Question on Leading Rituals
Hi all,
I don't post much, but I have a question.
I have been leading Wiccan rituals with my friends for about 6 months now. We are a pretty diverse group of people with different religious beliefs, but we enjoy partaking in each others' ritual celebrations. It makes us very close and everyone enjoys it. People in our circle of friends keep joining us, making each celebration with more people than the one before it.
Well, like I said, I have been leading Wiccan-themed rituals (I try to keep them as generic as possible, using deity archetypes and such), for about 6 months now. I have only about 2 years worth of constant study under my belt, but I haven't really studied under a coven formally, so my knowledge of group dynamics is limited. I have participated in group rituals with other people, ranging from 3 people to large open circles of about 40.
Someone new came to our circle for Midsummer. This guy is pretty laid back, but he does have a lot of emotional problems. In the middle of the ritual, we have this kind of meditative section where people, one by one, consecrate things, and the rest of us just kind of sit back and soak in the energy in silence. Well, in the middle of this part of the ritual, he began crying quietly. Now I am aware that such an occurence might happen, and I've been expecting someone might start doing it, but it's never happened before. Since I was leading the ritual, I wasn't too sure of what to do, but I walked quietly over to where he was sitting on the floor and asked him if he was okay, to which he replied that he would be fine. So I gave him a quick hug, and I kept an eye on him for the rest of the ritual.
Since we were all celebrating for a good while, I never got a chance to speak to him alone to make sure he really was okay.
My question, for any of you who may have more experience at this than I do, is what would you have done in such a situation?
Also, I am thinking of getting some books on ritual group dynamics, can anyone suggest a couple of good books, not necessarily Wiccan or Pagan in focus?
I don't post much, but I have a question.
I have been leading Wiccan rituals with my friends for about 6 months now. We are a pretty diverse group of people with different religious beliefs, but we enjoy partaking in each others' ritual celebrations. It makes us very close and everyone enjoys it. People in our circle of friends keep joining us, making each celebration with more people than the one before it.
Well, like I said, I have been leading Wiccan-themed rituals (I try to keep them as generic as possible, using deity archetypes and such), for about 6 months now. I have only about 2 years worth of constant study under my belt, but I haven't really studied under a coven formally, so my knowledge of group dynamics is limited. I have participated in group rituals with other people, ranging from 3 people to large open circles of about 40.
Someone new came to our circle for Midsummer. This guy is pretty laid back, but he does have a lot of emotional problems. In the middle of the ritual, we have this kind of meditative section where people, one by one, consecrate things, and the rest of us just kind of sit back and soak in the energy in silence. Well, in the middle of this part of the ritual, he began crying quietly. Now I am aware that such an occurence might happen, and I've been expecting someone might start doing it, but it's never happened before. Since I was leading the ritual, I wasn't too sure of what to do, but I walked quietly over to where he was sitting on the floor and asked him if he was okay, to which he replied that he would be fine. So I gave him a quick hug, and I kept an eye on him for the rest of the ritual.
Since we were all celebrating for a good while, I never got a chance to speak to him alone to make sure he really was okay.
My question, for any of you who may have more experience at this than I do, is what would you have done in such a situation?
Also, I am thinking of getting some books on ritual group dynamics, can anyone suggest a couple of good books, not necessarily Wiccan or Pagan in focus?