Ritual Making Women

Shaping Rites for Changing Lives

Jan Berry

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN:
  9781351550741
• Print ISBN:
  9781845534158
• Subtopic: Pratiche e rituali cristiani

Ritual Making Women looks at the way in which women's making of ritual has emerged from the rapidly developing field of women's spirituality and theology. The author uses ethnographic material to explore how the construction of ritual uses story-making and embodied action to empower women. Ritual, far from being a timeless and universal practice, is shown to be a contextual and gendered performance in which women subvert conventional distinctions of private and public. The book combines narrative and case study material and draws on feminist theology and theory, social anthropology and gender studies.

Chapter One
EXPLORING THE POWER OF RITUAL

Starting-points for the Journey

A group of friends gather in a home. Together they celebrate and give thanks for the fifteen years a woman has spent in ministry, and acknowledge her pain and anger at the oppression and injustice she has found within the church. They place stones in a bowl to mark the church’s condemnation of gay sexuality and the concealment to which it leads, and then pour water over them as a sign of forgiveness and cleansing. The woman extinguishes a candle as she renounces the formal recognition of her ministry; then a new candle is lit as, with the support of her friends, she commits herself to ‘an exploration into woman-centred faith and spirituality’. The group shares a wilderness meal of bread and honey, and the ritual ends with an affirmation of justice and healing.

The ritual described above is one that took place when I resigned from the Baptist ministry; a published form of it can be found in Human Rites (Ward and Wild 1995: 179–82). It marked a turning-point in a long period of struggle as I sought to hold together being lesbian, feminist and Christian. I still felt myself called to ministry, and to continuing in my chaplaincy appointment, but felt my denomination’s guidelines on sexuality were such that I could no longer minister within it with integrity. I had written a letter of resignation, but felt that the struggle and turmoil I had been through, and the sense of loyalty and affection I still felt for many within the church, needed something more significant than a mere reply from a committee!

With the help and support of a close friend, I planned the ritual and gathered together a group of friends who knew something of my journey, and the agonising of the decision-making process. Together we shared in the ritual, and the meal that followed. At the time it was an attempt to mark an important transition in my life; to resist the sense of vulnerability and oppression, and to claim my own freedom and choice in leaving. As I look back I see how it has also shaped my subsequent path in spirituality and ministry; although I did not realize it at the time, the origins of this book were there on that evening.

Since then I have shared with friends (mostly women, but sometimes men as well) in a variety of rituals—to mark the ending of a job, blessing a relationship, house-blessings, and the closure of a difficult and painful working situation. I have read or heard about rituals for celebrating same-sex relationships and healing from abuse. I have shared with circle-dancing friends in rituals that mark the seasonal cycles, often focusing on themes of loss, remembrance, desire, and re-creation.

Throughout this period I have been part of small groups of women meeting, sometimes for sharing and discussion, but often including the celebration of liturgy and ritual. We have marked the Christian festivals or seasons of the year, we have explored themes through sharing in symbols and symbolic action, we have celebrated or grieved transitions in our lives. Often I have not only participated, but written or created the material for such groups to use. These groups have been set in a broadly Christian context, but in the circle-dancing network I have shared in rituals that draw on pagan and Goddess elements to mark the Celtic festivals and transitions in our lives.

In pastoral ministry and in counselling, I have become increasingly aware of the importance of imagery, symbol, and symbolic action as people work through the impact of significant, life-changing events in their own experience.

Through this varied experience I have realized the vital part which ritual plays in helping us to handle transitions in our lives. Ritual provides a framework in which powerful emotions can be confronted and expressed. It allows participants to enter a space beyond words, where symbols, bodily movement and symbolic action are the vehicles of meaning. It provides a physical and time-limited space, made safe by a structure which provides shape and boundaries to experiences and feelings which can otherwise feel dangerously chaotic and overwhelming. Although some rituals are solitary, most are performed communally, either relating to a shared experience, or allowing an individual to express and negotiate her own experience in the company of others who support and care. Most rituals are in the framework of some kind of religious or spiritual belief, and so provide a wider context of meaning for the individual’s journey or narrative.

My own theological background is in the non-conformist tradition, which has tended to be suspicious of ritual, seeing it as mechanistic and ‘empty’, the polar opposite of sincerely-held beliefs and convictions. In my first pastorate, I was rebuked for lighting a candle during a church service because this was ‘papist’. Ideas have changed dramatically, and an increased appreciation of the importance of the visual and symbolic aspects of worship is now much more common in Free Church and many other traditions, whilst liturgies from the Taizé and Iona Communities have made the use of symbols such as candles and stones a regular part of many people’s prayer.

Feminist theology has added to my appreciation of the importance of symbolism. The emphasis on the sacredness of the body, sexuality, and our senses found in feminist theology (and even more strongly articulated in Goddess thealogy) has led to a more holistic approach to liturgy and worship, replacing the Christian dualism which opposed flesh and spirit, body and mind, with a sense of the holiness of all life and the embodied presence of God/dess in the earth.

