Rites and Rungs

[Bennie]

In the ongoing attempts to better develop Davism, I have written out some ideas for rituals I hope to one day compile into a book (or books). I've come up with a few ideas and put them below.

One major thing I would like to change. The Mass will cease to become a major ritual in the sense it is the ritual we always see. Instead, the mass is the manifestation of the community spirit of Davism. Instead of focusing on preaching and drinking from the chalice, masses are called only as public meetings ro deal with the public business of the Church. There will be no particular rituals that always occur in masses, though most any public ritual can. I see this as a way for priests to better tailor masses to the needs of a given time. Do we need to preach on why heresy is bad? Alright, go ahead and preach on why heresy is bad. If we don't, why bother? Have there been a bunch of mage attacks? Perform the prayer of warding at the mass. I'd also like to see weddings and the ordinations of priests occurring in the context of masses, the idea being that these rituals are public points where the public life of a person changes in the eyes of the Church. They ought to include the community.

You will also find a lot of blessings assigned to holidays and times of year. Ideally, we might get big religious celebrations during the year. How cool would it be for the Order, the Merchants, the Troubs, and the Court to get together and plan out a big festival. A big mass starts the celebration, followed up by a festival complete with performances and merchant-vendors in the Square, ending with a big feast put on by the nobility. I hope that the printing of actual blessings surrounding these points of year, with tips on how to celebrate the holidays, might encourage a more public celebration. Just a thought.

PARTS OF THE RITUAL
The Decree: Standard certification that the rites in the ritual are all approved for common public use by the Church.

The General Norms: Rules governing the usual adminisration of rites

The Common Rites: These are rites which are essentially attached to community spirituality. They involve the community and occur in public.
-Churching: The bringing of an individual, normally a child into the Church.
-The rite for the Churching of Children includes the reaffirmation of the churching of the parents.
-Masses: A public meeting of the church community of a given area for the administration of church business and general blessing
-Public Reading: Public and ritual reading of holy books and preaching. (Note, public reading often does occur during mass but does not have to)
-Anointing of a Knight: In addition to the formal knighting by the Monarch, Knights receive an annointing representing their mission in the Church
-Ordination and Consecration: Priests are ordained into the clergy of the Church and may be consecrated for work as inquisitors or high priests.
-Enthronement: Inauguration of a Church prelate (Bishops, Archbishops, High and Grand Inquisitors, Cardinals)
-Excommunication: Seperation of a person from the Church
-The Rite of Pilgrimage: A pilgrimage to Dav's Spring. Must be completed by each Davite once in their life.
-Burial of the Dead: Final rite that commends the souls of the dead and lays their body to rest

The Rites of Warding: These are rites that protect against the powers of magery and cleanse people from the impurity of sin.
-Cleansing of the Waters: This is the cleansing undergone by individuals with taint below the level of magery. It is done by a ritual bath.
-Cleansing of the Fires: This is the cleansing of the taint of magery. It is done by burning at the stake.
-Warding of an Object or Place: This is a blessing which protects and object or place against magery
-Confession of Sin: A rite to cleanse an individual from the taint incured by personal sin
-Rebuke of Demons and Mages: A rite to attempt to dispell magical or demonic oppression
-Exorcism: A rite to attempt to remove demonic possession
-Cleansing of Corporal Corruption: Rite for the ill and injured to dispel physical illness caused by magic and taint

The Rites of Offering: These are rites undertaken by the clergy for the good of Church. They most often take the form of ritual offerings.
-Simple Offerings: Any priest may do these at any altar at any time. These are short, do not occur in a sanctum, and can, in theory, be public.
-Vesperam Offering: One priest will be designated to offer these once a day at vesperam. Done at the altar, not in the sanctum.
-Solemn Offerings: Only seen in major churches. Done in the sanctum of the Church. Can be offered at any time.
-Divine Offerings: Only seen in major churches. Done in the sanctum of the Church. Each priest offers this offering once a year.

