Well, Im not all that big on the idea of rituals, but if ritual is what it will take for social cohesion, then I like what Joe says here. I agree that if we are to develop this structure, than it needs to be based on such events as Joe listed and Eric implied, with maybe a few additions related to simply being in the same place at the same time: Wade, Lena, Tim and I in Boston 2 years back. I would like the opportunity to actually meet more of you as it is, so I can't argue with the benefits of ritual in this case.
So - umm, can we have drugs in our rituals? ; )
Bill Roh
"Joe E. Dees" wrote:
> From: "Eric Boyd" <6ceb3@qlink.queensu.ca>
> To: <virus@lucifer.com>
> Subject: Re: virus: missa viriis
> Date sent: Mon, 28 Jun 1999 18:14:30 -0400
> Send reply to: virus@lucifer.com
>
> > Wade T.Smith <wade_smith@harvard.edu> writes:
> > <<
> > >So -- rituals. It is certainly a direction we can shoot for.
> > >
> > >How do we begin?
> >
> > And it's not even rituals, but the level of _involvement_ that is
> > exercised by the participants.
> > >>
> >
> > I hear you. It's not so much the rituals as the imbuing of meaning
> > into those rituals by participation. And this reflects back unto the
> > churchs in a negative way -- as people pull away from them, and begin
> > to see the dogma beneath them, the meaning vanishes, and what's left
> > is what you experienced -- the structure with inept priests.
> >
> > So we need new rituals -- new events, to which people can come and
> > really feel a part of each others lives. In which they can
> > participate, in order to build commitment and meaning.
> >
> > "nihilism just isn't enough anymore"
> >
> > <<
> > You know, it ain't so much that we need any heirarchy of members, but
> > every ritual does need a prompter- a person stage center willing to
> > sing the first chorus- until everyone can sing it.
> > >>
> >
> > We need a singer/song writer. Does anybody want to volunteer their
> > time to compose some Virian Vibes? (I'd suck at it...) We could
> > harvest the soundtracks that we have for something appropiate. I
> > think "It ain't easy being Green" (Kermit the Frog) might make a cool
> > song to sing with Virians!
> >
> > <<
> > So, what rituals?
> >
> > I don't have a clue. I think it's more an attitude about why we would
> > gather.
> >
> > ... a song to sing when Virions meet.
> >
> > ... a joy to share with those who observe.
> >
> > ... and whatever, however, shows that there are no barriers between
> > us.
> > >>
> >
> > yes. For a long time, I've wanted to meet members of Virus in
> > person -- and it would be so cool to have a song to sing, or rituals
> > to participate in.
> >
> > I want to meet some Virians.
> >
> > You know what we need? A member directory -- a who's where? to find
> > each other, to make meeting each other easier.
> >
> > If there is widespread desire for something like that, I hereby
> > volunteer my time to make it -- both an online version and a
> > 'published' one, if we want that.
> >
> > Once we have such a directory, it should be easy to find good
> > locations to meet.
> >
> > ERiC
> >
> >
> Any rituals we craft should be empirically based. This means that
> they should revolve around one of two poles; 1) the environmental
> (the changing of the seasons, the phases of the moon) and 2) the
> personal (rites of passage - birth, puberty, marriage, menopause,
> death).