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Writing
rituals for a Coven or group
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Writing a ritual
for a group or Coven isn't that different from writing one for your own
use...... with 2 main exceptions...
You
need to include more people
So when you
would be performing all the parts yourself in a Solitary Ritual, you will
need to write a ritual for a group so that the tasks and spoken parts are
shared among the people present. This should e done as evenly as
possible, so that you gon't get large portions of the Ritual performed
by one person, with others missing out.
You need to
have a ritual that will not be boring
If only a
few people are saying lines or doing tasks in the ritual, then it can be
harder for those not participating to feel that they are part of the Ritual.
So making sure that everyone is involved and remains focused (so nobody
gets bored) is important.
To adapt a ritual
made for a single person try some of the following:
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Have a separate
person invoking each Element
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Have a separate
person invoking the Goddess and God
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Break up any "speaking
parts" to give more people a go
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Involve people
in chanting/singing/dancing where possible
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Have those not
participating in the main part of the ritual perform something else, like
singing/chanting.
When writing one
from scratch try to make sure the ritual flows and that there aren't going
to be huge portions of the ritual where 1 or 2 people are doing something
and everyone else just stands around. If something like that must
happen, give those people something to do... chanting works really well,
as it gives them something to do, while providing atmosphere and energy.
Think about
alternatives to the "everyone stands in a circle" thing too.... perhaps
try sitting on the ground in a circle. If you have several people
it's also nice to have everyone holding hands.... of course this depends
on the size of the Circle and how many people you have (don't want to over
stretch those arms)...
Some other
things to think about:
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Will you have
a male invoke the God (same polarity) or Goddess (Opposite Polarity)
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Will you have
a female invoke the Goddess (same polarity) or God (Opposite Polarity)
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Will you have
Masculine ruled people (Fire and Air signs) Invoke Fire and Air Elements?
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Will you have
feminine ruled people (Water and Earth) invoke Water and Earth Elements?
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Will those who
invoke the Elements remain at that point in the Circle during the Ritual?
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Will those Elemental
people wear appropriate colours during the ritual?
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Will there be
a High Priest and High Priestess for the ritual (Even if these are assumed
roles for the night and the "High Priest" can be a female if no males are
present)
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How can you get
the other people involved in the invocation process
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How can you get
the other people involved in the Circle Casting process
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Will you "Smudge"
everyone before they enter the Circle
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Will you request
everyone walks a certain way into the Circle
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Will you use Masks/Costumes
etc. to add some theatrical elements?
One thing I like
to do to include everyone in the Circle Casting and purifying process is
to have a different person as the Elemental representitives. The
Air and Fire representitives come to the Altar and take up the Censer and
Candle, holding them aloft as they walk 3 times around the Circle, chanting
"By Fire and Air, Draw all that is fair". Everyone else falls into
line behind them, and replies with "Around, Around, the Circle be bound".
After they have finished, everyone returns to their place, and the Water
and Earth representitives come to the Altar, taking up a bowl of Water
and a bowl of Salt. They sprinkle some around as they walk around
3 times, chanting "Of Salt and Sea, may ill stay free". Again, everyone
follows them saying, "Around, Around, the Circle be Bound." - This
chants came from a ritual I attended, run by a friend of mine, I am not
sure where she got it from.
This is just
to purify and cleanse the Circle, but it gets everyone involved.
To Cast the Circle, we generally have everyone walking around again, chanting
"Around, Around, the Circle be bound".
Some traditions
have the use of a bell to signal the next part of the ritual, rather than
saying "fred, your line"...... :)
There are many
other ways to include people in rituals, but hopefully this has given you
some ideas...
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