8.1.21 Ritual and The Wishing trees 2
I've reflected on ritual and the Wishing trees in terms of place and time and more generally about ritual here but there are also ritualistic actions involved in the Wishing tree. There are certain things that I did on a daily or sometimes more than once a day, especially at the beginning of the project, which have some element of ritual to them. Maybe its the repetition or the actions that make them ritualistic? These actions were walking (to the trees), writing (labels), ripping (strips of cloth to tie on the trees), tying (labels and strips of cloth to the trees), connecting on social media. It's clear that as the project developed I wasn't the only one enacting these practices regularly. Many others seemed to be doing the same kinds of actions around the Wishing trees. We became a community of sorts, virtual, on social media, but also because we didn't gather at the trees all together at any time. It was like an invisible host of participants, going to the tree to leave their mark or contribution or just going to the trees. A curious communion!
'In psychology, the term ritual is sometimes used in a technical sense for a repetitive behavior systematically used by a person to neutralize or prevent anxiety;' (Wikipedia, 2020) Although this is talking expressly about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, I do find that ritual, order helps me to cope with anxiety, and I know that the Wishing trees helped other people in similar ways.
Anthropologist, Mary Douglas, discusses rituals, saying s that they 'create unity in experience.' (Douglas, 1966, p3) That is clearly evident in this case. She goes on to say 'Within these patterns disparate elements are related and disparate experience is given meaning.' (ibid) and 'it is impossible to have social relations without symbolic acts.' (ibid, p78) Sop, our social relations are bound up with symbolic acts. It feels to me as if somehow, the combination of place, time, and actions ensured that this socially engaged project became a symbol of connectedness. Very lovely.
Douglas, M (1966) Purity and Danger. An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
Wikipedia (2020) Ritual Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual (Accessed: 11 November 2020)
'In psychology, the term ritual is sometimes used in a technical sense for a repetitive behavior systematically used by a person to neutralize or prevent anxiety;' (Wikipedia, 2020) Although this is talking expressly about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, I do find that ritual, order helps me to cope with anxiety, and I know that the Wishing trees helped other people in similar ways.
Anthropologist, Mary Douglas, discusses rituals, saying s that they 'create unity in experience.' (Douglas, 1966, p3) That is clearly evident in this case. She goes on to say 'Within these patterns disparate elements are related and disparate experience is given meaning.' (ibid) and 'it is impossible to have social relations without symbolic acts.' (ibid, p78) Sop, our social relations are bound up with symbolic acts. It feels to me as if somehow, the combination of place, time, and actions ensured that this socially engaged project became a symbol of connectedness. Very lovely.
Douglas, M (1966) Purity and Danger. An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
Wikipedia (2020) Ritual Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual (Accessed: 11 November 2020)