III.DAY THREE: BASIC RITUAL TECHNIQUES

    The previous two courses teach the full minimum necessary to work solo
    magick.  The remaining two days will concentrate on group ritual.  In
    Day Three, we will discuss the basic techniques.

    To explain the outline, relate the outline of the three Essentials of
    Eastern magick - mandalla, mantra, and mudra.

    A.   Mantra - Music and Chanting

         Discuss the three types of mantra most often used in Neopagan
         ritual: memorized chants (for creating and focusing the Group
         Mind), impromptu chanting (for advanced meditation and growing
         together), and plainsong (for worship).

         1.   Memorized Chants

              Teach them the chants listed below.  Then run quickly (for 
              familiarization purposes only) through "We Wander Now", "Hoof 
              and Horn", "Burn Bright", "Circle 'Round the Fire", and any 
              others that I can remember on the spot.  

              a.   "We All Come from the Goddess"

                   We ALL - COME from the GODdess
                   AND to HER we SHALL reTURN
                   LIKE a DROP - OF - RAIN
                   FLOWing TO the O-CEAN (repeat)
              
              b.   "I Circle Around"

                   I CIRcle aROUND, I CIRcle aROUND ...
                   the BOUN-'DRIES OF the EARTH ...
                   WEARing my LONG tail FEAthers AS I GLIDE ...
                   WEARing my LONG tail FEAthers AS I GLIDE ... (repeat)
              
              c.   "Air I Am"

                   (evenly spaced, every syllable emphasized)

                   Air I am,
                   Fire I am,
                   Water, Earth and Spirit I am ... (repeat)

              d.   "The Goddess Chant"

                   iSIS, aSTARte, diANna, HECaTE,
                   deMEter, KALi - inNAna (repeat)

         2.   Impromptu Chanting

              Discuss the uses of impromptu chanting: ecstatic magick 
              (where one can't count on elaborate chants) and for deep 
              probing rituals, where they are used for free association.  
              As an example, demonstrate the three-word style that Starhawk 
              teaches in SPIRAL DANCE.  Emphasize the use of beat and tempo 
              as unifying factors.  

         3.   Plainsong

              For contrast, sing the NROOGD classic, "O Earth Mother" to 
              demonstrate that not all ritual music needs to be in the form 
              of basic chants.  

    B.   Mudra - Movement and Dance

         1.   Ritual Dance

              (This section has not yet been finalized.  Current plans 
              focus on simple circle-dance steps, the famed "spiral dance",
              and then brief discussion of free-form dance and ecstatic
              ritual.)

         2.   Theater Techniques

              Remind people that one of the purposes of ritual is to catch 
              and hold the attention of Child Self, and point out that the 
              language that Child Self speaks best is melodrama.  Instruct 
              them that gestures and actions in the Circle should speak 
              loud enough that words are not necessary.  Then, since they 
              undoubtedly won't get the point, do two exercises to rub 
              their noses in it.  

              a.   Banishing Exercise

                   Set up a circle, then pick out someone who seems to know 
                   a bit about magick.  Get him to go to one of the 
                   quarters and ground and center.  Then have him visualize 
                   a threat approaching from his quarter, and tell him to 
                   do a banishing.  (He will inevitably do something 
                   traditional, elaborate, and sterile.)  Relax him, then 
                   ask the class how THEY would have reacted, if THEY were 
                   attacking the circle, to what he had done.  Pick an 
                   absolute novice, put him in the same place, ground and 
                   center, pump them up with melodrama and heroics, then 
                   describe a different menace and instruct them to scare 
                   it off, turn it away (don't use the word "banish").  See 
                   if the gestures aren't more dramatic.  

              b.   Charging Exercise

                   Pick a couple who seem to know a bit about magick (if 
                   possible), and have them ground, center, and use the 
                   wand and chalice for a symbolic Great Rite.  (See if 
                   they do anything more sexual than just stick the wand 
                   into the cup - I doubt it.)  Relax them, then point out 
                   to the class that the energies to be raised in this 
                   exercise are to be earthy and sexual, EXACTLY like the 
                   "rush" or thrill of heavy flirtation.  Then pick the 
                   most COMPATIBLE-looking couple (if possible) and repeat 
                   the exercise (and see if they don't make it more 
                   energetic).