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THE PsycHOLOGY OF RITUAL Murry Hope eg THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RITUAL BY THE SAME AUTHOR The Book of Talimantras The Lion People Practical Celtic Magic Practical Egyptian Magic Practical Greek Magic Practical Techniques of Psychic Self-Defence The Way of Cartouche THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RITUAL Murry Hope RS) ELEMENT BOOKS © Murry Hope 1988 First published in 1988 by Element Books Limited Longmead, Shaftesbury, Dorset All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the Publisher. Printed and bound in Great Britain by Billings, Hylton Road, Worcester Designed by Clarke Williams Cover painting by Caroline Smith British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Hope, Murry The psychology of ritual. 1. Rituals I. Title 306° .4 ISBN 1-85230-043-4 To Nurse Rhoda Adams, who was my Nanny, with love and gratitude. CONTENTS Acknowledgements xiii Introduction 1 Part I. History and Background CHAPTER1. The Birth of the Rite 6 Earliest records. Synonymity of religion and _ magic. Categorization of various types of Rites. The five Ritual Codes. Psychological classifications. Body language and mime. CHAPTER2. Yesterday and Today 15 The Recollective Bado Rite of the Dogons based on Sirius, re- echoed in the tribal myths of the Bambara and Bozo. Origins of Chaldean Rites and beliefs. The Oannes legend. The Horned god. The psychology of energy exchanges. An ancient Seasonal Rite. CHAPTER 3. Enter the Intermediary 25 Gnostic evolutionary classifications. How the need for an Contents Vii intermediary arose. Shamanism and states of ecstasy. The shamanic role in the Sacrificial Rite. The role of the priest or hierophant in tribal and civic affairs. Social advantages of ancient rites as seen by modern psychiatrists. CHAPTER 4. Magical and Secular Rites in History 32 The social usage of ancient Egyptian Rites. Two forms of sacred rites — religious and sensuous. The Eleusinia, or state rites of ancient Greece. Drama and the Rite. The psychological view of ‘faith’. Private language of the subconscious — an anecdote. Jung on the power of the Rite to influence God. CHAPTER 5. Psychism and the Rite 45 The term ‘psychism’ defined occultly, psychologically and scientifically. Professor Stephen E Braude on PK and allied phenomena. Jung on mediumship and the hysterical personality- type. Brain patterns involved in psi manifestations. Channelling. The dangers of experimentation. Trance mediumship and the Rite. The role of creative imagery. Archetypes in ritual. CHAPTER 6. Disciplines of the Rite 56 Freud on the libido. Jung on Tantra. Sexual expression as related to soul-age. The sublimation principle in religious orders. The redemption factor. Imbalances effected by drugs, hypnosis, deprivation. , The power of repetition in unconscious programming. Yoga — its nature and discipline. CHAPTER 7. To Play or Not to Play? 65 How ritual role-playing works. Archetypal identities. Hallucinations and visions. Two views — _ humanistic psychology and the Jungian analyst. The assumption of the archetypal role. Who or what are ‘the gods’? The occult ego traps and danger zones of pride and power. Morphic resonance as applied to ritual role-playing. Vili Contents CHAPTER 8. _ Ritual Heritage 74 Rites of birth, puberty, and death or departure. Remnants of old Rites that are still with us. The influence of the Rite on architecture and the arts. Sacred geometry. The Roman Catholic Mass as a Sacrificial Rite — its psychological effects observed. The psychology of sacrifice. Talismanic Rites. CHAPTER9Y. Rites of Death and Departure 85 The Book of the Dead. Ancient Egyptian Burial Rites. The Tibetan Bardo Thodol. The Requiem Mass. A Seax Wicca Rite, ‘Crossing the Bridge’ (at Death) and a pagan ‘Rite for the Dead’ reproduced in full. An old Aztec Funerary Rite. Further Rites of Departure. The psychology of the Death Syndrome. Part II. Psychological Breakdown CHAPTER 10. Psychological and Somatic Side-Effects 96 The effect of certain rites on the autonomic nervous system, the brain, the mental system and the endocrine system. The relationship between the endocrine system and the chakras. The Kundalini concept. Excitatory Rites that over-energize. Psychological and somatic intolerances to psychic frequencies or resonances. The ‘heat’ effect. Psychedelic side-effects in ritual. CHAPTER 11. A Qabalistic Pathworking 110 The Qabalah defined. The Tree of Life, the Double Helix and the DNA molecule. Pathworking as a legitimate occult practice. Full psychological analysis of a Qabalistic Pathworking. Jung's Qabalistic experience. Gematria.