Christmas II: Carols and Misrecognition

For those who celebrate, I hope everyone had a great Christmas, Hanukkah, Yuletide, Festivus, Kwanzaa, or whatever it is you are celebrating, have celebrated, or will be celebrating!!!

I had the fortune to attend 5 Christmas Eve services and 1 Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. 

There was a surprising amount of consistency between the services of various denominations. Virtually every service featured the carols: "Silent Night," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," "Joy to the World," and "We Three Kings of Orient Are." 

The Scripture readings were almost universally from Luke 2 and Isaiah 9. Some also chose to read the famous John 3:16. 

In this post I will talk about the carols and in the next post I will briefly discuss the chosen Scriptures. 

Catherine Bell in Ritual Theory: Ritual Practice talks about various aspects of ritual/practice, including 'misrecognition.' Rituals feature a misrecognition is of their limits and constraints, and of their ends and means, pg 82. 

One example given is that in a gift exchange there is often a misrecognition of generosity, since the gifts exchanged are usually of approximately equal value pg 83. 

(The basic idea of misrecognition is that ritual participants are involved in something that can not be brought about solely through their actions as individuals.)

If Bonhoeffer was right that Christians should and do participate in the Christmas story, if Walter Kim (the pastor giving the sermon at Park Street) is right that Christians participate in the most epic story ever, then we should take seriously the activities of Christmas services as ritual. 

Thus, we should find instances of misrecognition. 

Two of the services I attended, Park Street Church and King's Chapel, had a mother and father with an infant child dress up as the Holy family (Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus).

Christmas Decorations at Park Street Church

These congregations invited us to adore the Holy family. A deliberate misrecognition of what they were actually doing vs. what was happening in the ritual. (No one really thinks that they were adoring the actual Holy family). 

Many carols exhibit a similar misrecognition. "Silent Night" was sung almost exclusively in the present tense. Almost as if by singing the song we were witnessing Christ's birth. 

Two others, "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "We Three Kings of Orient Are" start with present tense while Christ is being born and end either in the contemporary world using present tense or reference the fulfillment of Christ's life. For instance, in "We Three Kings of Orient Are", the final verse references the 'stone cold tomb.'

Many liturgical calendars also exhibit a similar misrecognition of time. 

According to many traditions, Christmas or Christmastide is actually twelve days and ends with Epiphany. In twelve days of ritual time we go from the birth of Christ to Epiphany.

Thus, the Christmas story, more than most Christian stories has a tendency to mesh the beginning and end of Christ's life. 

Arguably all of these are examples of a 'misrecognition' of time and place with believers being invited to participate in witnessing the birth of Christ as if it is currently happening. 

Collective Effervescence and Star Wars: The Force Awakens

(Warning some spoilers ahead)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens had the most advance ticket sales of any movie ever in America and it has done so across the world, including the United Kingdom and Russia.


There is even a rise in the number of people practicing the religion of Jedism. While I personally prefer Star Trek over Star Wars, I have to admit Star Wars is better able to bring people together into what Emile Durkheim calls collective effervescence, when a community comes together and simultaneously communicates the same thought and participate in the same action. 


Thanks to good friends I was able to see The Force Awakens on opening weekend. The theater was packed.

Ritual:

Like religious rituals people prepared for the movie with great care. There were costumes, light sabers, and a collective recap of the movies.


We waited for the advent of the new movie. Much the same way some Christians wait for the advent of Christ: "Not everyone can wait: neither the sated nor the satisfied nor those without respect can wait." (From a famous Advent devotional by Bonhoeffer).


We respect Star Wars. Granted some amount of commercialism has caused our lack of satiation and satisfaction with the completeness of the story. At least in the sense that now we know there will be more, we won't be satisfied until we see the story unfold. 

Previously, I wrote a review of Film as Religion and complained that it neglected Durkheim's insights into ritual via collective effervescence. It neglected to think deeply about these insights both to understand certain tropes in movies/television and to understand the movie experience itself.

Movies shouldn't typically be compared to religious experiences, rituals, or myths. But some movies lend themselves to this comparison more readily. My top three picks this type of comparison are: 1) Rocky Horror Picture Show 2) Harry Potter and 3) Star Wars.  


So what was happening that could be considered ritualistic at this movie that doesn't happen at most movies?


Prior to the movie itself, I along with a few friends watched the first six movies in anticipation of the new movie. Similar to how some Christians read and contemplate advent devotionals weeks before Christmas. 



The day we were seeing the movie, some of us thought specifically about our attire. One wore a Chewbacca onesie and I wore a shirt that said "Come to the nerd side we have pi."



On the car ride to the movie, we listened to scores from the first six movies and "Yoda" by Weird Al. Some of us also sang "The Saga Begins" as we waited in line. 



The content of Star Wars: The Force Awakens lent itself to a communal experience as well. The reveal of Millenium Falcon, Han Solo and Chewbacca, Leia, C3PO, R2D2, and lastly Luke Skywalker were greeted by communal applause.


