AN EXCERPT FROM "THE SPELL OF MAKING"
(Chapter 1 - "Why A Book About Rituals", pages 2-4)

          I have been involved in the creation of Wiccan rituals for nearly 20 years. I've had a lot of opportunities to learn what sorts of things work and don't work, both in my own rituals as well others I have attended. Effective rituals make real and spiritual changes in the lives of the participants, but they need a great deal of care and attention to do that. They require planning, attention to detail, and serious work. It is not a casually learned art and should be approached humbly.
          Something which has disturbed me greatly over the years is the idea that it's OK for Wiccan / Neo-Pagan rituals to be haphazard events. This notion is perpetuated by people who believe preparation unnecessary and honestly don't know the difference between serious religious ritual and play acting, or who are too wrapped up with being the center of attention to understand and plan the necessary spiritual considerations. Such events really are not deeply spiritual. Using these in place of strong spiritual rituals is a major cause of dissatisfaction in Neo-Pagans.
          Anyone creating religious ritual must have the spiritual growth and well-being of those who participate as their first priority. If not, their efforts will ultimately produce spiritual dis-ease. Gatherings that carelessly play with powerful spiritual symbols are not religious rituals, but social ones and can do irreparable damage. There is a real need for training of those who wish to make or lead religious rituals.
          The unfortunate truth is that many people who perform rituals do not understand the basic principles and structures behind them. Were you to ask most ministers what the basics of ritual are, they would look at you in puzzlement. I know, because I have asked many priests, ministers and deacons in various religions. None of them had any idea that a ritual could be "made". Most of them said that all the liturgy they would ever need was already written down somewhere. Strangely, they all thought that their particular literature contained all the possibilities! It wasn't until I asked the question of a person who managed a Roman Catholic bookstore that I got directed to St. Ignatius Loyola, (born Inigo Loyola in 1491, died 1556) a rather interesting Spanish monk who founded The Society of Jesus (better known as the Jesuits). His writings dealt with the principles of ritual and, though heavily focused on the teachings of the Church of Rome, they showed a great insight into the effects of ritual.
          However, religious ritual still seems to be one of those things that through the years has avoided close analysis. Sociological and anthropological methods of study classify rituals by style, but offer very little in the way of understanding the structure common to religious ritual that I had hoped they might, since style changes as the culture changes. Finally, after a great deal of study and many pitiful attempts at creating rituals on my own, I began to understand that ritual was an art stretched over the form of a simple structure. As in all arts, the form had to be learned for the art to have meaning and completeness, but it would not be art at all unless the form was used only as a support for that art and not for itself. I eventually wrote a short monograph titled The Beginning Steps of Ritual Construction, proposing 7 steps in the formulation of meaningful ritual. Years later, I revised and expanded these ideas, including a new "first step" which I had overlooked because, to me, it had seemed too obvious. Now, after giving hundreds of workshops and lectures and answering thousands of questions, I believe it is time for a fully detailed text on the matter.
          First, we will explore the conscious and unconscious mind. This is crucial to understanding what rituals are, why they are used, and how they work. Next, we will discuss what is necessary for writing, producing, and performing meaningful and transformational religious ritual. After that, a look at what rituals are, what they do, and why they are needed.
          We will study the formula for creating rituals. This part is most likely why you are reading this book, but I caution against reading those chapters out of order. Without an understanding of what each step of this formula is based on, this section will not have the same meaning. After learning the formula, we'll look at an example of a ritual and dissect it piece-by-piece so you can see how the formula has been applied. Then we will create a ritual with commentary. This ritual is the one I proposed earlier: a ritual to install a new High Priestess.
          In the next to the last section we will discuss some other matters connected to the process of creating and performing religious rituals. After 17 years of creating rituals, I've seen a lot of "interesting" things, some quite humorous and some deadly serious. They all point out important information about ritual and should help in your efforts to create your own. Lastly, I will give you a few tips about how to flesh out your rituals and a very systematic method for finding inspiration when you can't seem to come up with anything "brilliant."