The Bones of Ritual

(Notes from a short course taught by Colin Campbell and Lucy Hinton at Schumacher College from 28 September - 2 October 2015)

Kabir said at the core of every human is a yearning to return to divine grace within ourselves. This homecoming it at the heart of ritual, ceremonial practices and cosmologies. There are techniques that are designed to open up a portal for us to make this journey to to return to our hearts. A vigil - going into the wilderness in a vulnerable way is one such practice. Strength is found in vulnerability.

Martin Shaw refers to the ecstatic moment when the wild begins to infuse us as wild land dreaming. When we enter the woods we enter the dream tangle. Stay there long enough, some say at least 3 days is needed without food and shelter,and we can drop the conditions of modern life and allow ourselves to be reordered internally. We may at this point get dreamt by the land. Elders remind us how important it is to commune with the wild. If we try to avoid, deny or overcoming nature we are in big trouble.

A vigil is an opportunity to call back and remember the exiled parts of ourselves. From the moment of severance when we are smudged out each of us steps into a threshold moment. Intent is essential as it sets us up for a conscious act with symbolism behind it. Ritual is a conscious act which contains the intention to form a bridge between the visible and invisible. In so doing we are enacting an ancient and sacred reciprocity.

Indigenous people place life at the centre. They say all life has it's own special consciousness. In this way the divine, the universe, knows itself through each form of consciousness coming into being. In Southern Africa during traditional times if you wanted to understand the psyche of a human you had to wander out into the wilderness. Everything contained in the wild is incorporated in the cosmology. Human behaviour is a mimic of the wild.   

On vigil we offer our lives to be eaten. To be eaten by the cold, the dark, the midges, our fears and our discomforts. The reward is the belonging. The commitment of offering ourselves up to everything brings it's own reward. A vigil is not a place to prove anything to anyone including ourselves. On vigil we place ourselves in a state of deep prayer or communion. There is no need to go far. No one is being asked to go beyond the bounds of their own capacities. Each person goes out in a state of giving. Give up all your comforts and distractions. The key to vigil is our stance. 

• Take a clear intention - deep presence and authenticity - state your intent or question.
• Find a threshold - to cross into sacred space place two sticks, stones or make a circle. Be smudged as a cleansing and as a blessing - and then step out.
• Observe the three taboos - no food, no shelter and no company.
• Experiment with suspending disbelief. Remarkable things can happen, follow what needs to be followed, listen to your intuition.
• Return back across the threshold.
• Tell your story and have it mirrored back to you.

Final Bones Reading by Colin Campbell (3 October 2015)

     

1. Chaos - wait - things are brewing. 

Dynamic waiting

Like Vigil

Be present

We feel all over the place

Discombobulated

Things are happenings

Wait

Watch

Seeds are being planted

How long?

Be n a stance f receptive presence

We don't know how long

We have activated a lot

Let it be

Let it settle

For at least the next week avoid making any major decisions

Nurture yourself

Take time out if you can

Focus on being rather than doing

What is really important?

Don't put an action plan together.

Ask - I Where is meaning?

How can orientate myself to that?

How can I orientate myself to who I am?

      2. Blue Crane - crane with 2 tics

Warning - be careful of careless action

Inaction is better than action

Waiting and stillness is better than moving

Stance of stillness and presence

REST

You have already found what you seek

TRUST

Between times

Liminal and chaotic

It doesn't seem to have form and yet the imaginal cells exist

2 = conflict

3 = resolution

Transcendent moment

A third element is needed for the trinity