Ritual: A Guide to Life Love and Inspiration Book

The word "ritual" summons up all sorts of associations, from Freemasonry to the Catholic mass to black magic. Emma Restall Orr's book is about none of these. Orr is joint chief of the British Druid Order, and it's from the Druids and the Bardic tradition that she draws her ideas for this deeply thoughtful book, aptly sub-titled "A guide to life, love and inspiration". Ritual, she says, is "the fine art of taking a break... It is the practice of reminding ourselves of the value and power of living. It is that moment in which we stop and, looking around, understand that life is sacred." A love and respect for nature is fundamental to druidic spirituality; when selecting a place for a ritual, for example, Orr counsels that the spirits of the place should be asked first.Perhaps the most important word in the book is awen, "the flow of life energy that is the changing, growing, fruiting, dying nature of creation... It is possible to access this flow consciously, to use its power as a way of enthusing life, of finding freedom and freeing love." And this is what ritual achieves. Orr includes many simple but beautifully written accounts of her personal experiences, and her own informal rituals. The longest chapter explores more formal group rituals for the eight festivals of the year; another chapter covers rites of passage, including welcoming and naming a baby, adolescence, marriage (and parting), elderhood and death. "Learning, growing, finding our soul nourishment, the world we live in is our own creativity," says Orr. "Ritual is a concentrated moment of that living." This is a warm, poetic and inspirational book, an excellent and thorough guide to the subject.--David V BarrettRead More