The Element of Surprise and Drama in Ritual
by Mickie Mueller
Throughout history, temple priests and priestesses used ancient technology to add elements of drama to their rituals. They heated water in giant cauldrons that magically caused the temple doors to open using hydraulics and designed entire temples around the rising of the sun and moon on specific days. The first coin-operated machines were actually made as a seemingly magical way to dispense blessed holy water. They were more than just spiritual leaders—they were entertainers! They knew these displays would enhance the participant’s experience, adding mystery and excitement for everyone involved. Of course back in those days, the priests would claim these tricks as being magic actually perpetrated by the gods. Even though today most people have a basic understanding of how these things work, we can still work the element of surprise into our rituals to add to the effect, not to fool anyone, but to create drama. And quite frankly, it’s fun.
Here are some great dramatic ritual elements that I’ve actually used in coven gatherings and public rituals to the delight of the people in attendance. When you add elements of surprise, it can be very powerful and memorable.
Add Drama to Petition Magic
When I was younger I was entranced by Harry Houdini and loved stage magic. I even did a short magic show for my middle-school talent show. While looking for a new idea for a coven I was working with, I got this great idea to use magician’s flash paper for the petitions in the ritual. I popped on the internet and found a little pack of reasonably priced 2-by-3-inch flash paper from a stage-magician supply shop. Flash paper is how magicians make flames seem to appear from their fingertips; it doesn’t burn like regular paper—it bursts into a big flash!
When working with flash paper, there are a couple of important things to remember: keep it very dry, and don’t dangle long hair or sleeves near it (just like when working with candles). To make it more fun for everyone, I did not let my coven in on the secret. I kept the flash paper in a small zipper plastic bag and placed that inside of an organza bag to place on the altar to protect it against humidity. When it came to the point in the ritual to write our petitions, I handed out the paper and pens and everyone wrote down something they wanted to banish from their lives. I had everyone pull back their sleeves to allow the energy to flow down their arms into the paper (and to make sure no one’s sleeves were too close to the flame!). One by one we went around the circle and as each person touched their petition to the flame they gasped, laughed, and watched their obstacles not just burn up, but flash into oblivion! It was wonderful! I even sent some flash paper home with some of them for future use.
I was teaching a year-long series of classes with closing rituals at a local New Age shop and I was always trying to come up with ways to keep the rituals fresh. One of the challenges was that we couldn’t burn candles due to their insurance, so I used electric candles for the rituals, but there was no way to burn petitions, so I had to get creative. Again, I searched online and discovered dissolving paper! It’s nontoxic and safe for the environment—and I was fascinated by the idea of dissolving your petition—so I ordered a pack. Again, much like the flash paper, keep this stuff very dry. It comes in 8½ × 11-inch sheets, so I cut them up into twelve pieces (about 2 × 3-inch slips). At our ritual, I was careful not to pass out the paper to everyone until right before we were ready to make our petitions. I didn’t want any sweaty hands to give my trick away.
In the middle of the table, I placed a large, clear glass container full of water so that everyone would be able to clearly see the effect. I asked everyone to write down regrets from the previous year, and I assured them that no one would see them or read them aloud. We used a clearing chant to push the emotions from the event into the petition and then we all simultaneously cast our petitions into the water. I stirred with a wand—and the petitions just vanished! Several participants said they had a brief moment of panic they thought their regrets would be visible as the paper went into the water, but that seeing the paper vanish was a perfect feeling of relief—and they felt that the regret was totally gone for good. It was a very powerful ritual for us all. We poured the water onto the earth for the energy to be absorbed and neutralized. The manufacturers say that if you print on this paper with a laser printer, the paper dissolves but the letters float around in the water. I haven’t tried that yet. Perhaps you could print a pentagram or other magical symbols on the paper before casting your petition into the water!
Messages from Spirit
Many of us remember making invisible ink when we were kids, but did you ever think of including it as ritual tool? I use parchment-colored paper from the office-supply store, but any paper will do. Cut the paper into strips (about 2 × 4 inches each). In case you didn’t know, the secret recipe for invisible ink is lemon juice. You can write with it using a cotton swab, paintbrush, or even a calligraphic dip pen if you want to get really fancy. Using lemon juice as your ink, write one positive affirmation about the future on each piece of paper. I like to make enough for everyone and then do five more so there are lots of choices. Place these in a bowl or cauldron on the altar. During the ritual, each person chooses one at random. Then they can take turns holding the paper carefully over a candle and watching as the heat makes the message appear as mystical brown text and offer guidance for future endeavors. Even if you remember this trick from childhood, adding it to a ritual offers a really unique ritual experience and awakens your inner child.
Cakes and Ale, Blessings of Magic
The magical communion that we witches know as cakes and ale offers several opportunities to add some drama and flash to your ritual. Here is one interesting idea to magically change white wine into red wine. Okay, technically if you’re a wine connoisseur you’re not going literally turn a Pinot Grigio into a Shiraz, but the appearance of pouring a white wine into a chalice that mysteriously turns red before your eyes is a pretty cool trick! Simply put three or four drops of red food coloring into your empty chalice several days before the ritual. The liquid will evaporate, leaving the dry food coloring in the bottom of the chalice. With all the items on the altar and the candlelight, that little dot of red isn’t noticeable. When you are ready for your cakes and ale, open a bottle of white wine and during the blessing, talk about the power of transformation from one form to another and the connection of generative power of the ocean and the life blood of the Goddess. Then as you pour from the bottle, make sure that your group can see the wine entering the chalice so that they can see it turn red. It’s very simple but makes a great presentation and magical lesson!
As for cakes, there is the traditional magical Irish bread called Barmbrack that has small tokens baked inside. The token you discover is the prediction for the upcoming year. People also have added special charms attached to ribbons beneath the icing on wedding cakes for their attendants to pull and divine their future through the symbolism. You could also do something similar with ritual cakes. Little metal charms are available at your local craft store, so you could choose charms for different symbolism—a key for opportunity or the goddess Hecate, or an acorn for prosperity or the god Cernunnos. You could bake them into individual cakes, scones, or even cookies. Whatever you do, make sure that you let your ritual companions in on the fact that there are charms inside the cakes—having someone break a tooth or choke during ritual would not be very magical at all.
I hope these ideas spark your imagination. What other ideas can you come up with to add drama and surprise to your next group ritual? Using some of these ideas can make your magical circle memorable and remind us of a time when we recognized that the world was a magical place every day.