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Stop Ritual Abuse!

If you have any experience with attending public Neopagan rituals, you know that they fall into two broad categories: good ones and bad ones. When you participate in the good ones you may experience beauty, spiritual enlightenment, flows of energy, communication with the God and Goddess, and a sense of the presence of the Divine. Such rituals are incredible experiences, but unfortunately, are far too rare.

Unfortunately, many public Neopagan rituals fall into the category of—and let's be charitable here—less than ideal. You know the type: no energy, no direction, no sense of the Divine, no effectiveness, and downright boring, with people forgetting their parts or reading them poorly. The people who put on the ritual no doubt had their hearts in the right place; they just didn't know how to present a ritual that leaves participants excited, breathless, and enthralled.

It's time to stop abusing the performance of rituals! It's time to stop abusing the participants who have to live with the abuse of good rituals! Now you can, with Neopagan Rites by Isaac Bonewits.

Famed and Respected
Isaac Bonewits is one of the most famous and respected personalities and authors in the history of Neopaganism and magic. While others were pretending and preening, he was getting a degree in magic (actually, thaumaturgy) from the University of California. While others were writing silly books or simply rewriting what other had published, he wrote one of the most original books on magic and Neopaganism, Real Magic, that actually looked at how magic could be performed today. It is rightly considered a classic.

Now, he turns his prodigious talents to ending the abuse of rituals and public presentation of rituals in Neopagan Rites. He covers every aspect necessary to conduct powerful and evocative rituals:

Understanding the nature of rituals and how to design them
How to include different types of people in the ritual
The degree of formality within the ritual
Music and chants
The value of movement in rituals
Modular design of rituals
How to choose the location
Costumes and props
How to use magic and raise energy in ritual
Preparation before the ritual
What to do when things go wrong
How to be seen and heard in ritual
What to do after the ritual

Neopagan Rites isn't a book filled with rituals—there are already many books that simply provide rituals. Instead, it shows you how to perform rituals better and more effectively. It teaches you how to design and modify rituals to make them passionate, stimulating, and memorable.

Many books on rituals give a bit of advice on performance. Neopagan Rites goes so far beyond those books that it reaches a different level—and so will your rituals. Unlike any other book on rituals, Neopagan Rites features Bonewits' famous wit and style. Only this book features the collected sum of Bonewits' thirty-five years of experience as a ritual leader.

This book is so clear and logical that although it is written for Neopagans, it is a must for anyone who wants to participate, lead, or design a ritual for any sort of spiritual gathering, from solitary ceremonies to rites for huge crowds, from the ornate rites of ceremonial magick to the most original of Wiccan rituals. Always practical and grounded in history and common sense, every practical, magical, and spiritual aspect is covered here. It is an instant classic that should be in every ritualist's library, and should be read often.