Liturgy Practicum

Liturgy Practicum 1

Laura Fuller (Snow)
Passed 7/15/15
Reviewed by Rev. Drum

1. What three factors ("subcategories") does Bonewits identify as determining the impact of "familiarity" on the success of a ritual? Briefly discuss the ways in which personal or family-only ritual is aided or hindered by these factors when compared to public group ritual. (Minimum 100 words)

According to Bonewits, the three sources of "familiarity" in ritual are Knowledge, Affection, and Group Identity (Bonewits 57).  Knowledge speaks to the idea that a small group knows each other well and can tap the best person to fill each role based on their strengths, creating a better ritual that is therefore more likely to succeed.  Affection is the idea that if people genuinely care for each other and trust each other, they will work better as a group, again achieving a better ritual.  Group Identity is the idea that the more the group sees themselves under a common banner, the better they will work together as a group.  Bonewits believes that the more specific the identity, the better so that ADF is better than Druid or Gardnerian is better than Witch for the purposes of ritual cohesion and work.

 In his section on Intra-Group Familiarity, Bonewits discusses the benefits of solo or family-only ritual.  For these purposes, the ritual is conducted by an individual or group that would have a strong sense of affection for self or each other, knowledge of self or each other, and sense of self-identity or family-identity.  So for the purpose of ritual, a solo or family rite would be ideal based only on these factors.  They would have a better ability to focus in a very closely knit group and would have fewer competing agendas (Bonewits Chapter 4, Section 2).

2. What six methods of prayer does Ceisiwr Serith describe? Briefly suggest an example of how you might employ each in your personal worship practices. You may include worship with a group if applicable. (Minimum 200 words)

In his book A Book of Pagan Prayer, Ceisiwr Serith gives six methods that we use for prayer: words, posture, motion, dance, music, and gestures (Serith).

Words (Serith 15): Words are the primary form of prayers, unsurprising as we are a literate society and tend to communicate largely through language.  Perhaps this is in part a cultural bias as many of us grew up as one of the monotheistic ‘People of the Book’ (an Islamic phrase for Abrahamic faiths).  Prayer by words can be either spontaneous or formal, written or spoken.  In my own practice, I tend to speak from the heart in the moment, although when I am part of a group ritual, we tend to prewrite the entire rite.

Posture (Serith 18): Posture is I think frequently overlooked in most western practices.  While many eastern religions make extensive use of posture to trigger different experiences, most often it seems in the west we limit ourselves to standing, sitting, and kneeling as our major postures.  I certainly have never seen a group put significant effort into posture as a part of ritual beyond some basics such as touch the earth or stand with your arms raised, although there are several heathen groups who practice ‘runic yoga’ where they try and hold the shape of a rune with their body while chanting its name with the belief that engaging more of the senses will bring a deeper understanding.  The only major postural shift I tend to use in my prayers is raising things towards the sky when I ask for blessings. 

Motion (Serith 22):  Motion can be the movement from one posture to another, and the meaning that this change conveys.  It can also be how we move from place to place during a ritual or on a smaller scale how we move an object in ritual, like how we incense a location.  One of the small motions I make in my devotionals is the order in which I light the various candles and incense sticks on my various altars in the morning, and then again at night.  I first light the offering to the gatekeeper, then the earth mother, then to the ancestors, then the land wights and spirits, and last to the gods.  Each has a separate altar in my living room, so this causes me to walk in a circular motion around the room as I visit their various places.

Dance (Serith 24):  Praying with dance is the ultimate of prayer of motion.  It can evoke feelings, emotions, and aspects of the deities you are praying to.  It can be an offering in and of itself because it is an expenditure of time and energy.  While I have not currently incorporated dance in my ADF practice, I used to study various Middle Eastern and African dances, many of which are forms of ‘trance dance’ that is used to bring blessings to the community or to chase away evil.  One which I particularly enjoy, is the Zoroastrian Whirling dances that are intended to channel energy into the dancer and from them into the world while spinning like the heavenly bodies.

