Outdoor Ritual

[aynfean]

Has anyone had experience with doing a ritual outside? In a semi-public place?

I've been feeling a strong pull to do my Samhain ritual outside near a beach. There's a park well off the beaten path which is pretty much abandoned this time of year, especially at the time of night I'd be working. It seems like the perfect solution but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this sort of thing they'd like to share.

[Gypsyblu]

I have done rituals at the beach at night, at a public park etc... lots of things outside. Things to remember are to make sure you are allowed to be there, meaning the park does not close or the beach does not close etc... Also, know the rule. Can you have a fire? If it is just going to be you I would worry to much about it but often when you have a ritual in a large public area, the park just asks that you let them know how many people are going to be there. I have been at several where we had 40 people doing a spiral dance in a park on a Sunday afternoon and there were lots of outsiders watching us. It is a little disconcerting but, rituals outside are very powerful. I also like doing them at night when the world seems to be still and you can hear more clearly.

It you do go alone, just let someone know exactly where you will be at that ime. You don't have to tell them why but let someone know.

My two cents

[aynfean]

Ahh that's something I hadn't considered (about letting someone know where I'll be!) It will definitely be alone as while I know there are many pagans in my area I haven't really been able to connect with any of them. Not sure if fires are allowed so I will likely bring stuff in the hopes they are but be prepared in case not :D

[Gypsyblu]

Good Call. If open fires are not allowed or you are not sure, you could always bring a nice heavy skillet, like one made of cast iron, fairly cheap at goodwill. Then just create one small enough to be used by you yet easy enough to extinguish.

[trystan]

we do our rituals out in the back yard all the time.

that said, many years ago, we did rituals has a local park as long as it was during park hours, and no one else was using the gazebo we wanted to use.

also, i've gone to a few Pagan Pride Days in my "area" - these events are about an hour travel time, actually. but these events are held at state parks, and i believe the group that hosts these days reserves the area of the park for the day.

but yes, as Gypsyblu says, know the rules of the place you'll be. at one of the parks for one pride day, cookfires are allowed, at the other, they're not.

[Windsmith]

I do ritual outside as much as I can, and I tend to strip my outdoor rituals down to the essentials; that way, what the park does or doesn't allow becomes less of an issue. For instance, lighting a fire might be nice, but it's not absolutely necessary. Waving an athame around is right out of the question, and even wands tend to get funny looks. So I write down my intention for the ritual and then determine the bare minimum of "stuff" I need to accomplish that intention. A lot of the time it'll turn out to be...me. No tools or other physical aids required.

Oh! Also (and this is, I think, general advice, not necessarily specific to the OP), make sure abandoned-looking areas of parks really are abandoned. I once did a ritual in a gorgeous circle of trees in a local park. It looked like it didn't get a lot of traffic, at least compared to the other parts. Turns out there was a very good reason for that: the circle of trees was right in the middle of the disc golf course; I was dodging players and discs the whole time! Needless to say, not my most successful ritual ever.

[antæa]

A ritual outside, connecting and being connected to nature around you, cannot be compared with a ritual inside. Outside I can communicate and unite with the spirits of nature. I too often use nothing, only words and my heart. But sometimes I carry the basic tools with me. I never use fire outside. Often when I go for a walk I feel that I have to connect more formal to the spirits, and then draw the circle. it is easy to do so here, behind the last houses wilderness starts and we are alone with nature. When the weather is bad and the snow high, I celebrate inside. You cannot raise energies when you are freezing to death.....

[aynfean]

Yeah the weather is a concern of mine. it's been freeezing cold and rainy. Plus I kind of have a big thing planned so minimalist tools isn't the direction I'm going although I do at other times.