Ritual and Religious Experience – Part 5

Charles Seymour

In the last article it was pointed out that an understanding of much of the ancient Mystery ritual and teaching can often be reached through the use of psychology. This essentially the case when we come to study the reasons for, and the effects of, ritual dancing. Indeed, it would not be too much to say that in any study of “Religion” as “Experience”, one should make use of modern psychology just as readily as one would make use of the methods of historical research in the domain of the comparative study of religions.

The idea of ritual dancing in a religious service may seem strange to the unimaginative British Protestant of the 20th Century; it, however, would not have seemed at all strange to anyone living, say, two or three thousand years ago. David, we know, danced with extreme vigour before the Ark, but one cannot quite picture a modern Bishop in his Doctor of Divinity gown imitating him. Perhaps David, in spite of his family worries, was younger and more virile than many of our modern Bishops seem to be.

In early Christianity, Bishops led the faithful in sacred dances both in the churches and before the Tombs of the Martyrs. The practice was forbidden by the Council of 692AD. But the prohibition was ineffective. Centuries later, the Liturgy of Paris included the rubric: “Le chanoine ballera au premier psaume”. It would add greatly to the impressiveness of the services if those venerable University Scholars who adorn the Canon’s stalls in St Paul’s Cathedral had to dance the Psalms.

Even in the present day, dancing before the High Altar is permitted in Seville Cathedral on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, at Shrovetide, and on Corpus Christi Day.

Up to the eighteenth century, dancing by priests on saints’ days was practised in the French provinces. It is also clear from many passages in the Hebrew Psalms that ritual dancing played a part in the Temple worship and in its liturgy (Psalms 149, 3: 150, 4: Moffatt’s translation.)

It is said that a new Roman Catholic women’s order, whose emblem is the Holy Grail, is using old Gregorian Chants for public ritual dancing; it appears that the results are entirely free from irreverence, are expressive of deep devotion, and are very beautiful to watch. But then it must be remembered that they are carried out by well-trained young girls. The results might be different with well-fed middle-aged clerics.

In the Christian Gnostic Mystery Schools, dancing was used in much the same way that it was used in the Pagan Mystery Religions, that is, as a means of “raising consciousness”. In the Acts of John, there is a dance ritual, and Mead seems to think that the ceremony is that of a sacred dance of Initiation. In the following quoted in Fragments of a Faith Forgotten by GRS Mead pg431 C stands for Candidate, I for Initiator (the Christ) and A for the Assistants.

C: I would be saved.
I : And I would save.
A: Amen
C: I would be loosed.
I: And I would Loose.
A: Amen
(Grace – the Sophia – dances)
I would pipe: dance all of you
A: Amen
The ogdoad plays to our dancing. Amen.
The dodecad danceth above us. Amen.
He who danceth not, knoweth not what is being done.
I: Now respond thou to my dancing.
See thyself in Me who speak: and when thou hast seen what I do, keep
silence on my Mysteries.
(Dancing) Observe what I do…

This hymn begins and ends with a doxology to each line of which the disciples, “going round in a ring”, are said to answer back “Amen”.

Commentary by Christian Gilson

Psychology is an important tool in understanding the function of religion and its effect upon the human psyche. However, it is understandable that over the years believers have been resistant to such an approach. Mainly because psychology has been used as a blunt instrument in the attempt to reduce religious experience and dismiss it. Indeed, Freud the father of psychology saw religion as a neurosis. He argued that the Father God was a projection of our guilt that arises from the Oedipal Complex. Wherein we have effectively killed our fathers, or at least removed their authority, and as a result we seek an idealised father figure to comfort us, I over simplify but the point is clear. Freud certainly saw religion as psychological crutch that we have created to deal with the difficulties of life.

However, his greatest student Jung and many others did not share his view, and saw religion as a powerful aspect of our lived experience. Therefore, we must reject the deconstructionist views of Freud and embrace the interpretative use of psychology offered by Jung and others. These tools as Seymour argues, help us to understand the spiritual effect of religion, and its out working in our daily lives. At one level religion ted actions that unite word and physical movement, done with intention and focus. Such actions can and do have a profound effect on the mind, creating not only patterns of behaviour but allowing connection between the conscious and subconscious mind. Such connections lead the mind of the person to develop particular aspects of the self and its relation to the world around it. These ideas underpin much of what is practised today in the fields of coaching, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming.

