A new book by Ulysses Black. Published by Ararita House 2020 isbn 9780957017986 120pp available from Midian Books (here).

From the back cover:

“Cults have a powerful influence over their members, reaching control into all different aspects of life, while their adherents submit to all manner of behaviour modification and perception-altering activities - often with a fervent enthusiasm. It is perhaps because of these degrees of modification, conditioning and control, that cults frequently use ritual within their tool kit.

This book is not about the rituals used by cults, but rather leads the reader down a far more speculative road. This book asks whether there is anything to be learned from the breadth of cult behaviour and process that ritual practitioners can bring into their rituals to further invigorate and deepen the experiences had and shaped by them.

As part of the ‘Ritual Lens’ series by Ulysses Black, this text is intended for anyone interested in understanding how we can enhance our engagement with our ritual practice.”

The structure of the book follows a linear trajectory from the initial contact with a hypothetical cult (whose qualities are drawn from the breadth of existing cults) following through joining, to deeper membership and finally leaving. This is a device used to organise the various elements, which are not taken from any existing literature on cults, but rather from my own understanding of both them and rituals.

Each chapter begins with the description of the quality as encountered within this archetypal cult, with the immediate next section forming the ‘Ritual Context’ where i consider how this cult practice might be seen within ritual practice, and speculate how our understanding of it within cult practice might then inform the decisions we make in our own ritual practice. The chapter is then finished with a ‘Ritual Rule’ in which i attempt to consolidate the speculations into applicable ritual practices suited to almost any different ritual as the reader or practitioner may encounter.

To purchase a copy of this book follow the link here.

THE RITUAL LENS: ONGOING RESEARCH INTO THE NATURE OF RITUAL

I have been investigating - researching, practicing, teaching, studying ritual for almost 30years, during which time many practical ideas have developed, and many more questions arisen. In response to this, as part of the ‘Ulysses Black Initiative’ I devised a focal point for my researches, to share with others interested in the different elements found in ritual studies and practice. This would be The Ritual Lens.
This particular book on Cults as seen ‘through’ the Ritual Lens blossomed into a much larger volume than the intended ‘Zine’ format I had settled on for publishing my ritual research, and so it breaks the format becoming a book in its own right.

Because I am fascinated by ritual in all its iterations The Ritual Lens is currently engaged in preparing material as diverse as: Robots & Rituals, Rituals in Film, The Ritual Vortex Theory, the Funeral Sidekick and much much more.

Other editions of the The Ritual Lens include:
”The Marriage of Difference” looking at ‘ritual antinomy’ through the example of a performance work by artist Joseph Beuys
”The Gate to Meaning” looking at how rituals create meaning in themselves and the lives of experiencers.

If you are a practitioner or student of Ritual Studies and you wish to contact me regarding this research please do so via the email address at the front page of the website.