The General Rites: These are rites that exist for general purpose not included in the other rites.
-Blessing of Holy Places: A rite that sets aside a place for prayer, be it a public church or private chapel.
-Blessing of a Cornerstone: This is a blessing for buildings meant for secular use and monuments. The cornerstone is blessed. It is understood as a blessing to keep the structure long standing.
-Lighting of Candle: The lighting of a blessed candle during prayer.
-Blessing of the Harvest: Blessing over the harvest of the year.
-Votive Blessing: Blessing given for the accomplishment of a cause or before/in the midst of a trial
-The Great Blessing: General blessing for the welfare of those blessed. This is traditionally given at Autumn's End, though may be given other times as well.
-Blessing of Devotional Objects: Blessings for blessed medals, prayer beads, holy books
-Blessing of Hallowed Water: Blessing of the water used in blessings and other rites
-Blessing of a Sword: A blessing for a Knight's Sword
-Blessing of a Banner of War: A blessing given to a banner, offered in honor of the host that carries it.
-Blessing at an Ennoblement
-Blessing at an Enpassant
-Blessing in the Spring
-Blessing and Thanksgiving at the New Year
-Blessing at Yule
-Blessing of Wine
-Blessing of Chalices: Given at Chalice Rising over all Chalices to be used in the coming year
-Blessing of Ritual Incense: Blessing for incense used in rites.

N.B. The Offerings are not sacrifices in the sense that they are supposed to "appease" the deity. Instead, offerings are given as a ritual act of letting go of the temporal world in favor of the divine. Theologically, the offerings are the primary means by which the Church pours purity out on the world, by constantly ritually letting go of urthly things and sanctifying them. In a sort of OOC note, I see the presence of offerings being an allusion to ancient connections between the Path of Fire and primitive Davism.

[Applesauce]

IMO traditional "preaching" has always been better left as posts on the Cathedral Entrance board rather than an actual IC Event. It's too hard for people to RP meaningfully around it. So I definitely appreciate the drive to create more rituals.

Olivia came up with a bunch of life cycle milestones and things that should probably be tied into the new stuff you're working on. I can't get on the game at the moment to find the helpfiles, but they're in there. They tie various rituals together and there are even examples of objects you might receive at one ritual, modify in the next, and use in the next. Very cool way to make things more meaningful and persistent to each character. You can create real IC heirlooms that way which could even then be passed onto other characters and carry RP forward.

That aside, what sort of feedback are you looking for here? I think Olivia's work combined with the stuff you've outlined will provide plenty of fodder, do you want help determining what goes into each ritual? What each blessing consists of? Or is this a more general kick-around-ideas thread?

Tangentially related, is it too late to rename the thread "Rites and Rungs"? As in, the ladder of faith?

[Bennie]

I agree with the point on preaching. My hope with this project is to create a large landscape of rites for future Orderites to draw from as points of inspiration.