However, it remains true that some rituals have become so familiar that they have lost much of their power to move or to convey authentic belief and conviction. Some are out-of-touch with every day experience, some reiterate dogma to which the participants can no longer subscribe, and some elements of contemporary experience are not touched by ritual at all. There is therefore a need for what Driver (1998) calls ‘liberating rites’ in two senses of the word. Our familiar rites and liturgies need liberating from out-worn formulae or archaic symbols which no longer resonate with contemporary experience; and women and men in modern Western society need rites which are liberating and life-giving.

This book explores the ways in which women are using liturgy and ritual to mark and construct transitions in their lives. I have accompanied women in the process of planning and devising their rituals, I have kept journal entries of ritual occasions in which I shared as a participant, and I have listened as women have told me their stories of ritual and symbolic action. I have reflected with the women on their own understanding of their rituals and their significance and meaning, sometimes still unfolding for them months and years after the event. Using their stories and conversations, and my own practice in constructing ritual, I look at the ways in which ritual uses space and symbol, the role played by others in making ritual and symbolic action into a shared, communal process, and the ways in which participants use ritual to give meaning and shape to their experiences. Using feminist theology and social anthropology as interpretive frameworks, I show that ritual not only marks what has happened retrospectively, but plays a part in the construction of meaning and theology—not only expressing, but creating story and transformative action.

Mapping the Territory

My focus in this book is on rituals that women have created—written, put together and enacted—for themselves. This is not to deny that there is much creativity in ritual going on elsewhere—one of the most creative writers on ritual (Ronald Grimes) that I have discovered is male. But my own experience and practice is rooted in women’s groups, and as a feminist I wish to take women’s experience and stories seriously. Of course, it is impossible to talk in general terms of women’s experience as if it were a homogeneous whole; rather, I pay attention to the diverse experiences of particular women as they engage in the process of creating ritual. Not all of the women I have worked with would describe themselves as feminist, although most have been influenced to some degree or another by feminist thinking. But the interpretive framework with which I work, and in which I inevitably set their stories, is provided in part by feminist theologians, researchers and scholars. Most of the participants are Christian, many of them theologically educated, and highly articulate about their faith; others have a strong spiritual awareness that they would describe in various ways. My own background is Christian theology, but strongly influenced by a feminist theology of liberation which is eclectic in drawing on pagan and Goddess traditions.

I have limited myself to rituals which have been created and enacted by women in relation to transitions in their own lives. This means that although men have sometimes been participants in the groups, I have not looked at rituals such as weddings, or naming of children, where men have shared in the planning. Because I have been quite opportunistic in my selection of rituals, there is a wide variety of life-events described here. What they have in common is that they are events not usually marked in the formal liturgy and rituals of the church. This is in keeping with the claim of feminist theology that women’s experience is often invisible or marginalized—for many of the events of our lives there are no existing rituals. Where rituals do exist, they are often out of touch with women’s lived experience—and so they have felt the need to create something for themselves, shaped and enacted in a way that gives meaning and a sense of structure to the transitions they are going through.

There are of course many possible definitions of ritual, and in chapter five I discuss these and some of the accompanying theory in more depth. The rituals discussed here, however, are not repeated, formulaic rituals, but one-off creative events, limited to a specific context and group. They are often playful and experimental, and the rituals themselves are part of a wider, more extensive process of reflection and creativity. Whilst they have common elements and themes, and sometimes draw on a similar pool of resources, each is unique; and often for the women themselves, the process of planning and creating is as significant as the ritual act itself:

and it is noticeable that it is not only participating in liturgies and rituals that helps people to change in creative ways—the process of creating liturgy, and the theological effort involved, itself changes lives (Ward and Wild 1995: 2).

The Nature of the Journey

This book is based on the research which I undertook for my doctorate, looking at women’s practice of ritual making through the lens of practical feminist theology. But the research itself was part of a larger journey, a personal and interactive process, in which my own understanding of ritual changed and developed as I moved towards a goal as yet not totally defined.

I used qualitative and ethnographic methods to engage with my research. I relied on interviews and participant observations, backed up by journal entries recording conversations, observations, notes from supervisions and research groups as well as my own insights and questions. Many of my interviews were with people already known to me—others formed the basis for new friendships, and the process was one of personal discovery. I was greatly encouraged in this approach by Amanda Coffey’s book, The Ethnographic Self (1999), and have discovered within myself something of the passion for research of which she writes. Early in the process I entered the following note in my research journal:

a conversation today with Rachel, in which she said, “You’ve got a passion for research”. And with a kind of surprise, I think she might be right! …She was also very touched when I said she had a lot to do with it, inspiring me! But I do feel excited about what I’m doing…(Journal entry, 29.2.04).

