The Survey
First things first, if you’re here after attending our ritual at OSS, here’s a link to a brief survey! We’d love to hear your thoughts about the ritual.
The Ritual
Here at the Kansas City Sorcerous Arts Collective, we are big fans of rituals based on dusty old tomes. In that vein, we have been experimenting for the past few years with various rituals inspired by and incorporating the Orphic Hymns, from full overnight vigils with our working group to shorter, more targeted rituals at larger events. So far, we haven’t had a chance to host the full overnight vigil for a larger group, but we believe that shouldn’t stop you from getting frankincense lung on your own time!(1)
Here are some additional ideas, tips, and suggestions that you might find useful if you want to try your own Orphic ritual.
The Text: How familiar are you with the Orphic Hymns?
You may be accustomed to using the Orphic Hymns individually in other magical and ritual contexts, and we’ve used them that way for years! This felt like a natural extension of that work, and a new way to engage with a familiar text.
If you haven’t spent time with the hymns, giving them a read-through might help you develop a sense of the shared themes and structure. There are multiple translations, and they all have pros and cons. Many people use the Taylor, which is available free online, and others prefer more modern translations. Pick your favorite (ours is Patrick Dunn’s), or mix and match!
Goals: What do you hope to achieve?
Starting with a goal will help inform the rest of your decisions. Many of the Orphic Hymns use language of initiation, or refer to the “initiates.” You might approach your rite with that goal in mind: initiation. We have done full overnight vigils at both the winter and summer solstices as a way to observe those days/nights.
Shorter, more targeted rituals might focus on healing, protection, or wealth, among other intentions. Last fall at Pagans in the Park, we held a short harvest-themed ritual, using primarily the various hymns to Dionysus. More recently, at Paganicon, we focused on themes of healing, joy, and renewal, which felt appropriate to springtime.
Participants: Will you complete the work alone, or with a group?
In a solo working, you’ll probably want to keep things simpler: perhaps just you, a copy of the hymns, and your offerings.
With a group, especially for a full overnight vigil, have enough roles or tasks so that everyone can spend some time actively engaging in the ritual tasks. Think about your group and their skills and interests. Do you have singers? Makeup artists? Bakers? How can those talents be turned towards the ritual?
We have used English readers, Greek readers, timekeepers, coffee makers, offering makers, and other roles. The response lines were another way we devised to help keep folks engaged with each hymn.
This can get as complex as you want!(2) Let yourself be inspired.
Offerings: What will you give?
Offerings are specified for most of the hymns. Some are easier to find than others, so give yourself some time to source ingredients if you want to follow those suggestions. Depending on your setting, though, you may want to get creative. Consider allergies along with the rules of the space you’re using. We used grapes as offerings for the Dionysus ritual, as the park didn’t allow any smoke.(3) At Paganicon, we experimented with offerings of sound and movement. This is great space for creativity.(4)
Setting: Will you be inside or outside? How will you arrange the space?
For the all-night ritual, especially, consider having a dedicated temple space along with a designated space outside of that area for folks to take breaks, get some fresh air, and refuel. Indoors, a separate room for all your crockpots(5) might do nicely. Outside, a tent or screen shelter with food and drinks, away from the main ritual area, can serve the same function.
Consider fire safety, ventilation(!!), music, places to sit, room to dance, an altar (or more than one), and lighting (especially for anyone reading).
Parameters and expectations: How will the logistics work?
For overnight vigils, decide what happens if/when folks fall asleep. You might make an agreement to wake each other up, or decide that dozing in the temple space is OK for those not actively performing a role during that time. (We went with the latter option.)
Decide how to handle those who may need to arrive late or leave early. Maybe the container you’re building for this ritual feels permeable enough that folks can move in and out with no issues. Maybe you’ll want to do the work with a small, dedicated group who will all be there the whole time. (In that case, I’d still suggest making a plan in case the unexpected comes up!)
Make sure to have enough food and beverages! If you haven’t done an all-nighter in a while, you might underestimate the amount of fuel it will take to keep energy up.
For an overnight rite, decide how to handle the pacing. Many of the individual hymns take less than two minutes to read through in English(6), so it takes some planning to stretch them out through the night. We have previously divided the hymns into sections, with each section corresponding to a specific hour. That meant we began at the top of an hour with a set of hymns, worked through them, and then we got a rest or break until the top of the next hour. You might prefer to space each hymn more evenly throughout the night.
Final Thoughts
If you’re interested in exploring this concept further, or hosting your own (possibly all-night?) version, I recommend Carey’s write-up discussing our working group’s first go at it, here.
Keep in mind that little is known about the original structure of this ritual. That can be frustrating, or it can be liberating: the field is wide for improvisation. We encourage you to get creative, and to share your results with us! We can’t wait to hear what esoteric mischief you get up to.
Footnotes:
1 – Mostly joking, but our first overnight indoor Orphic Vigil inspired various uses of terms like “frankincense lung” and “witch lung”. Seriously, ventilate your space!
2 – I have a vision in my mind of a version of this rite in which we take turns aspecting the powers we call, to deliver blessings or prophecy. Someday!
3 – We also find incense a dubious choice for larger gatherings, as many are sensitive to it.
4 – Or a truly frightening amount of frankincense.
5 – Our first time doing this, at winter solstice, everyone brought a different soup, and it was AMAZING.
6 – Although some are significantly longer. I’m looking at you, Aphrodite.