In these moments specifically everyone in the movie theater was participating in the same activity having the same thoughts. We collectively effervesced. 

Myth:

(Spoilers immediately ahead)

Myth is often about repetition. And Star Wars is a modern myth and it was designed to be so. Levi-Strauss, a scholar of myth in the 20th century proposed that myths always reference previous myths.  

"The layered structure of myth...allows us to look upon myth as a matrix of meanings which are arranged in lines or columns, but in which each level always refers to some other level, which ever way the myth is read." -- Levi-Strauss Raw and the Cooked, pg. 340 

George Lucas studied Joseph Campbell's monomyth extensively, but in some ways it makes more sense to look at Star Wars in terms of Levi-Strauss's structuralism because The Force Awakens mirrors Star Wars: A New Hope.

In both movies Rey, the protagonist and a force user, is found on a remote planet, comes into possession of a droid(s) that the villains of the movie are searching for, planets are blown up by a large weapon stationed in space, this in turn gets blown up by the good guys, and the force user is told to go to a master for further training. 



There were also interesting twists. Kylo Ren, a dark force user, was struggling to keep with the dark side, Rey the force user in this film starts to discover her powers on her own, and new Sith powers were revealed. 



Levi-Strauss proposed that each myth works in terms of binaries (light side v. dark side). Also in each myth there will be mediating figures who mediate or resolve these oppositions. They are in between. Kylo Ren is a mediating figure because it is revealed that he trained with Luke and was having trouble living up to his idol/grandfather Darth Vader.  

Bottom Line:

Immediately after the movie we jumped up and down, talked about the movie, and discussed future possibilities for the next. 



I asked a friend if he had a religious experience. He enthusiastically said yes, that he felt like the whole universe was laid out in front of him. 


If you are sympathetic with the idea of collective effervescence, the reliance of religion on myth, or even sympathetic to a personal experiential theory of religion, then its hard to deny that under certain conditions a movie, such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens, can bring about a religious experience. 

Spotlight on Witchcraft II: A Samhain Sabbat

Samhain (pronounced so-wen) is generally considered to be the Pagan New Year, celebrated by witches (Wiccans) in the Northern hemisphere. (Since the celebrations are tied to nature, Samhain is celebrated at a different time of the year in the Southern hemisphere). 


Samhain is associated with harvesting and thus the time when plants stop their growth. Often called the festival of the dead, it is the time when witches believe that the veil between the living and the dead is the thinnest. 


I had the fortune of spending Samhain with witches in Salem. Based on my amateur estimate there were about 200 in attendance of the Samhain Sabbat at Gallows Hill Park. 


Most were wearing black cloaks, some were wearing costumes that would be more associated with Halloween rather than Samhain. 


(That's to be expected, some witches believe that you should dress as something you wish to emulate in the new year for Samhain. So if you want to perceive yourself as more powerful you can dress up as Thor.)


I met up with a group of witches in front of Nu Aeon, a magical supply shop, and from there we walked to Gallows Hill Park where 19 people accused of being witches had been hanged in 1692 (or at least one of our guesses where this happened).

Celtic Knot

During this walk, volunteers were asked to carry banners, such as a naked Artemis, Celtic Knot, and the wheel of Hecate.

At the beginning of the walk, I heard shouts of Jesus! Jesus! directed at us. 



The walk was approximately 1.6 miles and through virtually every residential area there were people were recording our walk with their cell phones. 

Wheel of Hecate

When my group arrived, there were already some people there doing ritual preparations. Some were drumming and some were drawing a magic circle with what I suspect to be sea salt. 


It was chilly, but not too cold. The trees in the park were starting to turn different shades of orange, red, and yellow. It looked like autumn; it looked like harvest time. 



People already in the circle left the circle to come greet us so that we could form the circle with everyone. I saw people walking slowly through an arch adorned with fall colored plants similar to one that might be used for an outdoor fall wedding. 


As I got closer there were gatekeepers in black robes, many hiding behind mirrors. They were tasked with asking questions prior to our entrance into the circle. 


One woman sprinkled water on me with a feather and asked me what I was going to leave behind (remember its the Pagan New Year). I answered doubts. 


Next there was a pair of women with mirrors, one of which asked me who I was and how I served humanity. I answered that I was a writer and I served humanity by being fair to those I write about.


These were deep questions and with an estimated 100 people behind me waiting to be let through, it was more pressure than I expected. But, I did manage my answers relatively quickly and was allowed to enter. 



Finally after being asked to gaze into a mirror I was allowed through the threshold and enter the circle. 



It took some time for everyone to go through this ritual, so I stood there observing for some time before anything happened. 


During this time priests wearing colorful robes greeted everyone in the circle. One of them was passing  around Dandelion seeds to remember my ancestors. (Remember the veil between the living and the dead is the thinnest on this day). 


Once everyone was in the circle we did what was called a spiral dance. (Well most of us walked). But as we did so we interwove with other parts of the circle while chanting/singing:

We are a circle

Within a circle

With no beginning

And never ending 

After this, it took us some time to reform the circle. Also, at the request of the leaders we formed two circles. 


