To judge from my own experience and what I've heard from others, the state of pagan ritual is not particularly strong right now.
That's hardly to be wondered at. Ritual is an art, and—as with any art-form—to gain mastery takes time, especially when you mostly have to start from the ground up and teach yourself as you go.
The quality of pagan ritual is decidedly not improved by the custom—I'm almost tempted to call it a recreational sport—of ritual-shredding. How many times have I sat around a campfire after the evening ritual listening to a vicious vivisection of every single thing that went wrong in circle that night?
Enjoyable as it may be at the time, ritual-shredding is a self-indulgence which we cannot permit ourselves. It's pointless to tear down what someone else has built if we ourselves have nothing to put in its place.
For this reason, here in Paganistan the thew (custom) has arisen that No ritual may be criticized until the next day.
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Amateurs.
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My sentiments exactly. In the past I've taken the time and trouble to articulate what is successful and what failed in a large pu