The Planet Is My Altar: An Ancient Chamber For A New Magick.
The old ritual chamber, near universal, in mainstream Christian churches and Wiccan closets, Satanic basements and teen pagan attics, the altar and the directions, the chalice and the candle, the incense, etc, symbols of the elements, representations of the universe, it's gods or godlessness. When I ate at the Hari Krsna Temple I noticed that the Prasadam ceremony was identical with the Vietnamese Buddhist Temple's Sunday Services the serving of food after the service but still a part of it. Identical in the acts themselves, the order of operations, sermon, discussion, prayers and chanting and then songs and then food. Though the specific instruments used for music, the specific songs sang, the language used, the food served (though both served vegetarian food), etc., were all different, even the nature of the spiritual being's represented were different, but the ceremonies were still very much the same. The Sikh Temples serve food after services too, though it's not expressed as part of the ceremony quite to the same extent as Hindu's and Buddhists. In turn they are different in specifics but the same in terms of theory to the Catholic/Anglican/Orthodox mass, which use simple wafer/wine as a cheap substitute for prasadam. In turn, all of these, in terms of ritual components, are identical to any ancient pagan or neo-pagan ceremony, which usually had some kind of food involved too. Communion is Prasadam is the first nations feast is the wedding feast is the harvest dance is the funeral wake and so on down the ages, the spiritual enhances the material and the material enhances the spiritual.
Different symbols might be used, different phrases and semantics, but what the symbols represent is always identical in essence. Ancient ideas about the structure of the universe, an attempt at science through guesswork, admirable and wise in their own ways but only a stepping stone in the struggle for knowledge which we are so much further ahead in today than they were then. The old faiths, organized and disorganized religions, and their ceremonial systems, are somehow too old yet at the same time not ancient enough.
The representations and ancient symbols of the elements are irrelevent now and should be replaced on magick altars with a scientific table of the elements. Or don't bother at all. It is crucial to the future of human development that the physical and the spiritual be brought back together in terms of human thought, that we recognize the spiritual as a dimension of the physical and vice versa. If we build a house and it burns down, we still die in the fire. The ability to create is not a symptom of omnipotence, and, creator or not, any god that exists is very likely to be as much a part of the universe as everything else.
North and south, east and west are rather anachronistic terms now that we know a little more about the shape of the planet and the lay of the land concerning it's place in the universe. The old way of looking at things, everything as neat packages with clear labels, is still embedded in our education.
If we take the idea of infinite degrees and directions, which is what we have in reality, and apply it to ritual as opposed the limited four/eight directions, 5 or 13 points, etc., our ceremonial chambers would more accurately reflect the universe the chamber is supposed to represent and lend more depth and meaning to ceremonies intended to help us understand and have a personal effect on courses of events in the universe represented by the chamber.
So here's the new ritual, to santify the new ceremonial altar.
Lay in an open field, preferably where you have a panoramic view of the sky,on a small hill or rise. Schedule it so that the sun is setting or rising in one direction and the moon is visible setting or rising in the other. To get the most benefit out of the exercise, actually pay attention to the patterns of the sun and the moon and calculate the time and date yourself. Lay on your back, stretch your hands out, pointing at the two speres. Keep a scientific table of the elements in your pocket, maybe. Breathe the air.
Now, stop being on planet earth. Instead of laying on your back on planet earth, see yourself as standing on the air looking into space with your altar, the planet, behind you. Rather than saying the North, representing the element earth; and pointing to the direction we artificially titled north, roll so your face is down and address the planet itself.
Turn to the sun, the biggest hottest fire you'll ever get this close to (without our atmosphere, even at this distance a million times the circumfrence of this planet, it will fry you in space), and the moon which really does influence ocean tides, unlike any water symbol, in their due turn. Doing it on a beach by the ocean (THE ocean, now that we know that it's one body of water.) might have a better effect, but a prarie sunrise or sunset is quite beautiful too. The air is the incense, what better represents air than air!
Why use artificial symbols, often created at great inconvenience or bought at great cost, at least many of mine were, when we have the real thing for free.
During the first ritual, take an hour or so to reflect on directionlessness, infinity, nothing and everything at once. Try to remember as much as you can about the things on your altar, all the living things, all the rocks, the lava in the middle, how much intense power is welled up in it, how much humans don't know about it yet, the entire history of it. Take your time with it. Then think of ways to improve it.
Then share a snack with someone.
Do As You Will.
Daniel Johnson