Guest Author - Fiona Blackwolf

So you've been invited to join a friend at their next ritual. What do you do now? Below is a list of some basic do's and don'ts for attending a Wiccan (or Pagan) ritual.

Do's

Do be respectful of the people you meet. Wiccans, and Pagans in general, are an eclectic bunch and their appearance and manner may reflect that. Remember… Don’t Judge a book by its cover.

Do be on time. Often for rituals there will be two times given, and arrival or “gathering” time and the time that the ritual will actually begin. Please be sure to arrive during the gathering time, as it is very disruptive to be interrupted by latecomers, often, late arrivals will even find the door locked.

Do enter the circle with open heart and open mind. Many times you will not know what to expect when attending ritual. Please do your best to be open to the experience. However, if you begin to feel uncomfortable don’t be afraid to ask someone to cut you out of circle (see the Don’t section for more information)

Do ask questions before attending any ritual. It is important that you know what the purpose of the ritual is, how you should be dressed, and if you need to bring anything. Most open public rituals are casual and more for gathering than for a specific intent. Also, you generally don’t need to bring anything but yourself to a public ritual. However, if you are invited to a private group or coven ritual these are important questions!

Do expect a range of emotion. Mirth and reverence are both an important part of Wicca and Paganism. Often in ritual, emotions will run the gamut from laughter to tears and then back again.

Do move in a clockwise direction when walking into circle. Wiccans tend to be sensitive to this. The reason is that Wicca attunes itself with the movement of the earth, moon, sun and seasons as much as possible and to that end we move in the direction of the sun when we are in ritual.


Don’ts

Don’t touch anyone’s jewelry, drums, magical tools or altars. When in doubt ask! Often the person has put a lot of their energy into their belongings and it can be disturbing to them to have anyone touch them.

Don’t touch anyone who is drumming, dancing or appears to be in a meditative or trance state. You could bring them back into reality too quickly and cause them to go into shock. Much like the feeling you get when you are startled awake, and sometimes even more severe.

Don’t just walk right out of the circle. In Wicca and many other Pagan practices, a “circle is cast” to create sacred space. Think of the circle as an invisible bubble of energy around the area. If you walk out you break that bubble and let all of the energy out. If you need to leave please ask one of the ritual participants to “cut you out”.

Don’t leave the ritual area if you are feeling light headed or nauseous. Sometimes if a lot of energy is raised and you are not experienced with handling it you might feel this way. If this happens please ask one of the ritual participants to help you “ground” or to please find someone who can.


And most importantly…

Do enjoy yourself!