll wear my green t-shirt today". Often, the consequences of our choices hurt like hell: sometimes we make these choices, knowing they're going to hurt like hell & make them anyway, either because we know they're for our own good, or just because we're ignorant; gluttons for punishment! Whatever our choices, they determine how we will manifest in this thing we call Life!
Ritual, whether we realize it or not, IS a necessary part of our daily life! While it may be true that ritual is most often defined religiously, it need not be confined to that box. At its base, a ritual, at least individually speaking, can be as simple as one that I observe on an almost daily basis. I get up, I get dressed, I go make coffee. And actually, my morning ritual usually starts before I get dressed ( after I go pee ); I usually spend anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes in meditation, before I start my day with the Nectar of the Gods. To reiterate; Ritual is an important part of our daily lives, for if we miss starting our day with anything as important as coffee or breakfast, or as relatively unimportant ( inconsequential? ) as our daily meditation, it tends to affect the rest of our day & then of course, we usually experience a sort of 'trickle-down' effect on the rest of our week, or even our entire Life, if we're not careful!
In some sense, it could be said, Ritual is our Life-blood! Not only as societies, for most societies run on some kind of ritualized system, but as individuals; without the normality of Ritual, we would be almost at a loss: "What now?" Individual choice, of course, is a factor here as well, for there are mornings that I just don't feel like doing what I usually do ( sometimes you just gotta mix it up a bit ), or, in other words, we're faced with, "should I do this, that, or the other thing?" Personally, I'm trying to get away from such terminology, so it's more like, "do I WANT to do this, that, or the other thing?"!
Whatever the case may be, the choices we make & the rituals we follow are what define us as both individuals & societies. This is not necessarily a good thing! In some sense, it IS all relative, as in , "what's good for one might be evil for another & what's wrong for this person ( or group ) might be right for that ( person or group )." This is not to say that there are NO Absolutes, that EVERYTHING is relative, for where WOULD we be if everyone did what was right in their own eyes, not taking into account the possible implications of their actions toward others? The best mantra I have found in such cases is, "And ye harm none, do what ye will"! Not as simple as it sounds.
One of the dangers of doing the same thing everyday, ritualistically speaking, should be obvious: We tend to get stuck in a rut. "As above, so below"; "Sometimes, you gotta mix it up a bit"! Religiously, of course, both individually & as a Society, the tendency is to focus overmuch on the actual ritual itself, rather than on the effectual consequences of said ritual. In Essence & here is where Choice enters the picture, 'Why are we doing this ( ritual ) instead of that?" Are we trying to accomplish something in particular through this ritual, or are we doing it because everyone else is doing it? "That's just the Way it is; always has been!"
In itself, Ritual need not be viewed as Dangerous ( though I've heard stories ); it depends on the Intention of the One performing the ritual! Again, "Why?" Whether out of Ignorance, which in itself is dangerous, or selfish purpose, Ritual can serve no other purpose than to stir some feeling, even though the practitioner may be ignorant of the true meaning of that feeling. On the other hand though & speaking of 'selfish purpose', Ritual can be used in ways which are intentionally harmful to others, even a specific individual. For example, when one is excluded from Communion ( to whatever extent ) simply because she or he does not 'tow the line', it may be seen as dangerous, not only to the general health of the excluded one but to those who practice exclusion as well!
"Can One live without Ritual?" Well, yes & no! It is possible to go through life without consciously ritualizing our everyday needs ( such as eating, drinking, resting, etc. ), but seriously, how far would we make it in this Life if we didn't attend to those daily needs?! If, say, we didn't commune with ourselves ( meditate ) on a daily basis, how quickly would we forget Who We are? When we forget to eat or drink, it's not long before we're reminded how important those rituals are, to say almost nothing of the importance of the Ritual of Rest. Understanding the Rituals of Life, as perceiving the Sanctity of Life, is of utmost importance to the preservation of Life, at least, humanly speaking!
This being the Day set aside by the majority of the Christ-confessing world to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus, a few words about this Ritual will suffice. Whatever faith one chooses to place in the words of a transliterated, ancient Near Eastern document, the fact, as most Christians see it, that Jesus rose from the grave, thereby signifying the victory over death is of great importance! Whether this Story is entirely factual, or simply metaphorical of our rise in consciousness to that of the Christ, the Ritual that many observe on this Day of Days serves to implement that rise in consciousness, whether consciously or unconsciously.
Namaste' & Blessed Be,
Sage Charles
