Modern western spirituality, the dogma of organised religion and the need to hearken to something older

On Ritual (part 2)

Priestess making offerings for the ka (an aspect of the soul in ancient Egyptian religion) of a cat, John Weguelin, 19th century

Seeing as ritual forms such a monumental part of my life, my thinking and my work, I thought I’d continue writing about it as another series for paid subscribers. And really, there’s just so much to say on the subject!

Since writing last Sunday’s piece, I’ve been thinking about the difference between ritual and religion.

Back sometime last year, I did a course in the archaeology department of Oxford university on Ritual and Religion in Prehistory. One of the primary questions we were wrestling with was what exactly comprises religious and ritual behaviour for ancient peoples.

One of the things I found most fascinating is that most languages have no word for “religion’” because for most people religion and social life are inseparable and intertwined, and there is no clear division between the sacred and the profane or between the supernatural and the natural.

As mythologist (and honorary member of my invisible pantheon!) P L Travers reflects: “Nature, if it is nature at all, has super nature up its sleeve.”