Religion 386 Witchcraft, Magic and Religion Final take-home exam

Question 2 – Use Frederic Bird's article “Ritual as Communicative Action” to help you discuss and explain how the

rituals of Wicca/Neo-Paganism as described in A Community of Witches help to educate and reinforce the values of

the religion.

An analysis of rituals of the Neo-Pagan/Wiccan religion within the framework of ritual as a

form of dense communication

Benjamin P. MacLeod (1694405)

Myths are one way religions express what is sacred and thus define personal sensibilities or values. From

this point of view, the values of the Neo-Pagan religion derive primarily from a two part mythology. The first myth

associating Neo-Paganism with an ancient form of paganism emphasizes the importance of the cycles of nature and

the power in individuals drawing parallels to these cycles within themselves. It is a religion which is described as

peaceful, nature oriented and feminist in perspective, particularly in relation to our current misogynistic society. The

second myth, that adherents to this old pagan religion were persecuted as witches during the inquisition has resulted

in an acceptance of ostracized modern social groups since Neo-Paganism wishes to avoid the persecution

experienced during the burning times of the inquisition not only for themselves but for all to whom it may apply

today. This is described as “life politics”, wherein the choices to be open to various sexual preferences, to be anti-

racist, to be environmentally sensitive are choices available among a long list of other choices. This list of choices is

extensive and as such the exact values of the Neo-Pagan religion are difficult to pin down using a traditional

methods of value identification such as analysis of scripture, sacraments or myths . In fact, the Neo-Pagan tradition

as a mystery religion emphasizes ritual over orthodoxy, scripture or dogma. Frederic Bird suggests that ritual is a

compact, multi-layered method of communication wherein he envisions that five forms of communication are used.

Since Neo-Paganism is a religion where use of ritual as a method of communication of their value systems may be

particularly apparent, if analyzed utilizing Bird's theoretical system for communication in ritual, I will examine a
saining ritual, a ritual of the self and a specific women's ritual in an attempt to describe how the Neo-Pagan tradition

uses rituals to teach and reinforce their values and thereby attempt to understand Neo-Pagan values better or at least

see them from an alternative perspective, a goal I believe Neo-Pagans might identify with.

The Neo-Pagan religion as a religion of late modernity borrows rituals from other societies by detaching

them from their original societal systems (Berger 6-7) which along with a lack of a central bureaucracy results in a

significant development of unique practices between Neo-Pagan groups (Berger, 13). Nonetheless there are two

major myths which influence the Neo-Pagan world-view and thus their values. The first of these is that the Neo-

Pagan tradition is inherited, potentially with some breaks in the lineage, from an ancient tradition which predates the

spread of Christianity (Berger, 11). The second is that the Neo-Pagan tradition is inherited from practitioners of the

old pagan religion who were persecuted as witches during the inquisition (Berger, 11). While these myths are not

literally accepted by all Neo-Pagan practitioners today, they create coherence within the religion including a wish to

return to or restore the values described in the old religion.

Berger notes (10-11) there is little distinction between Wicca and the Neo-Pagan religion proper and for this

reason the two terms will be used interchangeably here. Modern Wicca was presented by a man named Gerald

Gardner as a religion whose values were peaceful and ecologically connected (Berger, 11). This initial Wicca as

presented by Gardner included four basic elements of rituals which are generally recognized by divergent Wiccan

groups: “...the casting the circle, the calling of the four quarters, the sharing of cakes and win and the unwinding of

the circle...” (Berger, 16). Since then Berger explains that Neo-Paganism as a modern religion borrows rituals from

other societies and times as a function of the tendency of modernity to disconnect social values and systems from

time and space (Berger, 7). Yet given the tendency of Neo-Paganism to borrow and reincorporate rituals from

ancient societies and modern indigenous cultures via lifestyle choices, four basic types of rituals can be identified:

sabbats and esabats based on the cycles of the sun and moon respectively, rites of passage which are generally

associated with stages of life and personal rituals which are a celebration of personal changes with the community

(Berger, 16).

Significantly though the religion celebrates a lack of orthodoxy and their post-modernist tendencies result in

rituals which are playful mash-ups of other traditions, an overall although eclectic set of values can be identified

(Berger 4, 5). The Wiccan Rede of “do as thou will as long as thou harm none” may be identified as the only real law
yet there is a set of values which arise in a community founded on individual choice and self-definition (Berger 8).

This self-defined individual is seen as connected to nature and changes in the individual are not only connected to

changes in nature but also allow Neo-Pagans to make changes to nature (Berger, 5).

