Attending A Public Event
by Blayze

I recently read Patricia Telesco’s wonderful article on open circles and events as posted on The Witches Voice. It was great to see a high profile person and website addressing this issue, as it is a subject close to my heart.  I would therefore like to add a couple of points, moans, insights or whatever, into the fray.

But first some background. I have attended many gatherings, moots, workshops and pagan events over the years. I have run quite a few too, so I feel that I can observe and comment on this issue from both an organiser’s and a participant’s perspective. Something that I have noticed as a growing trend in pagan communities, both in the real world and online, is the lack of willingness by many pagans to actively and experientially participate in group magic and spirituality. I am not saying that there is a lack of attendance at events, just that many who do attend, do so passively. They expect to have rituals run at high energy levels, to have them run smoothly, efficiently and successfully, as well as to come away with a mind-blowing experience. This is only fair, however, what many people do not seem to realise is that for all of this to take place, they have to make themselves a part of the ritual too. 

A pagan ritual relies on the energies and input of all those present, not just the energies of those leading the ritual, whether the leaders be High Priest, High Priestess or Grand High Poobah of the Illuminate Brethren of Fluffy Rodents. I see the role of leaders or organisers of public ritual to be that of a facilitator. They are the people that do the grunt work of getting the ritual happening, they provide the framework, the cues: they manage the focusing of the energies and provide information and act as the instigators of spiritual connection. They are not there to provide all of the energies. No matter how powerful you think you are, how well you can memorise lines, how flexible you can be in ritual, it is damn hard to run a ritual when you are working with participants who just want to sit back, watch the pretty effects, talk over the pretty words, but not contribute in any way, shape or form to the outcome. In my experience, you only get back what you put in. If you are unwilling to contribute to the ritual, go sit in a church and have a priest talk at you for a couple of hours instead, or better yet… don’t attend in the first place. 

Now I am not saying that all ritual organisers are perfect, they are not, we all make mistakes but sometimes we really cannot take all of the responsibility for the success or failure of a ritual upon ourselves. Maybe the ritual wasn’t really set-up to be participatory, maybe the focus wasn’t quite right in regards to the diversity of those attending, may it really was poorly organised, but sometimes we also have to examine our own motives in attending the ritual in the first place. Were there prejudices or pre-conceptions that we took into the ritual with us? Did we really try to understand what was going on?

I feel that the responsibility for the outcome of a ritual lies with all of the people involved in that ritual. There are different responsibilities and levels of responsibilities, of course, but then again, a ritual is not something that you should attend just for something to do.

Okay, so what are the responsibilities of those attending or running a ritual? It works both ways. Organisers have the responsibility to make a ritual space as safe as possible, whilst still giving everyone involved a powerful experience into the realms of spirituality, mystery and celebration. They should make sure that everyone involved is fully aware of what will be happening (within reason), to allow participants to make an informed choice about becoming involved.  They should be prepared to deal with changes in ritual direction, be in control and flexible enough to allow a ritual or event to flow as needed. They should make sure they themselves understand what the ritual is for and have preparation, organization and contingencies in place. They should also have some idea of what they are doing and take responsibility for what is in their control, or should be in their control. 

The responsibility for attendees is to actually listen when rituals are outlined, attend the ritual briefing or find out if there is anything that they need to know beforehand. They should treat the ritual with respect both before and after the event. If they think they may have a problem, then ask an organiser before the event starts. There are only so many problems or questions that an organiser can think to ask or outline. It is up to participants to bring up an issue like obscure allergies, medical conditions or philosophical differences beforehand. If the participants are asked to prepare for the ritual in a certain way, then do it, or ask if you don’t know how or even why. Or, if you feel uncomfortable in the ritual, then let someone know discreetly so that you can be escorted out, many ritual organiser appoint guardians to stand in the circle for just that reason. Creating a fuss is just going to ruin what may be a positive experience for someone else. Of course there are extremes to any situation but these should be handled with as much courtesy as possible and be taken on a case-by-case basis.

Strangely enough, running a public ritual is a lot like being a director of a play or a film. As much as some people may have an aversion to the notion of ritual theatre, there are a lot of similarities there. Unless the ritual is totally spur-of-the-moment and freeform in execution, the organiser will need to work out the structure and flow beforehand. They will need to have a clearly defined goal, know whether they will require the use of tools (or props), costumes, scripts, cast, and know also how they wish to stage the ritual itself. Addressing these issues can make a ritual run that much more smoothly. When writing the ritual it is also a good idea to work out the level of participation you require from participants, this also comes down to knowing your audience. If they are all of the same tradition, then you can add the idiosyncrasies of that tradition into the ritual with a fair amount of confidence that they will be understood. However, if the participants’ paths and experience levels all vary wildly, then you will need to take that into consideration as well. In public ritual, it is very hard to adapt the public to your ritual, you really need to adapt your ritual to the public. So you may have to water it down a bit from your normal ritual intensity, but you will probably have a more enjoyable and fruitful experience on the whole, with everyone sharing in the joys of a great ritual. Be practical, prepare, and keep it simple is the key here. Also by working out the ritual properly beforehand, you will also have some idea of what information you need to pass on to the participants and you can deal with this in a full ritual briefing.

So, if you enjoy working with other pagans in a public space, go for it. Just remember, if you are on an experiential path, then embrace the experiences that you encounter, both the good and the bad and learn from them.