I carried out my research on a part-time basis, alongside a demanding teaching job, and so at the time it felt somewhat fragmented, snatching at opportunities for interviews and observations, often looking with slight envy at colleagues who were able to undertake full-time research or an extended period of field work. But there were advantages to this—it meant that study, conversation, relationships and my own practice were integrated into a holistic exploration that is consistent with both feminist and practical approaches to theology. There were of course times of frustration, when the space to read or write was squeezed out entirely by other pressures, and times of excitement as new ideas took shape and were formed into words and arguments. But women’s lives and experiences do not fit neatly into discrete compartments!

It was not a lonely journey either. My reflections on ritual were shared with my supervisor, with research groups, in conference papers and sessions with students, and in conversations with friends. The image of the isolated researcher writing alone in her study (although I love the times when that is possible!) goes alongside a collegial and collaborative process of learning and reflecting with others which helped me to remain motivated and excited. I continue to work with others to create and shape rituals. Some of them are rituals that feature in this book; others are part of the pattern of a regular group meeting monthly. This process involves me in continuous reflection on the ritual process and my own practice, refining my skills and awareness of myself not only as a researcher but as a reflective practitioner as well.

In particular, this book owes its existence to those who shared their stories and their rituals with me. Some told me of rituals they had created in the past, others invited me to participate in rituals they were planning, some entrusted parts of the planning to me. Alison, Andrea, Clare, Cora, Nicola, Runa and Sue have chosen to be named; Carol, Jackie, Jane, Louise, and Rebecca are known by pseudonyms that they or I have chosen: but all have given generously of their time and creativity, and have been prepared to share their feelings with honesty and courage. I am grateful to all of them for the privilege of sharing in their journeys.

There are many others who are not named, and whose stories are not told; but whose support, encouragement, and sharing of rituals and liturgies have shaped my thinking far more than they, or I recognize: members of my feminist research group, of the women’s spirituality groups which I have been part of over the years, those I have shared with in circle dancing rituals and events, have all been part of my journey.

My partner Alma, who came into my life when I was approaching the end of my research, has been a steady encouragement and support, always believing in this book and the thesis which preceded it.

A Plan of the Route

In the next chapter I look at the roots of women’s ritual in what Teresa Berger (1999) has called ‘the Women’s Liturgical Movement’, the creating of liturgy by women’s groups, shaped by feminist theology. I survey the growing literature relating to feminist liturgy, and refer to theoretical insights from other disciplines which also inform my thinking. Chapter three looks at methodology, analysing some of the advantages and difficulties of ethnographic research, the questions of validity and objectivity raised by interpreting women’s stories of ritual, and the importance of reflexivity. In the following five chapters I look in more detail at the rituals themselves, exploring them in the light of theoretical perspectives and data drawn from the other rituals I have studied. Interspersed between the chapters are stories of some of the rituals; they can stand alone as case studies in themselves, attempting to capture something of each woman’s voice and story; but each one also serves to introduce the themes in the chapter which follows. In chapter four I examine the nature and process of the transitions which the women are experiencing, set in the context of rites of passage theory as it has been developed by Arnold van Gennep and Victor Turner. Chapter five looks at the practice and theology found in the women’s rituals, and sets this alongside ritual theory, drawing out both the parallels and the distinctiveness of women’s ritual making process. Chapter six argues that ritual is a process of story-making, and draws on narrative theory to show how ritual plays a part in constructing identity and agency. In chapter seven, I explore the communal dimension of women’s ritual, and reflect on the tension between private and public. Chapter eight looks at feminist theologies of embodiment and sacramental theology, and how this links with ritual theory on performativity. In the final chapter I draw out the implications and issues for Christian pastoral liturgy, feminist theology, and my own practice and reflect on the possible future directions which may be taken by women’s practice of making ritual. The journey takes me from my own experience, through the stories of other women and critical engagement with theory, to the recognition of the power of ritual making as a liberating and transformative process.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Chapter One Exploring the Power of Ritual
• Chapter Two ‘Sisters are doing it for themselves’
• Chapter Three Whose Story Is It Anyway? An Exploration of Methodology
• Case Study One: Letting Go and Moving On—Carol’s Story
• Chapter Four Thresholds and Passages: Negotiating Change in Women’s Ritual Making
• Case Study Two: Knots and Dreams—Clare’s Story
• Chapter Five Shapes and Patterns: Women’s Ritual Making
• Case Study Three: Shells and Fish—Jane’s Story
• Chapter Six Re-(w)riting the Self: Narrative,Identity and Agency
• Case Study Four: The Name That’s Yet to Be—Jackie’s Story
• Chapter Seven Private or Public? The Communal Dimension of Women’s Ritual Making
• Case Study Five: This is My Body: Nicola’s Story
• Chapter Eight Performing the Body: Ritual, Sacrament, and Embodied Theology
• Chapter Nine Re-imaging Rites: Where Next for Women’s Ritual Making?
• Appendix One: Summary of Data
• Bibliography
• Subject Index
• Index of Authors