Ritual, similar to non-ritual performances such as plays, is a dense and multi-faceted medium of

communication, it may include “word, gesture, rhythm, music, setting, staging...” and other media (Bird, 28). With

this view of ritual as a mode of communication Bird recognizes five forms: constitutive, self-representative,

expressive, regulative and invocative.

Constitutive communication in ritual defines relationships between people as specifically meaningful (Bird

29). The “actors” within the ritual create a situation where those involved are focused on particular realities that

otherwise they would not have been aware of and thereby define new states between the “actors” (Bird 28, 29). Self-

representative communication is found in ritual where the “actor” within the ritual identifies with the role they are

playing, they take on a role and see themselves as equivalent to what the role represents during the ritual (Bird 30).

This type of communication often occurs unconsciously through physical and linguistic performances within their

role and it is through both the positive performance of these actions as well as the choice to exclude other gestures or

words that the individual identifies with the role (Bird 30, 31). Expressive forms of communication allow

individuals within the roles of a particular ritual to express emotion (Bird 31). While it was noted that ritual

behaviour tends to be non-expressive compared to non-ritual behaviour (Bird, 25) ritual behaviour does

communicate through expression of emotion but only within the role of the ritual participant which avoids loss of

control of the self in emotion and expression of emotions which might not otherwise be possible (Bird 32).

Regulative communication is a form of communication within ritual wherein “beliefs and moral codes” of the

community are taught or reaffirmed (Bird 35). Invocative communication is a form of ritual communication

occurring only in religious ritual (Bird 28) which allows the “actors” within the rite to create “...desired states of

being by invoking gods, spirits, powers or other sacred realities.” (36), the goal is often to have the “actor” come in

contact with something ordinarily inaccessible and sacred (Bird, 37).

Within the Neo-Pagan tradition both the choice to become a witch and the use of rituals to “create a

persona” is what defines oneself as a witch (Berger, 8) making it a religion which is particularly focused on

education of and reinforcement of values through the five communicative forms identified by Bird as part of ritual.
Here the ritual of the self, a ritual based around a sabbat, a transformative women's ritual which is a type of personal

ritual and a saining ritual, a rite of passage will be analyzed in the context of Bird's five forms of communication

both to explain how they educate and reinforce the values of Wicca as well as to provide an alternative view from

values as a product of myth or scripture which will hopefully result in a clearer presentation of how and which

values are important to and in the Neo-Pagan religion..

Berger (90) notes that of all the rituals she has attended, the welcoming rite also known as a saining,

wiccaning or a paganing is the most varied between Wiccan groups. The goal of this ritual is to introduce a child to

the deities in order that they may gain protections and/or blessings, to bring the community together to meet the

child as well as to bring the child into her or his first circle (Berger, 90), meaning it is a rite of passage (Berger, 18,

90). The primary form of communication used within the saining described by Berger is the constitutive form as it is

constituting the child as a member of the religion although there are other modes of communication being used,

including regulative, invocative and self-representative forms of communication. Bird (39) explains that ritual is

often thick, being multi-layered and able to communicate in more than one of the five means he describes

simultaneously. Of the three rituals described in this essay, this saining ritual described by Berger (1-3) is a

particularly good example of how dense and multifaceted the communication can be.

The saining of a child just over a month old described by Berger (1-3) began as four people within a group

of twenty circled around a hole approximately a meter deep each called forth one of the four quarters (Berger, 1).

This is one of the basic element of Neo-Pagan rituals (Berger, 16) and is a constitutive form of ritual communication

in that it reconstitutes the group present (with the exception initially of the child who is being constituted, not

reconstituted) as Wiccans. However, this particular calling of the four quarters unlike a typical calling includes an

extra element. Each of the four individuals calling their quarter explained to the child what the quarter they are

calling represent (Berger, 1). This additional element adds to this ritualistic act a regulative form of communication,

these four individuals are teaching the norms of the Neo-Pagan tradition (Berger, 16).

The child's father, sword in hand then told his child that “this is the first time he will walk this path, but it

will not be the last” and used the sword to trace in the air, a replica of the circle formed by the participants (Berger

1). The father's speech to his child is a constitutive form of ritual communication because it is starting the initiation

of the child into the Wiccan religion. If the tracing of the sword in the air had been a means to cast the circle, another
basic element of Neo-Pagan rituals (Berger, 16) it, like the calling of the four quarters would have been a

constitutive form of communication however, Berger notes that this movement was made in order to contain positive

energy created by the participants and to keep out any negative potential, and is thus an invocative form of ritual

communication. This is bringing about a state of sacred reality by invoking powers (one of the types of invocation

noted by Bird (36)) of those within the circle as well as recognizing the exclusion of negative powers external to the

cast circle. The verbal element of this step then is educating the child in Neo-Pagan traditions through constitutive

communication, the gestural element of this step of the ritual reaffirms the values of magical potential in individuals

recognized in the Wiccan religion (Berger, 19).

