Ritual is psychodrama. For the most part, tools or ritual aids are only there to help us jar our subconscious minds into an altered state. Think of our waking consciousness as being a barrier to psychic and magickal abilities. Conditioned to dealing with purely physical aspects of the world, our waking minds block out the subtle states we seek in magickal rites. That’s why ritual is so important. It helps us break down our barriers and be more receptive to the unseen energies surrounding us.

You get out of a ritual what you put into it. And most rites need a significant amount of power. You cannot perform magick by only going through the motions, so to speak. You have to add energy or power to your words and actions in any ritual. It’s a matter of giving what you’ll ultimately receive. You need to expel some of your own power to make them work. You get what you give. The main factor or determinant is energy. The power of magic comes from within you. Ritual is the method to unleash that power.