What I am looking for here is mostly general feedback. Ideas of rites people would like to see written up, things up here people don't care for, etc. Since this has a lot of bearing on the theme of the game, Kinaed and Carmen are the supreme authorities about what appears in the final copy of this. As such, most of the editing of the actual rites themselves is occurring with them to make sure the symbology and themes of the rites will jive with the vision of the game and the Order they have. Of course, any views people have on what they'd like to see featured in rituals is appreciated. To get a sense of where I'm at right now, here are some of the common threads that run through the rites:
Ritual Purity/Washing- I am trying to give water a place in most of these rituals, particularly in any that might be seen as "rites of passage." Davism focuses on ritual purity, the cleansing of taint brought on my sin (either that which you commit or of that of which you are a victim), especially the vileness of magery.
Community- I am trying to stress the idea of community involvement in rituals. Rituals are performed for the good of the community. Even if it something seen as private, like a marriage or churching, the community is still involved. In marriage, the community resolves to help guard and strengthen the marriage since the marriage represents a building block of the society. In churching, the entire community welcomes the new child and resolves to help raise that child to be a good moral citizen. No man is an island..
A Passive Deity- The Lord of the Springs is passive in Davism. He gives the example of what pure goodness is, He does not help us achieve it. The "sacramental" theology (if you want to call it that) I am going for here is that prayers, blessing don't work because the LoTS exercises His power on our behalf, they work because the Church, manifested in the clergy, are like "mirrors" of purity (or my favored term, cosmic sherpas). A priest is a holy person, they spend time in prayer and they have been ordained as manifestations of the church. Because of this, they have a special capability to take the purity of the Lord that has been cultivated in them by their discipline of prayer and their ordination and to reflect it onto people. In some sense, the priest is the one blessing you. He brings purity down by reflecting and invoking the passive force of the LoTS. Thus, many of the prayers in these rituals, though using the metaphor of divine intervention, focus on bringing purity, strengthening will, increasing moral goodness, not exactly making a physical end happen. Davites are themselves responsible to act on the purity they are given, LoTS doesn't do the work Himself.
Light- Connected to the ritual purity theme, fire and light are presented in contrast to the idea of sin and taint as physical darkness. These rites, in their prayers and actual actions, invoke the idea of giving light to dark nights, clearing vision, and burning away the waste of sin.
Pilgrimage- Since pilgrimage is one of the central responsibilities of Davites (See Law of the Spring), the idea of a pilgrimage and journeys appear often in Davite rituals. the pilgrimage to the spring is a metaphor for the life-long journey of holiness. The prayers and blessings often reference this journey and seek to strengthen resolve, dispel weariness, and give shelter in the face of storm. Most notably, 'last rites' sort of blessings invoke the idea of death being the final leg of the journey. One's soul must climb the final mountain in the darkness of the Abyss, hoping to come to the shade of the LoTS.

In addition, given the size of this project, a first volume will be produced containing some of the "essential" rites a priest needs to know. Things like confessions, last rites, burials, basic ritual washings, a sample blessing, etc.

[Wolfie]

I would definitely like to see masses as more of a town hall. Interaction and conversation between people fosters are closer relationship than an individual talking at a group. Post sermons and commentaries on the notice boards or the church door. Have people read them. Then talk about them. Otherwise mass should be about fielding emotions or conflicts and smoothing them out. Think a little more like the Quakers. Services are community meetings where people talk when the spirit moves them and an issue needs to be addressed. Masses should, if possible, include community projects like shrine raising, gardening, massive bread making parties for the poor or other works for the greater good.

Drinking from the Chalices is necessary, I believe, at any major function because it is a show of solidarity. Every Votumas, when the locals take a break from their work and call their families and friends together for their meals, the Chalices are present. Though, again, thinking about it... logistically, if a household is mixed Lithmorran and Supplicant State, then how many Chalices do they have? Why not make a single chalice of silver and gold? The idea of unity with two cups is a little bizarre after two hundred years of tradition.

In any case, I like the idea of public readings from holy books and commentaries. Though, having these is a feat on its own. I have had especially devout characters run around chanting the Primus but they just look fanatical. I am still waiting for a slew of meaningful texts to be reconstructed with the Church's blessing. I want a poetic Dav's Travail, a poem built from the Laws, a song that St. Celeste used to sing, anything like that. We have our superstition. Where's the meat and potatoes?

You mentioned Burial Rites. I made an entry somewhere in the FAQ about ritual ablutions of the recently deceased. Lithmore is not a clean place and I think a lot of medics would necessarily have to clean the bodies anyway just to perform a reasonable exam for cause of death. Why not make it a ritual?