Holding her child, the mother then traveled around the circle stopping in front of each of the four direction

where an individual explains to the child the meaning of the direction, for example the first direction stopped at is

the east, representing intellect, after which the relevant spirits are called into the circle (Berger, 2). This element of

the ritual contains both regulative and evocative forms of communication. The description of each direction to the

child by the participants at each of the four corners of the circle is regulative in that the Wiccan beliefs incorporating

the four directions (seen in the importance of the calling of the four directions as an element in many Neo-Pagan

rituals (Berger, 16)) are taught to the child. The calling into the circle of the spirits is invocative, stylized actions

being used to bring spirits from their sacred reality into play, although the same Neo-Pagan beliefs regarding the four

directions is being reaffirmed (Berger, 2)

Having consecrated the circle, the father placed the child's afterbirth in the pit in the center of the circle and

told his child that having been attached to his mother via the umbilical cord for nine months there is a new rope that

attaches him to the mother of us all, mother earth (Berger, 2). The father then dipped a white rope in the child's birth

blood and used it to anoint him. Having told his child that he is now spiritually connected to mother earth his father

has taught two of the primary beliefs of the Neo-Pagan religion, that of a reverence for nature (Berger 16) and the

worship of the goddess as first introduced by Gardner (Berger, 11), a vital source of Neo-Pagan values, using a

regulative form of communication. The anointing of the child is a continuation of the introduction of the child into

the religion, and is a constitutive form of communication.

Berger notes that throughout this ritual the circle is maintained for two reasons (2). First, the participants are

there to witness the initiation of the child (Berger, 2), a constitutive mode of communication as the “actors” in the
rite are recognizing the new role of the child as a member of the religion. Secondly, each participant is believed to be

contributing energy whether they know how to specifically use it or not (Berger, 2). This use of energy is basic to

Witchcraft in which individuals are believed to be interconnected with all things and through will are able to alter

states of reality vis this interconnectedness (Berger, 19). For this reason, the maintenance of the circle is also

invocative, this time the powers of the individuals are being invoked, rather than the external spirits as in the earlier

invocative form of communication in this saining (Berger, 1).

All participants were then asked by the parents of the newly initiated child to pick a piece of coloured ribbon

from one of five colours representing the four directions (yellow, red, blue and green) or white as representative of

spirit (Berger, 2). They were asked to make a wish that the child inherit a positive characteristic the individual

believes is present in themselves and which is represented by the colour of the ribbon (Berger 2). Since the

participant picks a colour based on a positive characteristic they believe is found in themselves, communication in

the form of self-representation is occurring, each participant representing themselves as particularly associated with

one of the four quarters of the Neo-Pagan religion over another and again the value of the four directions within

Neo-Paganism (Berger, 2) is reaffirmed. The element of wishing upon the ribbon as a means to invoke a “blessing'

on the child is a form of invocative communication, the spirits of the four quarters which were earlier invoked into

the circle are now being invoked again for a different means.

Once every participant has finished tying their ribbon to a branch the circle is declared open (Berger, 3). This

is the last of the four basic elements of Neo-Pagan ritual, commonly known as the unwinding of the circle (Berger,

16) and thus is a constitutive means of communication, the group is once again reconstituting themselves, this time

with the child, as a member of the Wiccan religion.

The ritual of the self occurs during the fall equinox and is a celebration of death typically occurring at the

climax, Samhein (Berger, 17). The particulars of the ritual varies group to group in the Neo-Pagan religion but

generally views death as a renewal to be celebrated during which individuals invest emotional energy in

understanding death as a process to be seen as natural and useful during life (Berger, 31). In the specific ritual of the

self described by Berger the forms of communication present are predominantly expressive although invocative,

regulative and constitutive elements are also present.

This ritual of the self was initiated by asking the participants to be aware of the change in season and to draw
a parallel to themselves (Berger 29). This is regulative communication of Neo-Pagan values in that it reaffirms the

Neo-Pagan veneration of the natural world and its connection to personal change (Berger, 16). This regulative form

of communication is reinforced via the visual media used in the ritual, Berger describes the use of black robes, soft

lighting, autumn leaves and pine cones (30) all which are visual symbols of the natural change in the season.