After this rearrangement was done we asked the Guardians of the North, East, South, and West to protect the circle separately and in a singsong chant. 


Then we asked protection from the Horned God and the Triple Goddess (remember Wiccans have a duotheistic theological system)


While we had the protection of the circle we were asked to recall our ancestors and feel their presence with us. When allowed I like to at least attempt to immerse myself in the experience. So I brought to my mind my grandfather. 


And I did remember.  I do not think this is magic, if by magic you mean supernatural; but rather a psychological effect. I remembered how he would give me high fives. 


I remembered him watching Westerns usually with John Wayne. He complained that at the beginning of a movie the good guy couldn't shoot, couldn't fight, and had 4 shots in his 6 shooter, but at the end of the movie he was deadly accurate, fought well, and had 10 shots in his 6 shooter. 


Then we were asked to say out loud what we wanted for the future. I did not respond to this, but many others did. Some of the answers were: peace, love, harmony, religious tolerance, and the like. 


After this someone returned wine, bead, and milk to the earth as a sacrifice and then offered a dumb supper (a supper offered in silence) to our ancestors. 


This was a minimalistic dumb supper, in that we were only tasked with staying quiet for a few moments. Unlike more elaborate dumb suppers. 


At the end we asked the Guardians, the Horned God, and the Goddess to go in peace. And it was remarked by one of the leaders who went by the name Gypsy that they were blessed to live in a place where they could practice their magic openly. 



Then the leaders praised the police escort for accompanying us on our way back to Salem. 


They passed out pentacle cookies and we lit candles to further honor our ancestors on our walk back. The lit candles were placed at a grave site in further remembrance at the end of our walk back.


(I will give analysis and recap of Wicca in my final post.) 

Spotlight on Christian Science II: Visit to the Mother Church

Last post I wrote that metaphysically and theologically, Christian Science, is at best on the fringes of Christianity.  I overemphasized the theological differences in my last post and this will be addressed in future posts. 


For now, let me simply state that there are significant theological differences, including: a reinterpretation of the Trinity, original sin, and reconciliation of God and man.


Before entering the Mother Church you are taken aback by the grandeur of the building. It is gorgeous and is located next to the building that houses the Boston Symphony. When you walk in, there is a reception desk and behind it tables with a variety of Christian Science literature. Many of the walls are adorned with Bible verses and quotes from Mary Baker Eddy.


Services are very rooted in American Protestant style Christianity. The largest difference is that Christian Scientists do not perform any sacrament. Catholics acknowledge seven and most Protestants acknowledge two: baptism and communion. 

Two Lecterns for Two Readers: Bible and Interpretation

At the beginning of the service, the two speakers (a man and a woman) informed us that this was a healing service. (Though, outside of references to theology and doctrine there was no explicit attempt to heal anyone in this service).



One of these readers were responsible for reading passages from the Bible chosen by the board of directors, sometimes a year in advance. The other reader was responsible for reading the spiritual meaning of the scripture found in Eddy's Science and Health, reviewed in the last post. (Science and Health and the Bible are the only recognized pastors in Christian Science).


Hymns were chosen from the Christian Science Hymnal. These hymns often referenced the oneness of God and sometimes referred to God as Father-Mother.



Towards the end there was a solo vocalist, accompanied by a keyboard. The song referenced the theological idea that we are reflections of God and that God is infinite. The exit music was played by an organist. 

Inside the main sanctuary of the First Church of Christ Scientist

Ritually, the biggest difference between Christian Science and most other forms of Christianity is the lack of sacraments. They do not celebrate communion or baptism sacramentally, but rather spiritually. 


After the service, I took a tour of the old edifice, which is currently used during Wednesday night meetings. 



This edifice invoked the sense of traditional Christianity even further. It featured stained glass windows of Jesus' various healing miracles, the art emphasized Jesus' power over death and disease. 

Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. 

Next door was the Mary Baker Eddy Library. This was also an immaculate building and I paid six dollars to see the Mapparium. 

The Mappariaum was like being inside a globe of the earth, but with countries present to about 1935. Thus, on this map Russia was the Soviet Union and parts of Africa were still ruled by colonial powers. 

It was accompanied by an audio-visual representation. Most of the content was non-religious; however, there were hints of philosophical idealism, that ideas shape the world, which is consistent with the theology of Christian Science. 

The rest of the exhibit was mostly an understandably idealized portrayal of Eddy's life (if you go to the Vatican, you are not going to see extended critiques of Catholicism). It also promoted the Christian Science Monitor, a secular newspaper started by Eddy.

Bottom Line:

As the second installment of my series on Christian Science, I am prepared to come to a conclusion. Christian Science is a type of Christianity. The lack of rituals and the theological differences give me some reservation. 

If I thought religion was about belief, I might come to a different conclusion. As Christian Science strays from most Christian theologies. (Though, again, I admit I over-emphasized the differences in my last post, I will touch on this in later posts). But seeing a Christian Science service in person I was struck more by the similarities rather than differences.