RITUAL

Ritual : The Human Superpower

A call to recognize and reinvigorate this human potential

Walking a labyrinth is a ritual carried out in linear time to access all time

What if I were to tell you that humans have a hidden, untapped superpower? That if we more consciously tapped into that superpower we could change the quality of our lives and perhaps the quality of the lives of the other beings we share our ecosystems with. What is that superpower? Ritual.

Ritual is such an integral part of the human experience on this planet that many of the remnants and evidence earliest humans left of their existence are indeed remnants and evidence of the act of ritual. The cave paintings from the Paleolithic era (2.5 million years ago -10,000 B.C.E.) are believed to be images of sacred ritual or created in ritual space. Many of the archaeological discoveries that mark the evolution of human consciousness are remnants of ritual space (temples, shrines) and ritual objects (goddesses, gods, animal spirits and totems, offering bowls, altars, divination screens, sacred urns and pitchers, etc) and of course large scale earthworks (stone circles and pyramids).

The “Goddess of Willendorf” is one of the earliest examples of representational art. Found on the banks of a river in Willendorf, Austria, she dates to 28,000–25,000 B.C.E.