After attending a ritual recently honoring the Horned God, Cernunnos, I was struck by how much more fully engaged I was during the ritual than during most other Wiccan ceremonies. The energy-raising undertaken during this particular ritual involved spontaneous drumming and dancing and seemed to have lasted just as long as it was able to sustain itself. The opportunity to engage body, voice, and mind was evident thoughout. In contrast, most Wiccan ritual I've attended (in any number of traditions) seems static and somehow solely inward in building power for work.
The contrast seems to me akin to the difference between mainline Protestant and Pentacostal Christian services. The latter provides an avenue for the expression of the ecstatic that is, I think, intimidating to most members of Western European culture--including most "mainline" Wiccans.
Most of us who follow a Pagan path like to believe we are the inheritors of the great shamanic traditions of ancient Europe, fondly hearkening back to sorcerers vested in stag horns and witches entranced by flying ointment dancing wildly in the forest. Would that we could truly live those roles to the fullest.
To wit...some suggestions:
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