Class: Beginning Ritual Creation

(Yes, please, invite others who are interested.) There is a lot to cover, so this is a beginning class. If we want to continue after Feb. we can schedule more time. Note: it costs a little over $40 to rent the space for 2 hours each week, so I will ask for a minimum cost of $5 per student - per class - plus reimbursement for copying costs for printed materials. There is space for a tea snack break.
There will be other readings and some music sharing which will be provided as we go along. There will be some additional costs associated with copying & collating some of that material. Some of you already have a Book of Shadows and we can share what we have collected as we chose. . This is designed as a complimentary course that will go deeply into the theory & practice of ritual itself rather than as a tradition-specific approach.)

Class schedule: January 10, Class starts promptly at 7PM for two hours each Thursday: 17, 24, (31, may skip) (skipping Valentine's Day & Pantheacon Week) Feb. 8, 21, 28. That should do for now...There is free parking after 4:00 in the adjacent lot & a Pete's just up the hill for coffee... 2911 Claremont Ave. @ Ashby, Berkeley CA 94705.

Beginning Ritual Creation: Overview - cost: $5 (or more) to cover the cost of the space rental.
Where: Garden Gate Creativity Center http://www.gardengatecreate.com/fr_home.cfm

Text: "Elements of Beginning Ritual Construction" Blacksun of Elvenhearth (provided, please bring $7.00 to cover the cost of this text.)

Description: What makes ritual different in different religions, spiritual paths, and civic events? How is a ritual created? What are the kinds of rituals?
We will cover these questions and more once per week in a salon-style course looking at rituals of Familia, Thalia, and Rites-of-Passage.

We will cover: The differences between and uses for a ceremony, a service, and a ritual. The purpose of ritual; ritual use in personal, public, and ongoing circles; creating sacred space; our tools: making & acquiring, symbolic meanings & use; purpose, intent, & intentionality; What is an altered state of consciousness? Guided meditation and guided fantasy & trance induction; music & dance; litanies, liturgies, spells, songs and chants; using all the senses: food, art, sound, scent, movement; raising, using and directing flow and energy; using folklore, folkways, myth, symbol, allegory, allusion and story.