Cultural rituals are communal expressions
of a Big Story.
Cultural rituals make present the communal emotions that bind a people, heal, make them feel whole and
as one.
Consequently, the
individual is not often consciously aware of
his participation in the
communal ritual or how the communal ritual grounds his personal
emotional life.
Despite this lack of conscious awareness,
during a communal ritual event he will readily shout, “I
am a ….!”
It takes an individual, personal
ritual to make present the communal ritual—
although not all individual, personal rituals make present
a communal ritual.
For example, endless warring is
a communal ritual act of the Warrior’s Quest
imagination. Warring heals, makes whole, and makes present the individual feeling
as one with his people. In this
light, the personal act of enlisting in
the military makes present and real the communal act of
warring.
The communal ritual requires the
individual to
step forward, swear allegiance, and state, “I am a …!”
Continue—Ritual
Living