At six points in the room people gather to talk about deaths of those close to themselves, resulting in an

outpouring of emotions as each shares in the groups losses. At this point the ritual is reinforcing the Neo-Pagan

understanding that the boundary between the living and dead is at its weakest during Samhein (Berger, 17) and

personal life experiences of death are thus best expressed at this time to create a more powerful or more

representative parallel between the changes within the individual and the cycles of nature (Berger, 29). The

individuals are evincing their emotions but there is regulation of the release; the emotions being expressed are only

of one kind and the division into small groups creates a sense of intimac, meaning these Neo-Pagan values are being

reinforced through an expressive form of communication.

The small circles then break into one large ring and at this point the circle is cast and the four directions

called (Berger 30). Both the casting of the circle and the calling of the four directions are basic elements recognized

by all Neo-Pagan practitioners (Berger 16) and as described in the saining are constitutive forms of communication.

The performance of a play in which death was depicted both in his role as grim reaper and in a positive role

(Berger, 30) occurs next. This element of the ritual is primarily a regulative form of communication, in reaffirming

the positive view on death which fits with the Neo-Pagan view on death as part of a cycle of life, often associated

with a belief in reincarnation (Berger, 89).

Each participant in the ritual of the self was then asked to call out the names of those who have died and the

joys experienced with them (30). This element of the rite, as with the gathering and speaking of deaths of loved ones

described above is consistent with expressive forms of communication, however, in this case the emotions which are

being shared in a ritually regulated environment are joyful. These two expressive forms of communications pair

together in a fashion which is strongly representative of the Neo-Pagan view of death as both an ending of life

(Berger 17) and yet at the same time the gentleman who gives rest to mother earth in order that she and her creations

may come forth renewed (Berger, 89).

In the next step of the ritual participants were asked to to reflect on the nature of death and the portrayal of
death as a time of new beginnings (Berger 30). While the prior step and it's paired earlier expressive communicative

steps in this ritual both express the Neo-Pagan binary view on death through emotional expression, this direct

reflection on death is a regulative form of communication of the same Neo-Pagan dual identity of death. Only now

these values are now being directly considered instead of experienced in an emotional metaphor. While the joyful

and mournful expressive communicative steps of this ritual of the self pair together in order to reinforce the dual

aspects of death as portrayed in the Wiccan religion, this individual reflective regulative form of communication also

pairs with the group reflection on death above through the medium of a play to again reflect this duality. It appears

within this ritual that the dual nature of death is repeatedly reinforced in multiple levels both through the modes of

communication described by Bird as well as in a pairing of these communicative forms to create these dual patterns.

This led into a reflection on the aspects of life that the individuals participating in the ritual would like to die

in themselves, things which were considered negative in one's life (Berger, 30). This step is an attempt by each

individual to transform themselves or at least make the recognition of things they would like to transform. The Neo-

Pagan values transformation of the self (Berger, 35) and the association of these individual changes with the cycles

of nature (Berger, 29) are both being reinforced through this self-representative form of communication.

To finish, the ritual of the self is closed with a spiral dance during which those participating chant “It is the

blood of our ancestors which flows through our veins, the forms change but the circle of life remains.” (Berger, 30).

This closing dance is a regulative form of communication in that it is reinforcing the values of rest and recuperation

associated with reincarnation, a common belief in adherents to the Neo-Pagan religion (Berger, 89).

Within the Wiccan religion there is no one set of beliefs or practices due to a conscious decision for a lack of

a central authority, yet many rituals are directed towards the redefinition and empowerment of women (Berger, 37,

38). In some groups of Neo-Paganism redefinition of the maid, mother and crone stages of life is common (Berger,

37). All three of these stages are seen as weak in a variety of unhealthy ways in our modern misogynistic society but

here the maid is re-depicted in the model of Diana, an intimidating, independent and powerful goddess, the mother is

seen as a goddess with a physical, sexual and fertile body and the crone is seen in the light of Neo-Paganism as a

source for wisdom, age being a source of power (Berger, 38).

Within this redefined value system which may be embedded by women through lifestyle choices made

available by the Neo-Pagan religion, Berger describes a specific all woman ritual (38-40) similar to many other Neo-
Pagan women's rituals as a personal ritual of transformation (35). Most of the stages within the ritual are self-

representative forms of communication although some elements within this ritual fall under the invocative,

expressive and even regulative forms of communication.

