From The Archives: A Ritual-Based Practice

Syr Beker

— 4 min read
from the Garden of Monsters in Bomarzo: a monstrous face constructed in stone, covered in moss, steps lead into the cave of its gaping mouth.
“May these longer nights feed us with firelight, wolf song, apple-buttered bread, and those wild winter stories of mountain hags, wise children, and weary travelers met by otherworldly creatures on the road.

May we leave our dead and dusty fears outside our doors for a time, making room for the timeless wonders of a winter come early and a hearth full of fiery lessons about loving the infinite dark, intentional joy, and living in strange harmony with sanctuary and wilderness, stillness and dance, order and chaos, and silence and song.

~ Danielle Dulsky 
 What's Happening, Co-Adventurers? 

This has been a season of endings for me. I designed and performed goodbye rituals to two places that have meant the world to me, Exit Theatre, and Old Devil Moon. 

I know that a place is just a container for  love, community, connection. It's just that there has been so much love in those two sets of walls, and saying goodbye lets you live it all at once, outside of linear time. And there are ghosts. 

Near the end of Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard, when Anya grieves the loss of her home, Trofimov tells her: "The Earth is so wide, so beautiful, so full of wonderful places. All of Russia is our Orchard.” 

I want to be Trofimov. My heart is stuck in Anya. How do you say goodbye? 

I've been sitting with artists who incorporate aspects of grief, ritual, and ceremony in their work. Some are below. There's a practice I used, in case you want to try. 

How did it go? Scroll down, I'll tell you, and you can question my lipstick choices.

Or, if you like, just skip to the treats. We've got a workshop in January, and some texts, and a writing practice, and submission opportunities. Get your work out.  

FOR INSPIRATION: ARTISTS USING RITUAL

Writers Using Ritual - Edith Sitwell did WHAT before writing? 
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Artists who have inspired me with their approach to ritual: Choreographer Bill T. Jones (Absence, The Process of Becoming Infinite); Amara Tabor Smith (EarthBodyHome).
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When I need comfort at the apocalypse, I reach for Natalia Theodoridou's work. Find him. 
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And I can't stop listening to Kadet's Null Extension. Transcendent. 

WRITE: A RITUAL-BASED PRACTICE

A Sneaky Way to Get Structure, And maybe more. 
"Ritual is poetry in action." - Dennis S. Ross
1.  READ; (Optional): Here is a beautifully comprehensive essay about ritual in short stories. Here is Jonathan Van Ness' Morning Ritual. 
2. CHOOSE A RITUAL STRUCTURE. Could be a wedding. Could be a funeral. There are theories, possibly reductive, that many rituals follow a similar pattern:
1) Entry (of people into the sacred space);
2) Preparation (welcoming some external force);
3) Climax (the marriage, the burial, the sacrifice, the offering);
4) Celebration (Thank you, releasing the spirits);
5) Return to the normal world, transformed. 
3. SET OUT THE STEPS of your ritual. Go for five. You can use the ones above! 
4. TRANSPOSE this structure onto another scene For bonus, mix and match: a funeral at a first kiss, a wedding at a yard sale, a meeting of two a sacrifice at an office party, a morning commute, a meet cute. OR Write into each step, 1-2 lines, and see where that takes you. 
Does the ritual "work?" What changes? Who's not having it? 

WANNA KNOW HOW MY RITUAL WENT?
(Is this lipstick too bloody red?) 

For my Exit goodbye, I used the elements of a ritual and pieces of Red Riding Hood.
Wolfcakes is a Little Red Riding Hood ritual about getting through a difficult moment, only to find that “the woods are endless," which is how i felt at the time. 

I came in with a question: is there a way to feel the community in this space. Can we work with it? 

I gave this show the most audience interaction I've ever dared in solo performance, and the audience gave it all back to me, every single time. We sang together, and laughed together, someone took a selfie with me, someone helped me bury the body (you had to be there). 

There was a moment. We were doing the Red Riding Hood Litany, call-and-response style, me calling out the “my what big eyes you have” and audience improvising, as if we’d rehearsed it. I had already gone through all the safe options. “My what big eyes you have/ the better to see you with: My what big ears you have, the better to hear you with.” I was going to stop there. But it was my last day. 

I locked eyes with a stranger and said: 
My what beautiful scars you have. 
They instantly replied: 
"The Better to Feel You With." 

Anyway, here's me sitting on the body at Exit with lipstick that took three days to remove. So long Exit, and thank you. 

We said goodbye to Old Devil Moon The MJ Boppers, a New Orleans Style Line Band, and blocked Mission Street traffic dancing. There was that moment I looked around and realized that so many people in that room had shared space and time and stories with me, over drinks, or over tarot. 

I don’t know if you can have those moments on an ordinary day. Maybe we’re just not built to notice them. 

But seriously, what beautiful scars we have. 

Keep in touch, me hearties. Let me know what you're making. And if you're interested in working with me, reach out. And if you'd like a space to write, come on over. I usually have one 1/2 off spot and one free one, once we reach our enrollment, if you need it, reach out. And if you've read this far, that's really sweet. Here's a 10% off code for you. xxxx. 

Thank you for being part of this adventure. It’s always sweet sailing with you. 

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