SS members, the rituals are kind of lamesauce

That's right. Ok so bohemian grove.... let's get some togas and burn an effigy. Done to death; and we know the owl up there is only wishing you would go away so he could get some grub tonight... masons... ok blindfold, unattached noose that is probably too short to hang from... hold hand like palsy and pretend to die... people know about this now. has no effect. Point is this was state-of-the-art... for a thousand or two years ago. You guys need to get with the 21st century. Would your founders have used virtual reality (tactile) if they could? Of course. Get some sharks with laser beams for crying out loud... I mean you have bucks deluxe. Get some rituals that at least are impressive.

[edit on 19-5-2009 by miragezero]

...and I suspect that people like you are exactly why certain knowledge is veiled in allegory.

Pearls. Swine. It's in the Bible somewhere. Proverbs maybe? If so, then Solomon was indeed wise.

I can't speak for ALL ritual ever developed everywhere on earth, of course. But to dismiss it ALL out of hand because you don't understand the underlying messages and concepts seems really... obtuse.

Stay in school, kiddo.

reply to post by Roark


Lol, yeah what would I know...

reply to post by miragezero


What would you suggest? Of course I have absolutely no say so in the matter, but I am curious to see what you think say the masons should use to teach the lesson of charity. Or the lesson of brotherly love. I don't fear change as much as some, but I have to say don't fix it if it aint broke.

Rituals bind people together in a common cause. Power cords can also be used to bind people together in captivity, though must people use them to bind devices into an electrical outlet that if deprived of causes life for most people to grind to a halt.

I tend to believe most rituals remind humans of their inherent frailties and their somewhat precarious place in a big world, and bigger universe with so many parts of both beyond their grasp and complete understanding that vex them and cause them pause to worry and feel threatened by the very existence both real and imagined the lurks beyond and in the great unknown.

What rituals remind people of the most though is there is strength in numbers, safety in the herd that they are not alone thinking believing, wondering, hoping and fearing the things that they do. It reminds them of the fact that they have comrades and that people similar to them see the value in the same things that the ritual entails.

Knowledge is the greatest power above brute force, guns, coercion, intimidation, bribery, gifts, and love. Knowledge literally means knowing how to acquire, when to acquire, how and when to use all those disparate things that often result in the same outcome, many rivers one sea.

Ritual is often about imparting that knowledge only to be imparted to members of that group with the belief that the knowledge being shared through the ritual not only binds them all together but protects them and gives them an edge and a leg up on securing their place and path moving forward armed with it. Sometimes that knowledge binds them all together in a conspiracy in how that knowledge will be used to the groups advantage and security. Sometimes it’s because that knowledge in the wrong hands might be used for an entirely different purpose than those who have discovered and formed it. Sometimes it’s because that very knowledge could expose the group’s biggest weakness and lead it to its undoing. One way or another, Rituals often come complete with secret knowledge, through a shared learning and discovery process that binds the group together.

Probably the greatest power and mystique of ritual is using those natural primordial elements like fire, water, wind and earth to first remind the group as individuals how small and relatively ineffectual they are in the grand scheme of things, promoting the value of being in a specific herd over another for their own protection and well being.

Take the primal elements out of it, and you have 217 more shopping days to Christmas.

Yule was a lot more fun, and the variety of mushrooms served with the feast created a spectacle you won’t find in General Electric Christmas Tree lights or CBS Christmas Specials with Burl Ives. Though I tend to think they are classics! The candle light (with real candles) Christmas Eve Church ceremony, it’s none of my business since I am not a Christian, but that one is a keeper!