I think the passivity of the LotS demands action. The clergy, in my mind, through familiar with prayer and belief would be more like civil servants than lone monks chanting their way to an individual revelation. Inquisitors have a very active investigative role to fulfill, and higher levels of clergy also have their administrative duties to look after. The lower rungs of clergy - where the metal meets the meat - would be hardworking people that have the same schedule as the peasant farmer. Sunrise to sunset, they would be praying with their actions as they build civil improvements, teach language, farming techniques, sink wells in settlements, serve as doctors in remote places.

[Applesauce]

I am still waiting for a slew of meaningful texts to be reconstructed with the Church's blessing. I want a poetic Dav's Travail, a poem built from the Laws, a song that St. Celeste used to sing, anything like that.

Some of that exists, I think. At least, I know there's a play "The Travail of Dav", written in 2005, but still exists on the grid. There's the Remiel tome, not necessarily poetic in a rhyming sense but apparently structured in verses/stanzas.

There's also some other stuff that's not church-related but interesting from a historical or "bardy" perspective - regional love songs, rhyming history of past kings, etc.

[Wolfie]

I think anyone chanting Remiel in the streets might be lit on fire. The similarities to the Charali Song of Motion are a bit much and the LotS is also a Creator in that. I suppose I could compose a modern variation that takes into account all of the material we have established in the last year or so. Passive, non-creator deity in a world already made. Remove the bit about the establishment of Justice and the pre-Sun Cycle battles between man and demon, which I believe is also in there. The language describing the LotS will have to change rather drastically. It will be difficult to use epic language with a deity that does nothing. So Remiel ala 300SC may be more about Dav who did stuff.

[Dice]

I am currently writing a Davite Dogma (see: help davite dogma) to serve as a generalized 'bible' for Davism. I.e., the text compiled intentionally to establish the fundamentals of the religion.

So that should help somewhat with holy texts, although this won't be something as poetic as Remiel or anything of that sort.

[Bennie]

I am planning to compose a little collection of sacred poetry for the some of these rites. In particular, I'm thinking about something based in part of the Song of Songs and some of the derivative writings of St. John of the Cross that speak of the soul making its way to God in the metaphor of romantic love. Regardless, the writing of more sacred literature is a connected, but not what I'd say is essential aspect to these ritual write-ups. As far as Sacred Reading is concerned, the rite will be pretty free-form and so I think that once it is in place, it can comfortably remain docile before getting readings plugged in as they become available.

As far as I see, the consequences of a passive deity are two-fold. First is, as I see it, a strong active element to the Order, as Wolfie mentioned. I'd love to start building up a tradition of priests specializing in active trades, especially medicine. I'd say that once you get out of the cities, much of a priests work is focused around providing physical care, especially medicine. They are, more often than not, the most educated person in town in many parts of the Kingdom. The second consequence is a complementary contemplative element. While the monastic part of this has already been ruled out (with good cause) I see rituals focusing heavily on the life-long attempt to understand the Lord of the Springs. In particular, rituals and 'contemplation' acclaim the beauty of the Lord of the Springs. The LoTS does not act, but it is the most beautiful thing there is. The rituals of the Church seek to express this beauty and bring it down, creating a sense of wonder. This is a physical manifestation of the point of the spiritual aspects of the Church: to reflect the light of the Lord to Urth, which is the essential mission of the Church. Since the LoTS does not act himself, the Church becomes the essential middle man. In the name of the LoTS, and in reflection of his light, the Church heals, builds, sacntifies, both in a physical active way and in the more contemplative spiritual way.

For this reason, I am writing up these rites as distinctly 'high church' there is pomp and circumstance, incense, all that jazz. While some elements, like the town-hall-meeting styles masses are more practical than not, even these rites should have some awe-inspiring ritual thrown in. If nothing else, this makes for a good atmosphere.

Another option might be to replace the classic Davist-Purist factions with appropriately named high-church and low-church factions. One faction focuses on ritual, on preserving the teachings of time immemorial, on a certain clericism (while not, of course, ignoring the practical work of the Church) while another is more puritan in that it focuses on practical work and plays down rituals as much as it can.