Inventing Rituals

I'm very proud that this year, back in February of 2015, I became a published author. I'm also very pleased that it is for an essay I felt moved to write. It is called "A Pacifist's Coming of Age," and the complete article is available to read now on the Friends Journal website.

Inventing rituals is a common aspect of world building in Science Fiction and Fantasy literature. I employ my background in Anthropology and my firsthand experience with religions and cultures to invent rituals for the worlds I build as a writer. When I read the Friends Journal call for articles on the topic of Quakers inventing and adopting rituals, it really set my mind going.

"I see traditions as often arising out of need, or growing to fill a need. Later they may grow beyond that need, and their meaning may change. What need would an invented or adopted Quaker ritual fill today?"

Quakers have few rituals, and those are very simple, especially compared to faiths like Catholicism. However, The Religious Society of Friends is also a very open religion. The meditative silent worship of the Quaker Meetings I grew up attending strikes me as a very deliberate practice. I think this makes Quakerism a suitable religion to face head-on the notion of inventing or adopting rituals.