Your ritual design?

[Tigerlily]

I'm curious to know how people design their rituals, like the general breakdown of what they do. I think it will interesting.

I'm ecletic but I usually follow this pattern when doing rituals but I make up the words and invocations as I go along. :)

1. Empower my tools and my elemental representations (like my water, my candle, my incense, etc)

2. I bless my space by sprinkling salt and water around my ritual area (~my room)

3. I light my God and Goddess candles and say a prayer to them, I sometimes chant if I am home alone

4. I raise energy, etc

5. Do my magickal work or simply say more prayers if it's just a ritual to honour the Goddess (like an Esbat)

6. Release the energies

7. Thank the God and Goddess

8. Ground

You?

[Bix]

I usually take a shower/bath before ritual to cleanse myself. Then I get my quarter correspondances representations (candle for fire, incense for air, etc.) I cast circle by calling the elements at the quarters. Invite whatever deities pertaining the to ritual into the circle. If I am doing any magical workings, I'll ground and center before the working. If not I'll honor the deities I have asked to come. Then ground and center after the magical working, if I do one. Thank the deities, release the circle, then ground and center again.

:)

[Malcolm]

I usually get out this copper vase that holds roughly a pint, then I get out this small copper chalice that holds roughly a shot.

Beer/meade in the vase. Whiskey in the chalice.

Tip my glass for them and comence the merriment.

It usually works for me.

[BeigeAllen]

The following is the basic ritual structure I use for all rituals, compound spellwork, complex spellwork, etc.

Banishing/Cleansing This includes personal physical and spiritual cleansing before as well as smudging and asperging. Cleansing solutions are prepped based on the correspondences of each ritual.
Grounding For this stage I use a performance meditation coupled with shadow dance and fire dance movements coupled with cyclic elemental correspondences.
Casting The Circle Clockwise/deosil/sunwise for doing. Counterclockwise/widdershins/ayenward for undoing. In single rituals I "draw" circles between the altar and the outer edge of the circle and the compass points with their respective elements as well as a fifth circle that contains the other four using a blended representation of those elements.
Call Quints My path recognizes five elements that must be called for major spellwork and ritual. Most folks would call quarters.
Invocation/Intonation This is the point where you call in the additional deities that govern the areas your ritual is working in. Offerings are sometimes made during this part of the ritual
Statement Of Purpose Stating to the summoned entities and the physical participants in the ritual exactly what your ritual is intending to affect. This is a formal statement of intent so make it respectful but forceful.
Working Elements of the ritual are symbolized and/or represented. Dynamics between chosen elements are dramatized, healed, transformed, or energized. This is the most creative part of the ritual. Additionally, minor spells can be added in here to bolster the power of the overall ritual. This is where the largest number of correspondences are used.
Power Raising/Releasing Chanting, drumming, dancing, or other energetic activities.
Communion Charging/Blessing/Sharing of food and drink and acknowledgement to the entities to share etherically with us.
Hiatus Meditation or discussion of matters related to the ritual.
Gratitude Giving of personal acknowledgement of gratitude to the summoned entities for their assistance.
Releasing Of Elements An Spirits Releasing of the spirits in the reverse of the order you called and/or invoked them at the start of the ritual.
Opening The Circle


Now what do I do with all of that is probably on more than a few of your minds, so let's expand it a bit.

Statement and Scripting Though its not the first step performed in the ritual, the place where I start with choreographing my spellwork and ritual work is with a statement of purpose. I write down everything I want to do, and everything I do not want to have happen because of it. It is the start of the scripting that I will use for much of the ritual.
Timing Next I drag out the old celestial timetables, stellar references, and the ampillary to begin the plotting and planning of what day and what time I need to start the ritual and when I need to be finished by. In addition I begin gathering the herbal and mineral correspondences that I will need based on the timing.
Correspondences Now comes the headache, sorting through all the cross referenced correspondence tables to determine what would be the most effective "reagents" to use to gain the desired effect. The offerings needed for certain spirits, the ingredients for any spellwork I will be doing, tools I should be choosing according to the materials they are made of (certain rituals require all wood, others allow for a couple metal items, a few require truly primitive tools, others allow for elaborate modern items because they create the atmosphere needed). The materials are then cross referenced for what other entities can be called up to lend power to them. Even the compass points and the food and drink served in communion are cross referenced for the power they lend to certain workings.
Scribing At this point I then write out the entire ritual, practicing it on paper, tuning it up until it sounds the way I wish it to and feels the way it is meant to feel.
Preparation Finally, I have to draw the space. If I am using a drawn pentagram, then I begin drawing it, adding in symbols where needed. Mini altars are set up at compass points, a central working altar is set up with a small firepit. I may add torches at various points around the circle when outside, inside I have a variety of candles and holders that are set up about the room. When working inside I open windows and doors to let the air flow through so Zephyrus doesn't get his feelings hurt. Tools that have been "cloistered" since their creation in a previous ritual will be brought out for charging and set on the central altar unless they need a particular correspondence to be charged to. Special foods will be cooked for both during ritual and the feast after. Some of the herbs that the correspondences suggested are brewed into a draught and poured into the chalice, dregs and all. small empty paper plates are set on all altars, each a plate for the spirit governing that altar. When I am releasing the entities at the end of the ritual, I toss those plates into the firepit as a parting gift to the fire spirits.

[StarCraftLia]

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[Tigerlily]

Wow, very interesting, BeigeAllen.

I would love to do rituals just like but my current living arrangements don't allow for it. I live at home and I am not out of the broom closet. Most of rituals happen in the middle of the night when everyone is sleeping so I have to be very very quiet.

[Ivy Artemisia]

Here's mine:

Before the actual ritual, I set up the altar, and set up elemental altars if I choose to. I cleanse the space, either with sage, aspirging with holy water, or sweeping. Then I ground and center. Then the actual ritual begins:


Cast Circle
Seal Circle
Call Quarters
Evoke God/dess(es)
Statement of Purpose
Working or Celebration (ie: goddess offerring, DDTM, spell, Sabbat celebration, poem or reading, etc)
Meditation
Giving thanks or blessings (sometimes)
Cakes and Ale
Devoke God/dess(es)
Release Quarters
Open Circle


Thats mine!

[CaitrionaMorgaine]

My ritual format is:


Ground & Center
Opening of Ritual
Consecration of Self
Acknowleding the Realms: (Land/Sea/Sky), and then Fire as a sacred gift.
Invocation of Gods/Goddesses
Statement of Purpose: Sabbat celebration/Esbat/Working ritual/Ect.
Working (If Applicable)
Feast
Giving Thanks
Ending of Ritual


There you go!