The Structure of Ritual
A handout presented during Dave Lee’s talk on Psychedelics, Ritual & Time.
First we conceive of and plan what kind of ritual we want to do.
Then we create a sacred space with the use of banishing rituals, circles, smudging and so forth.
Now we focus on the purpose of the ritual, using statements of intent, silent focusing and objects that symbolize our goals.
This is woven in with the exaltation of consciousness that forms the main part of the ritual.
Finally we need to let go of our intention, and eventually of the ritual itself as we leave the sacred space.
This film takes us on an astonishing journey, from the director’s near fatal encounter with polio as a child in Ireland to an archaic world of ritual magic deep in the Amazon jungle. Here rainforest dwellers consume powerful hallucinogenic plants, to communicate with ’spirits’ not only to diagnose and heal illness but also to do harm through witchcraft.
Donal was born in Dublin, Ireland. He graduated from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin in 1984 with a BA(hons.) in Fine Art. He is an artist, film-maker, publisher, writer and teacher, and has had a life-long interest in shamanism, the occult and folklore. He moved to London in 1985. Donal has worked as an art therapist at the Maudsley Psychiatric Hospital in South London, a youth worker, painter and decorator and as a pop video director for Chrysalis and Island Records. He was a video artist and technician on cult sci-fi horror film Hardware (1990), directed by Richard Stanley, and created the video cut-up sequences and other visuals effects for the film.
In 1985, Dennis McKenna, brother of the late