After everyone in the women's ritual gathered the organizers explained that the rituals purpose was to shed

their old selves much like a snake and take on new selves and how this was important in a misogynistic society

(Berger 39). Poetry written by strong women and ethnographies describing societies based around powerful women

were subsequently read (Berger, 39). Since invocation of the powers of individuals in the form of magic is an

important practice in the Wiccan religion (Berger, 19) this stage of the ritual can be seen as an invocative form of

communication in which the values of the importance of the feminine (Berger, 37) as well as a reinforcement of the

understanding that there is power in the will of the individual (Berger, 19).

The next set of steps in this ritual are a series of self-representative forms of ritual communication. First the

women were led in a meditation in which they looked for personal power and the goddess in themselves as well as to

identify negative aspects they would like to change in themselves, having invoked the Goddess in the last step

through reading the words by and about powerful women, they can now reflect on how this is to be found in

themselves (Berger, 39). Next, each woman entered the nearby lake one by one with two women as guides who told

them to leave in the water all the aspects they had identified as unwanted and to see their physical selves not in

relationship to the misogynist ideals of their society, but in relationship to the goddess and thus beautiful (Berger,

39). After leaving the lake each woman was surrounded with incense, kissed and told “Thou art goddess; know thy

power” and reconvening towards the hill above the lake each was anointed with oil on their third eye (Berger, 39).

All these steps are the key transformative steps of the ritual as the women wash away their unwanted

aspects and associate themselves with the goddess which is immediately reinforced by the other women creating the

sacred space and energy confirming this transformation. This whole series of self-representative forms of

communication is repeatedly reinforcing the value system in Neo-Paganism of the importance of change and the

power of women (Berger, 35, 37).

After each individual woman had gone through this process and all had gathered in the clearing on the hill

they were asked to honour their ancestors and to talk about any women important to them (Berger, 39), an expressive

form of ritual communication, the ritualistic limitations of the expression in this case being the qualification to
express their feelings only towards women who are important to them. Again this is a communication of Neo-Pagan

values of the power of the feminine (Berger, 37)

The ritual ended with a suggestion to visualize themselves as a connected part of a line of powerful, capable

women after which the women talked about their ties to women close or important to them ranging from relatives to

friends and neighbours (Berger, 40). This ending to the ritual includes both communication of Neo-Pagan values

through self-representation in their visualization of themselves as a connected part of a powerful female force

(Berger, 37) and expressive in their controlled verbal expression about the women they see this connection with.

Witchcraft as a mystery religion is focused on ritual over dogma and when interpreted through the five

forms of communication present in ritual according to Bird, appears beautifully dense with meaning. In analysis of

three specific rituals all of the five means of communication are found, although each ritual has one or two means

predominant over the others in accordance with it's ritualistic goal. The communicatively dense saining ritual is

primarily a constitutive ritual in that it is constituting the new born into the Wiccan community, in the ritual of the

self where expressive communication dominates it is seen that catharsis in a controlled manner allows both for

expression of emotions that may have otherwise not been expressed but also appears to be set up as an emotional

metaphor for the Neo-Pagan view on death as a positive and cyclical process, finally the women's ritual as it is

focused on transformation of the women into beings associated with the power of the goddess and powerful women

in real life is a ritual which communicates primarily in a self-representative form. This last ritual in particular is an

interesting twist on what Bird describes as self-representative in that Bird describes people taking on a specific role

in their representation of themselves to themselves while the Neo-Pagan tradition with it's connection to the cyclical

natural world tends to have the self-representative form of communication be transformative, perhaps a

reinforcement of the value of fluidity or transformation in Wicca. Although other religions were not compared in this

examination of Neo-Pagan ritual, it seems that the rituals of Neo-Paganism are particularly dense in forms of

communication as compared with the rituals used as example by Bird (data not shown here) and by examining these

rituals utilizing Bird's five forms of ritual communication a deeper understanding of the values reinforced and taught

to Wiccan adherents is evident compared with simply listing values typically associated with the religion through an

analysis of their myths and sacraments. This is to be expected in Neo-Paganism as it is both a mystery religion and

thus ritual predominates over dogma and as a modernist religion it is constantly in the process of redefining itself by
borrowing rituals from ancient cultures and modern indigenous societies which are re-embedded in their own

religion through lifestyle choices.

Berger, Helen, A. A Community of Witches:Contemporary Neo-Paganism and Witchcraft in the United States

Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press., 1999. 1-90.

Bird, Frederic. “Ritual as Communicative Action” Ritual and Ethnic Identity, A Comparative Study of the Social

Meaning of Liturgical Ritual in Synagogues Eds. Jack N. Lightstone and Frederic Bird. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfred

Laurier University Press, 1995. 23-52.