William James describes the religious experience of the individual as being ineffable, that is, it is difficult to accurately describe using words, it is an experience that goes beyond language to express and share it. However, such experiences can and do create profound changes in the person who has had the experience, which James calls its noetic quality. Therefore, something has indeed happened and we should be able to use the tools of modern psychology to try to understand the nature of the experience and the subsequent change. Which is the view that Seymour is expressing here, and is clearly deeply influenced not only by the works of William James but also the teachings of Dion Fortune.

Seymour’s discussion of dancing in the Christian church conjures some wonderfully funny images, but regardless, he makes a very valid point. That music, literature, poetry, art all have their place in worship, so why should dance not also be included? In the late twentieth century with the charismatic movement came the urge to worship through dance, and many a formal service found itself engaging with dance performances. But in the traditional churches this seems to have been short lived. The only place where a form of dance seems to continue is within the evangelical free churches. However, here whilst being a spontaneous expression of the power of faith, the dance is more about hand waving. Indeed, it has none of the formality that Seymour implies, and I think he would find it sadly lacking.

It is also interesting to note that the contemporary examples that he shares are all to be found outside the British Isles, it seems the British expression of Christian faith has been a conservative one for many centuries, and that perhaps, is to its detriment. Perhaps this was a reaction to the continuation of pagan forms of dancing, such as the Circle Dance, within the folk traditions of the country. Associating dance with something less than Godly. Or even encouraging the faithful to engage in lewd and sinful activities, for folk music is rich with sexual imagery. Certainly, the wave of puritanism that reached its height under Cromwell would have seen dancing as being devilish, how dare we enjoy worshipping!

The power of dance to alter the state of consciousness is well known through many religions, and remains controversial. Mainstream Islam teaches that music and dance should be kept apart from worship, and for some it should even be put aside. Yet within the spiritual movement of Sufism in Islam dance is a very important part of worship. The Mevlevi are famously known to use dance to enter into a deep trance, in which the dancer is able to have contact with the divine, and channels spiritual blessings into the material world. Their movements echo the movements of the solar system as they spin about their own axis, and slowly circle the Sheik at the centre, who represents the sun. This dance begins with the mournful call of the pipes, calling the souls of the dancers from the sad separation from God, which is seen as almost calling them from the grave into true life.

Yet the use of dance in this way introduces a dimension to worship that cannot be governed. The individual is empowered to make personal contact with God, without the intermediary of the priest. As a result the visions or revelations gained through this dance cannot be controlled, or steered into the safe waters of orthodoxy, therefore, prevention seems to be the easier route, or labelling such practices as sinful or evil.

One group of religions where dance is important have suffered from this labelling. I refer to the traditional religions that grew form tribal Africa. In the various forms that exist today across the world, dance is used to alter the consciousness of the worshipper so that they may become vessels for the divine, allowing the gods to speak through them. This practice is not so different from the practice of trance mediumship used by Dion Fortune, that Seymour would have regularly participated in.

The Acts of John that Seymour refers to are a series of stories about John that first circulated in the Second Century, and were subsequently recorded, but labelled as unsuitable by the early church and are now seen as part of the Apocryphal Gnostic texts. Part of this text is an account by John of his time spent travelling with Jesus. In it there is an account that includes a circular dance initiated by Jesus, who says, “Before I am delivered to them, let us sing a hymn to the Father and so go to meet what lies before us”. Directed to form a circle around him, holding hands and dancing, the apostles cry “Amen” to the hymn of Jesus. Embedded in the text is a hymn that some consider to have originally been a liturgical song, with response, in some Johannine communities. Circle dances of this nature can still be seen practised by some Jewish groups.

It is clear that dancing has an important part to play in ritual worship, not only as way for the worshipper to express themselves, but also as a way to alter their psychological state. Then in this heightened state of consciousness the dancer can, like the Mevlevi dervish, encounter God directly, for a short while leaving their worldly concerns behind and entering into the ecstasy of union with the Divine, the full and powerful religious experience that William James calls the Mystical Experience.