c. 1998 Religion News Service

HOUSTON _ Tall, dark, beautiful and belligerent-looking, Nan Hall Linke’s doll is a maiden who became a warrior. But Linke, a therapist with a special focus on the spiritual and an interior world ripe with dreams, symbols and archetypes, has no trouble imagining such a transformation.

Indeed, transformation is what Linke seeks to teach those who come to her classes in ritual. For her, the creation of ritual _ the repetition of patterns of song or chant or thought, or the creation of tangible, symbolic objects _ is a way to transcend reason, access the spiritual and bring about personal change.

The doll _ a gift _ reminds Linke of her own journey as she guides others along a literal purple path of spiritual growth _ a thick roll of purple plastic that winds through Linke’s garden and patio and which is a focal point for her students. Tentative pilgrims sit on it; seekers pursue unnamed goals on it; the weary rest and reflect before starting anew.”When people sign up for a ritual class, the thing I always find amazing is that half the people have the same issue,”Linke said.”I just put out a sign-up sheet and say, `If you’re interested in a ritual class.’ Then we have the first class, we start going around the room and everyone says why they’ve come and it’s like, echo. Echo. Me, too. Me, too.” As she teaches, Linke likens ritual to”the soul’s theater,”an arena freeing the psyche to plumb its depths so the person may intuitively follow where he or she feels led.”Ritual is a response to the search for meaning,”Linke told one class.”It’s a reverence for risk, change, surrender, obedience, sacrifice and mystery. It also deals with the possibility of resurrection and grace.” Her perspective is reflected among many contemporary thinkers.

Christian theologians highlight the value of the church’s transforming rituals. From the community emphasis of Holy Communion to the joining of two individuals in the marriage service, ritual weaves through church history and practice. African-American churches have begun holding rites of passage for young boys to strengthen their sense of responsibility at manhood while women’s groups revamp and rewrite traditional religious ritual to find new meaning in old patriarchal liturgical forms.

Among Jews, the home-based rituals of holidays such as Passover are enjoying a rebirth as non-observant Jews embrace them with new fervor. Other religions from Hinduism to Islam are experiencing similar rejuvenation.

Even people with little or no religious ties are finding new meaning in ritual. In San Francisco and Houston, seekers walk labyrinths, re-enacting ancient searches. There are books on rituals for sacred living, walking for reflection, painting to unlock creativity and meditation to access inner silence.”At its most intense, ritual leads us into worlds not realized and becomes sacred,”British director and writer James Roose-Evans argues in”Passages of the Soul, Ritual Today”(Element). And writer and lecturer Thomas Moore ponders why people are so enchanted at the prospect of setting sail in his book”The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life”(HarperCollins).”In some deep way, we are living out a ritual that has strong ties to Jesus in the boat with his apostles, the Buddhist on the raft of religion, and Odysseus on his sea voyage home,”Moore writes.

In her classes, Linke urges students to appropriate ritual for growth.”It’s a process that maintains the integrity of what is sacred in our lives. It’s an alchemical vessel for change. It’s nature’s pathway for healing loss and creating wholeness. It’s what we called healing play for adults.” Yoga teacher Moira Martin took her first ritual class with Linke seven years ago. Soon afterward, she returned to college to finish her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She confronted personal loss when her mother died. In each instance, ritual was a path to change and freedom.

In classes with Linke, Martin made a compass, a magnet and a clock, emblazoning each with what became holy symbols in her life.”Ritual is a way to take you from being stuck into change,”Martin said.”A lot of them weave together creativity. I think ritual sort of honors that part of me that hadn’t been honored before. It started out as fun, it started out as play, and it became something much deeper.” Composer and pianist Anita Kruse said ritual linked her to her dreamworld, childhood and inner creativity. In her first ritual, she sewed multicolored fabric and other items onto a jean jacket, creating a ceremonial garment.”This ritual was about the things I had lost,”Kruse said.”There were seven. For each, I got fabric to represent it.” Linke teaches that ritual comes naturally to children. They collect things, bury things, throw things up in the air. Work, play, school, even sleeping, may involve ritual for a child. Following natural instincts, a little boy refuses to go to bed without a beloved toy. A little girl insists on wearing a certain outfit on a particular day.”When I first taught this class years ago, I titled it `The Ritual Process: Healing Play for Adults,'”Linke said.

Linke said she is amazed at the paths students choose. Many begin with a few symbols of their quests and a hazy idea, or no idea, of where seeking will take them.

Sitting cross-legged on her patio atop part of the purple path, Linke smiles as she recalled the memories. “I am in awe of what comes out of people,”Linke said.”They make a leap of faith to come in the class. They sit there for three weeks and say, `I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ And I say, `Just wait.’ And they show up on the fourth week with all this stuff and all this energy and their lives are never the same.”

DEA END HOLMES