I spent the weekend reviewing the GO Handbook again. I just want to make sure I am clear on everything and get it in my mind’s calendar about the quarterly reviews and such. The more I read and review it the more I will remember it. I have not really had any questions up to this point, but I did jot down a few this weekend.
I have been solitary up to this point, so this in itself has been a big step for me. I have basically walked my Spiritual Path alone for over 25 years now. So with this in mind I have a rather silly question that I will be seeking advice on.
As a solitaire if I planned a ritual or ceremony on “x” day and I get up on “x” morning and it is pouring rain, snowing, storming, etc. I generally continued with things as planned because I know my ability to withstand the elements and the fact that they do not effect me in a negative way. If anything they strengthen me. One of the most powerful and beautiful rituals I have ever done was at Mary’s Branch for Yule when I was alone and the temperature was -4 F degrees, everything was frozen and it was more magickal than I could have ever hoped for. HOWEVER….
I plan to utilize the “religion” section of our local paper to announce rituals, study sessions, events, etc. It is free and I figure why not take advantage of that. I also plan to have almost all rituals at my home where I plan to build a Nemeton in a perfect place behind my home under the Oaks. With this permanent area available, I think it will be easier for everyone to know exactly where we will be having these rituals each time, be familiar with the area and most importantly, watch the area grow in sacredness with each passing day. My question is this:
Say you announce publicly you are holding say a Samhain Ritual on day “x” at time “x” at location “x”. A few hours prior to the ritual one of our unexpected mountain storms pops up (this could mean an unexpected snow, severe wind, hail, torrential rain, etc. You just never know here in the mountains what the weather will be.) What exactly would you do? You have advertised so you cannot just re-schedule or cancel. I suppose I could invest in a large tent to cover the area but that could be expensive. BUT….regardless of cost, it could benefit in the long run. It is impossible to “move it inside” at my place, I live in a small mobile home. I see sometimes on TV when it comes an unexpected snow and churches in the area have it listed on the Snowbird Report on the news that services were cancelled and such. But not everyone watches the news. This may seem as a trivial question but I just want to make sure I cover all possibilities and was curious what others do in situations like this. Suppose you are in the middle of a National Forest and a storm hits right before ritual? Personally I would be anxious to get out there in it and do my thing. But I have to think of others and remember that I am not the only one involved in it, other people may not be so thrilled to open the Gates in the pouring rain as I would be.
So any insight? What do some of you guys do, or your Groves do, in situations like this?
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hekatatia said:
“If it can’t be moved indoors or waited out then I’ve rescheduled. Call people when possible and go to the site so you can let anyone who makes it know the change of plan.”
qorinda said:
“In three years, we have held all of our rituals outside, in rain or shine. Less people come to them, but we have still held them.
Ironically, in three years, even when it was raining just prior to the ritual, it has always stopped for the duration of the ritual. Strange, eh?
I have often thought that we should have a backup plan, but aside from putting up a canopy, we really haven’t had one nor have we needed one.
Of course, it doesn’t snow in Phoenix.”
Stritheil said:
“Speaking as someone who used to be involved in public ritual, I’d like to offer a few suggestions. First, make sure that you’ve had lots of practice doing group ritual with trusted friends before inviting people you don’t know to your rituals. Secondly, hold public rituals at a neutral site, rather than at your home. There are a lot of unstable people out there. If you want or need to do the rituals on your own property, I suggest doing it by personal invitation only. Put an ad in the paper giving a post office box number so that people can contact you, and meet them for coffee before deciding whether to invite them to ritual. A semi-public ritual approach usually gets better results anyway. My own experience is that a lot of very needy people are attracted to anything that they perceive as being weird or different (such as Druidry) and their behaviour may convince the serious individuals that they don’t want to come back. If you’re determined to hold public rituals, discuss the weather issue with those who you need to be there to help you with the ritual, snd with any other regulars. Don’t worry about the general public, since some will be put off by the slightest bit of inclement weather and others will show up no matter what. Let them make that decision for themselves. It may help to separate the sheep from the Pagan goats.”
I said:
“OK after much thought and reading responses here and elsewhere, as well as emails, I have made the decision (for now) to have public rituals in a public place (I mean I have 370,000 acres of Forest Service land available for use here) and use the permanent Nemeton I am building on my property for members only rituals and activities. I can certainly see many ways that I am learning in the past 9 months and continue to learn and see new thoughts and ideas, different ways to do things and such bouncing around in my mind on a regular basis. As for the elements and announced public events….I will play it by ear. For the most part I have the mindset that the “show will go on”. I think I need to just take these things as they come and deal with them with my main focus at this point being the completion of the DP. I have started doing final edits on the essays I have written thus far and will put a “*final” at the end so I, and everyone else, will know it is complete. My Environmental Essay is almost finished as well. Thanks you guys for your opinions, ideas and input. Knowing there are voices out there to help organize the chaotic thoughts has helped so very much!”