Can Rituals be Creative?

To many people, the idea of “Creative Ritual” is an Oximoron. The word “Ritual” conjures up notions of Fixed Tradition, Endless Repetition down the ages, Rigid Belief Systems, a conservative Establishment, adherence to Formal Rules ordained by a higher authority, an Unchanging Symbolic System.

Early anthropologists, such as Friedrich Max Müller, Edward B Tylor, William Robertson Smith and James Frazer, certainly saw ritual in these terms. For them, change in ritual happened either very slowly over centuries alongside changes in ways of life, or suddenly through conquest.

A century and a half of observation and debate has established that, in reality, rituals change much more quickly than most people imagine, and that claims of tradition are often invented.

The anthropologist Mary Douglas established a strong correspondence between the nature of a society’s structure, and the nature of its rituals: A society in which roles are strongly delineated, and authority is rigid, do indeed have a great emphasis on tradition and rule-governance in their rituals.

On the other hand, more liberal societies, in which it is easy to change roles, and in which individuals are given a combination of freedom and responsibility, have rituals which (though they might appeal to tradition) change rapidly over time, and in which individual self-expression is included, and even encouraged.

Ritual and Authority

My interest in belief systems and authority probably stems from my education at a military school … Whereas I was born with my love of nature, and colour.

These are the forces which have formed the direction of my work over the last 27 years … through a degree in Natural Science, to a doctorate investigating the nature of belief, and on into my creative career which explores the relationships between people, their communities and their surroundings.

I’m particularly interested in the fact that authority, and belief systems which buttress that authority, can be imposed through rigid, traditional ritual. Because the converse is also true: authority, and the attendant belief systems, can be challenged through creative, self-expressive ritual.

Self-expression, and the resultant self-awareness, are inherently subversive. If people feel able to make decisions for themselves, they will be less controllable. On the contrary, if authorities can limit, or even demonise, self-awareness, then they can prevent individuals from making their own decisions.

Ritual and Empowerment

These facts form the basis of my creative work, especially my work with ritual and ceremony.

My ceremonies are carefully designed so as to avoid, as completely as possible, the imposition of any belief system.

For each ceremony, I carefully research traditions from around the globe, ancient and modern, and create a ritual ‘act’ or ‘performance’ which, while referring to other traditions, is both new and potentially meaningful.

Finally, as far as is possible, I always include a section for self-expression … inviting participants to reflect on the past, contemplate the future, and express their hopes, desires and intentions in some form.

I create, or invite others to create, new works of art to decorate ritual spaces, and new music and poetry for the performance. Thus, participants are never confronted with the same set of symbols twice, and are always led into providing their own interpretations for their surroundings, and the rite as a whole.

The creative techniques I use all begin with self-awareness exercises: forms of visual meditation, or embodied improvisation (musical or gestural), or flow-of-consciousness writing. I then use a series of structural techniques to work up the initial sketches and ideas into finished works.

The intended result is that participants can share in the sense of commonality, community and well-being that ritual can bring, while preserving or even developing their personal sense of spirituality, belief and empowerment, without which life remains devoid of meaning … and from the feedback I receive, it seems to work.