Walking Stick

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I. Is Online Ritual possible?
You have some Pagan friends with whom you exchange email. You would like to do a ritual with them, but online is the only real option you have for getting together.

Problem: all you can see, all anyone can see, online are words on a computer screen.

Problem: all you can send to other people online are words on a computer screen.

You can't share your drumming or your dancing with these people, you can't hold hands or use vocal intonations, they can't see the candles you light or smell the incense you burn ... or can they? Is it possible, in any meaningful sense of the word, to cast a circle and raise energy by use of computer and modem? I submit that it is.

In this class, I will teach you how to craft and lead a ritual that makes full use of the computer and cyberspace as a medium for magick. I will not teach you how to access the internet. I assume that you are familiar with logging onto a bulletin board, chat room, or other place where an online ritual might be held.

This class will detail some of my experiences in online worship. I will talk about the advantages and disadvantages of cyberspace as a medium for magick. I will go over specific details of crafting and leading an electronic ritual. I will share some of the tricks of the trade I have run across, and some necessary contingency plans.

The CompuServe 1994 Yule Ritual is a companion document. It contains many examples of points that will be brought out in this lecture, both good and bad.

A. History of Changing Medium
There is a perception in the Pagan community that a nature religion can not possible be fully compatible with the internet. It is not within the scope of this class to try to convince you otherwise. However, let me say a few brief words on why I believe that TechnoPaganism is not an oxymoron.

Pagans are not, a priori, luddites. It is a basic tenant of most Pagans that moral and ethical lessons can be found in the natural world. If we are part of the natural world, then so are our tools. It is a mistake to assume the natural world, in this context, means outside the city limits. It boils down to this: technology is part of the natural world.

Would any of you deny that legitimate worship services occur via television? I dare say a paradigm shift had to occur when worship services moved from the realm of radio to television. A similar paradigm shift probably occurred when worship moved from the pulpit to broadcast radio ... and when it moved from hand-written word to the printing press ... and when it moved from oral history to the written word ...

Meaningful worship is independent of the technological level of the worshiper. Online rituals are, in my experience, as powerful and transformational as any ritual in the face to face world.

II. Cyberspace as Ritual Space
Cyberspace is a method of communication, and as such can be used for worship. Like any other medium, it has advantages and disadvantages.

A. Advantages
Communication in cyberspace manifests itself as text on a screen. Believe it or not, this is an advantage. Simple text on a boring screen can lend it self to entering altered states. It emphasizes and engenders imagination.

In cyberspace, you can have the coven fly in on the backs of dragons. You can walk them through a mirror to the dark side of the moon, or have them dance with the faerie. You can have the sun shining in the middle of the night, have lightening crackling across the sky on a clear day and you can have it snow in the middle of summer and you can have it all in the most vibrant, tactile detail.

B. Disadvantages
The nature of cyberspace makes it difficult to control who is there for ritual, and who stays. Thunderstorms, bad modems, and busy phone lines can prevent people from making it to circle, or even cause them to disappear during ritual. It's simply the nature of the medium. Specific ways to deal with these disadvantages are covered later under contingency plans.

III. Writing Online Rituals
A. Tone and Ambiance
In a more traditional ritual setting, there are many forms of communication going on. There are the words heard, the tone and intonation of the words, the body language, the mood set by candles and altar, etc. Because words are the only form of communication in an online ritual, tone becomes the primary consideration.

A cyberspace ritual must have a strong tone or feeling to it because you have to create the ambiance. A Yule ritual at home, for example, is easy to create: just put up some mistletoe, maybe a tree, set out a Yule log ... but in cyberspace you have many more basic decisions. Will it be a traditional wintry Yule? How about a South Western Yule with a desert setting? Should you go all the way north to the Arctic? Perhaps a Yule in a lighthouse with a stormy, winter ocean? Should we have a skating party?