Ritual is an expression of devotion, honor, or
recognition of powers beyond our everyday experience. It can take at its simplest
form a silent prayer, meditation or the lighting of a candle, to the more complex
circumambulatory gestures and actions of the stations of the cross or the casting
of a magickal circle. It is at the heart of any living and vital tradition.
It calls the aspirant to step outside of the quotidian and, for a brief moment,
embrace and respond to the numinous.
In its earliest form, theater was a ritual act recognizing the interaction of
the gods and mortals. The act of evocation, or the calling of a god into oneself,
is likely the precedent for taking on theatrical personae. An example of this
can be seen in the chorus of Greek drama, who represent knowledge outside the
realm of, and commentary on, the characters experience.
Music is the universal language. It is unquestionably the most effective tool
for evoking an emotive response in plant and animal alike. Music is a binding
agent that transports us out of our individual singularity and into a commonality
of experience that, outside of sex and ritual, is wholly unprecedented.
First there was the beat, and the beat was good. From the beat came the rhythm,
and the rhythm moved us. Movement is action, and action is a focus of intention.
This intention at its most basic function is call and response, the music calls
us and our bodies respond, and as our bodies respond our spirits likewise respond.
As we turn and spin, twist and whirl, our spirit soars with the rhythm out in
all directions, into every nook, cranny and crevice to call out life to respond
to the rhythm
All of these elements, theater, which is an exaggerated form of evocation, music
the universal call, and dance, that call's response, make possible the most
powerful ritual, a ritual that we as participants are bound to the gods by,
in an ecstatic expression of faith, honor or recognition.