Creation of Sacred Space With Mundanes Present -- a strategy

[Maracat]

Often, particularly during public memorial services but also at weddings, we must create a sacred space without "Scaring the Mundanes".  Ideally, they should be included if their subconscious allows their energy to interact. But sometimes it's just impractical to traditionally Cast a Circle, cut a door no one will cross, etc, before everyone arrives. 

 

I encountered this first at a memorial for my first teacher along the Pagan path.  I knew she would want certain things invoked in her send-off.  But I had to drive three hours to get to the memorial itself, so getting to the site before everyone else couldn't be counted upon.  As I was looking at templates for handouts (had worked with her sons and sister to identify and scan photos, and was going to organize the scanned photos in the program), I saw a gorgeous one with three lit candles for the cover photo -- green, yellow, and red.

 

What's missing?  Water, of course.  But that brought to mind the "Sword and Staff" emergency Casting -- the element of water is represented and controlled by the practitioner when creating sacred space and invoking that one-person Circle for emergency woods healing.  

 

It helped, of course, that her sons wanted the memorial to take place in a state park.  Nature is already our Temple.  The earth was all around us, there was a steady breeze, and there was a fire in the firepit because it was slightly chilly.  Water was represented by the people coming together to remember her.

 

So, I used that template for the handout, and included as part of the wording for the invitation for the potluck after w simple phrase we often used in thanking the Elemental Spirits -- "Go if you must, but stay if you will!"  

 

I did arrive after some guests, and as they started handing out the handouts, I held my breath.  And I felt their energies, at least those who were invested in the ceremony itself, coming together.  The emotions seeing the pictures of this wonderful lady throughout her life set the focus for their energies, and after I briefly spoke then invited people to share stories about her life (primed a few people to know what was coming to give others time to gather their thoughts) the feeling continued.  Certain people were obviously not "in the Circle", but they were relatives not approving of her but there because they were expected to be.  They had little desire to celebrate her life, so they essentially "weren't there" spiritually.  

 

As people departed, their energies left as well, and the nature of the celebration changed among those still present -- the energy of the sacred space, powered and controlled by the emotions of those participating, changed to the celebratory feeling after Cakes and Ale.  And as we cleaned up the pavilion, the energies did seem to go where they came from.  

 

I don't know if this idea will be helpful to others -- the handout inspired me and let me place a ritual phrase with meaning in her Tradition, but the principles we relied on were duplicated in the location as well.  But here in the South, sometimes we still need to go crypto.  This worked well, and her family was very satisfied with her sendoff being what she would have wanted.  Her sister hugged me, crying, and that made up for all my trepidation in trying to do my first teacher justice.