Ritual Lab

«Increasingly, it seems that the kind of spiritual void — if you want to use that word — at the heart of our culture is the essential thing» (Paul Kingsnorth, The Myth of Progress).  

While modern civilisation may be rich in conveniences and inventions, we modern humans are generally rather out of practice with «other ways of knowing» that constitute some of the shared language that sews us back into accord with the greater fabric of existence, and thus out of contact with aspects of our greater selves. A ritual marks an event where the ordinary is suspended for a certain time, and a magic moment occurs, giving the person a perspective and a narrative about how their life is meaningful. While doing so, she either identifies herself with a story that is told before, or creates her own story. In the journey to changing a behaviour, she is rewriting part of her life narrative. Everything we ritualise creates a bridge between the inner, the outer and the whole, giving us the possibility to transcend time-space and experience synchronicity. To ritualise is to create collective memory; to honour outside what we carry inside and vice versa.

This three-part workshop specifically tailored for youth workers, trainers and leaders explores how we can nourish our souls by transforming common, everyday practices, into sacred rituals that can heal our crisis of social isolation and struggle to find purpose; as well as helping us rediscovering the wonders of the natural world and getting a deeper understanding of where the wild things grow. The whole course is focused on modern ways of using rituals in the context of education, social work and youth work. Above all, it aims to develop and deepen training and facilitation skills to help young people (re)connect with themselves, their communities and nature through the practice of symbolic rituals, enhancing their self-empowerment and sense of belonging, as well as fostering social inclusion and environmental consciousness. It will involve experiential learning and a lot of direct and personal interaction —so camera and microphone will be needed all the time. The work platform will be Zoom. Each week’s session will provide space for theory inputs and deep listening, reflective journaling, small group sharing, and creative exercises, challenges and games to make our sessions more dynamic and engaging.  

Please note that the below listed times are in Central European Time (GTM+1).

PART 1. SELF · Monday. March 15, 2021. 7-9pm.

Key themes:

• What do we mean with the word ritual?
• Rituals as a tool for behaviour change: how does ritual provide narrative and purpose?
• Rituals as a tool for self-discovery and self-love
• Exploring the inner and outer dimensions
• How to return to sacred relationship

PART 2. NATURE · Monday. March 22, 2021. 7-9pm.

Key themes:

• Introduction to spiritual ecology
• Overview of 4 foundational principles of spiritual ecology: reverence, interconnectedness, service and stewardship
• Examples of spiritual ecology practices we can integrate in our daily lives

PART 3. COMMUNITY · Monday. March 29, 2021. 7-9pm.

Key themes:

• How to use rituals to get closer to the people you care about
• Introduction to «way of council»
• Coming of age rituals and rites of passage in a modern era
• Rituals as a tool for building stronger communities

PRICING: 40€ for the whole series of 3. 

To REGISTER online: https://forms.gle/MbjWkih4EHpAzXmS7