The 11 Intentions: The “Why” of Ritual (Part 1 of 3)

Most books about ritual have focused on comparison: ancient vs. modern, traditional vs. non-traditional, and religious vs. secular. Other books have examined the outward appearance of the ritual (e.g., Are candles lit? What does one wear? What is said?). As an avid student of ritual, I find these discussions fascinating. But they always seemed to miss the target. 

The most important aspect of ritual is your intent. 

We always have one or more goals for the ritual. We have a feeling, insight, or meaning we hope to gain from it. We use ritual to move from where we are to where we want to be. Always.

As I examined the wide variety of personal and public ritual, I found that there were 11 specific goals that we are trying to achieve. I call the goals we have for ritual the 11 Intentions.

The 11 Intentions are:

￭ Healing 
￭ Renewal 
￭ Reconciliation
￭ Beginnings 
￭ Transitions 
￭ Loss Integration
￭ Truth Seeking
￭ Connection 
￭ Legacy 
￭ Creativity
￭ Transcendence

Categorizing ritual into 11 Intentions is beneficial for several reasons. By grouping rituals together based on the same purpose, it makes it easier to learn about ritual practices. The number of rituals is practically infinite; but grouping them together based on a defining characteristic makes it more manageable. By focusing on intent, we can also determine if a particular ritual is useful for us (i.e., Did I get what I needed from this ritual?). Furthermore, there is a very practical aspect to this categorization system: people who desire the same goal can more quickly find examples that may inspire them. For example, if you know that you are hurting then it is easier to review various types of rituals of healing. 

MARC PIASECKI/GETTY IMAGES

Despite the many benefits, let’s be clear – my classification scheme is artificial. Categorizing rituals is akin to compartmentalizing the Mona Lisa into just her eyes, her mouth, her hands, her clothes, the colors, the background, etc. It can be useful for an art student to examine each piece in turn, but the expert will recognize that the whole is greater than the sum of each part.  

Perhaps the biggest flaw with my categorization system is that it seems to suggest that each ritual has only one purpose. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, it is more likely that a ritual will fulfill more than one intention. 

Nonetheless, an organizational system makes it much easier to learn about the benefits of ritual by focusing on pure examples of each intention. Furthermore, there are many rituals which have one of the 11 Intentions as a primary goal. For example, while a wedding may have aspects of most of the 11 Intentions, the primary goal is to mark a new beginning for the couple. This multi-Intentional nature is most often seen in large, public rituals like funerals, weddings, and graduations. Finally and perhaps most importantly, the use of the 11 Intentions reminds us that the most important aspect of ritual is not the color of the candles or the specific words spoken, but is the purpose of the ritual. 

Sometimes it is easier to identify which Intention you need by identifying your current state of mind. That’s why throughout the book, I include statements you may be telling yourself when you are in need of a specific Intention. For example, you may identify more with the statement, “I feel broken” than with the idea of needing a ritual of healing.

The 11 Intentions of Ritual

￭ Healing (“I feel broken”)
￭ Renewal (“I feel empty”)
￭ Reconciliation  (“I feel cut off”)
￭ Beginnings (“How do I start?” “I feel like an imposter”)
￭ Transitions (“What happens now?” “I’m not prepared”)
￭ Loss Integration (“I’m grieving – how do I go on?”)
￭ Truth Seeking (“I’m lost” “What is true for me now?” “Who Am I?”)
￭ Connection (“I’m feel so alone”)
￭ Legacy (“Where do I come from?”)
￭ Creativity (“I feel blocked”)
￭ Transcendence (“I feel small”)

In the next post, I will provide a short description of each of the 11 Intentions.