Music (Serith 25):  Music is frequently intrinsic to prayer.  Many cultures sing or chant their prayers.  Having grown up Catholic, I tend to chant my prayers and litanies.  I also find that I am more likely to remember words if they are set to music.  Some of the prayers I use most often in my practice are a ‘filk’ of the harmonies and hymns I grew up with.  Most days, I sing my reworded version of the Doxology, and I frequently find myself breaking out in the ‘Celtic Alleluia’ that was sung at my wedding.  Serith suggests that those on European paths use Gregorian chant for their prayers, and this is something I find a natural expression for most of mine.

Gestures (Serith 26):  Gestures fall between posture and motion and are movements of the hands and arms.  Giving offerings always involves some hand movement.  I tend to lift my offerings up before I pour them out (probably a practice I picked up watching the priests of my childhood life the communion wafers).  Another gesture I do is making a Hammer Sign over something I’m asking Thor to Hallow (a downward movement, then a horizontal movement like an upside-down T).

3. What arguments does Ceisiwr Serith make in support of set prayers (as opposed to spontaneous prayers)? Discuss how these arguments apply (or do not apply) to solitary Pagan prayer. (Minimum 200 words).

The main argument Serith has to support using set prayers in ritual practice is that the ancients believed that rituals had to be performed perfectly to be effective and not give offense to the gods and spirits (66).  That if we wanted to achieve the goal of the ritual, whether that was praise or sacrifice or magic.  A second point Serith makes is that not everyone is equally gifted with poetry and creativity and that there is nothing wrong is performing a rite or a prayer that someone else created.  Additionally, there is no reason to feel it necessary to write a new prayer every time you pray or perform a ritual.  Sometimes there are other benefits in using a familiar prayer, such as the ability to meditate on the words and meanings in a way that you can’t when you pray spontaneously.  There are times when words fail us, when we are overcome with some deep emotion, and the comfort of a known prayer gives us words we can repeat without having to generate ourselves.   Each of these points is applicable to both solitary and group prayers and settings. 

Serith makes a final point that is not applicable to solitary prayer.  That is the point that you can’t pray spontaneously in as a group (67).  If you do, it’s incomprehensible.  The closest you can come as a group is to have a set litany phrase for a group and one person improvising or to have set places in a ritual where a person improvises on behalf of the group.  However the bigger the group, the easier it is to have complete formal rituals in advance, since even then they don’t always go according to plan and people miss queues.

Documenting personal ritual practice:

4. Keep and submit for review a journal documenting the development and observance of the personal/household worship customs described above covering a period of not less than four months, including one observance of a seasonal festival, such as one of the eight ADF High Days. Entries are to be not less than weekly. The text of individual prayers and longer devotional rituals should be provided as frequently as possible. Regular practices occurring less than weekly will be considered if they are documented as revivals or reconstructions of historically-attested observances occurring less than weekly.

Because of the private nature of the journal, I will share it only upon request.  If you have questions, please message me.

Works Cited

Alleluia. n.d. Website. 3 July 2015. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alleluia>.

Asatru Folk Assembly. Ed. Stephen McNallen. n.d. website. 5 March 2015. <http://www.runestone.org/>.

Ave Maria. n.d. website. 13 May 2015. <http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/p007rpAveMaria.htm>.

Bonewits, Isaac. Neopagan Rites: A Guide to Creating Public Rituals that Work. Llewellyn, 2007. Print.

DNR, Wisconsin. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. n.d. Website. 31 May 2015. <http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/invasives/fact/commonbuckthorn.html>.

Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones. Shambhala, 2005. Print.

Hill, Rev. Melissa. Mel's Short CooR. 6 June 2015. website. 16 June 2015. <https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.duke.5/videos/957645707611215/>.

Lindemans, Micha F. Einherjar. n.d. website. 25 May 2015. <http://www.pantheon.org/articles/e/einherjar.html>.

Paxson, Diana. Taking up the Runes. Weiser Books, 2005. Kindle.

Serith, Ceisiwer. A Book of Pagan Prayer. Weiser, 2002. Kindle.

SIGRDRIFUMOL. n.d. website. 1 March 2015. <http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe25.htm>.

Tauring, Kari. "The Runes: A Human Journey." Pi-Soft Consulting, LLC, n.d. iphone Application.