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Savoring Ritual Diversity
Humankind has developed an extraordinary range of spiritual belief and practice over time. We can expand our ritual horizons by exploring the ways that different people have developed to mark and celebrate the cycles of the seasons and the seasons of their lives. This study helps us to identify the value in our own personal and inherited traditions, while at the same time learning to honor what is true and good in every heritage and chosen path. As Gandhi reminds us, “Like the bee gathering honey from the different flowers, the wise person accepts the essence of the different scriptures and sees only the good in all religions.” Little did my father realize that when he dropped us off at Temple Sunday School every week, I would see my younger brother to his classroom, then split the building and go to church. Every Sunday I would choose a different denomination to attend. It wasn’t that I was particularly interested in changing my religion. It was simply my way of traveling. I was a senior in high school and I wanted to see as much as I could of what the world had to offer. I am still fascinated by the panoply of religious permutations and love to explore the entire range. I collect holidays as some folks collect matchbooks, recipes or CDs. We all have much to learn from each other – and much to teach, as well. When we feel that our own culture is lacking in meaningful ritual for our own lives and times, we might be tempted to adopt or emulate another tradition. But no matter how interesting, enlightening and inspiring we find another culture, we can’t just put on the entire ritual way of others whole cloth as if it were a costume. Imitation, in this case, without serious study or permission is the ultimate form not of flattery, but of disrespect. It is not appropriate to expropriate. Yet we live on a small planet and our world is becoming ever more intimately interconnected by transportation, telecommunication, multimedia and computer networks. As peoples and cultures meet and mix they tend to blend. This cross-fertilization based on interrelationship results in an authentic ritual evolution which produces completely new, yet uniquely appropriate customs. Today we are all spiritual mixed breeds to some extent, tapping our toes to the same integrated world beat. In the process of living our lives, we all develop our own personal traditions, which may augment or replace entirely the religious traditions of our heritage. We each create idiosyncratic ceremonial expressions, which reflect our ancestry, our personal history, our particular temperament; our experience, our preference, our needs and our own quirky take on life. We repeat what we like, drop what we don’t. By incorporating what is truly meaningful to us, we take a tradition and make it our own. Thanksgiving is a perfect example. It is the great All-American adaptable ritual. The menu is always identical, but for that one out-of-place-item which expresses a certain regional, ethnic, or cultural taste. I learned this delicious fact first hand during the many Thanksgiving dinners that I have been privileged to share with families across the United States. The Donatello family feast featured turkey and all the trimmings and lasagna. The Quans served turkey, all the trimmings and white rice. The Castros added yellow rice and beans. The Robinson clan had turkey and all the trimmings and macaroni and cheese and collard greens. Diversity is the great strength of the human race. And it behooves us to avail ourselves of its richness. Don’t stand on ceremony – savor it! Start by exploring your own community as if you were on a grand tour around the world. Talk to the elders who remember the old traditions; talk to neighbors, shopkeepers, and strangers. Attend folk festivals, educational programs, and multi-cultural events. Visit a variety of ethnic stores, restaurants, museums and places of worship. Sample the rich smorgasbord of foods, music, dance, literature and philosophy, which surround you. And, exactly as if you were traveling abroad, if you are sincerely interested and polite, friendly and respectful, you will be welcomed and treated as an honored guest wherever you go.
Donna Henes is an internationally renowned urban shaman, ritual expert, award-winning author, popular speaker and workshop leader whose joyful celebrations of celestial events have introduced ancient traditional rituals and contemporary ceremonies to millions of people in more than 100 cities since 1972. The author of four books, a CD and an acclaimed Ezine, she writes for The Huffington Post, Beliefnet and UPI Religion and Spirituality Forum. Mama Donna, as she is affectionately called, maintains a ceremonial center, spirit shop, ritual practice and consultancy in Exotic Brooklyn, NY, where she works with individuals, groups, institutions, municipalities and corporations to create meaningful ceremonies for every imaginable occasion. www.DonnaHenes.net.
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