Sorority Not Knowing Ritual?!
 

One of my best friends in my sorority has a best friend that is in another sorority on campus. I won't mention the name but they are a great group on our campus. Well, their nationals representative was in about 3 weeks ago. The sister in the other sorority made a comment to my friend along the lines of "Yeah, we are going to have a practice session today because we never do formal chapter (ie ritual) and we don't know how to do it or anything about it." She went on to say that since initiation she had not participated in their ritual and they all needed to review for the nationals rep.

Now, I believe my sister, but this seems really crazy. Maybe this woman was just a fluke or was exaggerating? I don't want to believe that any group would not do their ritual frequently; it's one of the most important aspects of sorority life, in my opinion. Lets you know what you are all about! And certainly they have a nationals rep at least once a year that they would have to do ritual with!:confused:

Anyway, this has really been bothering me. Does this line up with anything on your campuses?? Is it possible??

While it does seem shocking that this chapter does not know its own Ritual, I think it's very possible.

I don't know how it is with the other sororities on campus, but I know that my chapter's foundation is based upon our Ritual. Chapter meetings and ceremonies would not be the same without it!

I don't know how a chapter would not know their own Ritual. We've had crappy Ritual chairs in the past, but regardless of that, everyone knew each part of Ritual. You couldn't be a member without knowing it. If we needed help with something or if we were unsure about a specific Ritual part, that's where Advisors and Alumnae come in. It was as simple as that.

It's just shocking to hear that this chapter only made it a point to learn and know their Ritual when their national representative came in to town. Sounds like an issue that they should really work on!

I believe it
 

I absolutley believe that. My chapter was wearing the wrong thing to pledging. We had ALWAYS worn black. Everyone wears all formal black dresses. Well come to find out in the winter time-nope! supposed to be white. How that got mixed up-I don't know. Our chapter was doing this from the beginning of time. theladies that founded our chapter were like what the?????? Why are ya'll wearing white. Finally we had an advisor from another state assigned to us and she clued us in. Also, There are a few things during initiation that had been explained wrong to us. I met a sister from Louisianna one time and she said something to me about-"it", and I was like what? and she was so shocked that I didn't know what she was talking about. She affiliated with our chapter and told me one night ath if national knew how did things, we'd be shut down. Apparently we had it ALL wrong.

Also-just a thought-we have formal and informal meetings. If a chapter chooses to have informal meetings-they may not do all the ritual stuff that is done at fomral meeitns. We have one informal meeting a month and we don't do all the "stuff". Maybe that's what she means.

Re: I believe it
 

That's exactly what was happening. The chapter was always having informal chapter meetings, never having formal with ritual. My chapter has informal once every month or two also, but of course we all know the ritual. It's important to find a time to do it, as you said.

We had formal, ritual chapter once a month, and the rest of the time it was informal. Our chapter always had a ritual practice before a NO came in because they didn't only quiz us on ritual chapter meetings, but also intitiation. The older sisters knew it because they have done it so often, but the younger girls weren't as secure in it. If we didn't securely know it, everyone had the gist of it, at least. I hope everything goes well with your friend's chapter!

BlueViolet: Yeah, we had a few of those "OMG!" moments....like we were singing a ritual song to the completely wrong tune. :p

Hard to imagine not knowing your ritual.. My chapter probably does about 4/5 of our meetings with ritual. Of course we were a colony for 3 years and are now VERY happy to finally have a ritual.

We never had formal chapter meetings...as they were on Sunday nights, we were lucky if we got out of our jammies to attend, to be perfectly honest. At the beginning of the year we had a formal meeting, but that was it. For us, weekly meetings really had nothing to do with ritual.

My little sis went to AGD's convention a couple of years ago, and she told me that her roommate (who was president of a different chapter) asked her to go over ritual with her in their room before they had to go do it at convention, because their chapter hardly ever does it and she couldn't remember it. I can't imagine not knowing ritual; what's the point of a fraternity or sorority without it?

WE have a ritual book and it gives directions on everything from where exactly candles should be placed etc. So it is hard to mess up because all the ritual chair needs to do is follow the book.
I would think other chapters have some resources available to them. Also isn't there an advisor to help out in these situations?

If your friend is a newer sister meaning she was in the last initiated pledge class, than I don't think that it is a big deal. If she was initiated three years ago, there is definitely a problem. Either way, it is a good thing that they brushed for a national rep.

Well, I can't speak for other chapters, but all that stuff isn't done except at ceremonies. We don't drag out candles and all that for formal chapter meetings. "Knowing ritual" is more about remembering the core, non-publicly stated beliefs and creeds of the sorority.

I couldn't agree more. On the livejournal community sororitygirl one of the members posted a great speech by I think a Sigma Chi alum on the importance of ritual--it's one of the most special and precious things about Greek life. I can't imagine not at least being familiar with it.

She is a junior (pledged spring 2001) so she should probably know by know. Agreed that it is good that they did learn it! :)

There should be ample books and resources for any national sorority or fraternity, IMHO. I know that my chapter has lots of them, but we're relatively new (chartered 1992). I can see where older chapters might have moved away from their founding heritage more, but it seems that they should be able to get the resources they need pretty easily (from nationals, from a nearby chapter, or from advisors (I know we have several alums in our teenie college town, as well as a Pi Phi alum house mom and two Pi Phis on the faculty!). I just don't see any excuse for not knowing ritual whatsoever. I can see maybe being unclear on the tunes of songs (heck, I'm unclear on the tunes of most things :D!) or not actually doing it that often--but I firmly believe that you should know it. I can see where you might view it as a waste of time, but personally, it's added so much to my life that I can't begin to explain. Even my roomie, who's an atheist (we have a Christian-based ritual) says it means so much to her. It gives us something special--it's what distinguishes us from just another club.

Am I way out of touch here? I hope not...

You're not out of touch. I think your story is symptomatic of a bigger problem. If you don't know your ritual, in my opinion, you haven't taken its ideals and teachings to heart. I've seen entire chapters that regard Ritual as some kind of funny anacronysm they have to go through once a semester to stay in good standing. And guess what? Those chapters are no longer there.

When you see serious problems like hazing, excessive drinking and drugs running rampant in a chapter, you know they're not really *listening* to Ritual. And eventually, those charters will get yanked, the media goes nuts on the latest story, and lawsuits get filed. And the worst part is that much of the time we bring it on ourselves. :(

Please don't misunderstand me--I'm not saying that your friend's chapter is hazing or anything like that. But if more fraternity men and women *really* paid close attention to their Ritual, and worked at *living* the ideals of their Ritual every single day...I think many of our risk management and image problems would simply take care of themselves.

Sorry, I know I just got waaaay off topic, but stories like yours set me off on this tangent every single time I hear them.

Back to your regularly scheduled thread. :)

You're probably thinking about Secret Thoughts of a Ritual, which has been passed around and shared by many GLO's. (Google turned this copy up at the Kappa Sig website; I think the author -- Edward M. King, Dean of Men at Bradley University -- may have been a Lambda Chi, but I'm not sure).

Or, you might be thinking of Sigma Chi's Essays on a Fraternity's Ritual (which is accompanied on Sigma Chi's website with the disclaimer "Don't fret. This can, and perhaps should, be viewed by non-members").

Both are excellent resources for all Greeks.

Were kinda in a different boat.

Not including the new alumni ritual (which none of us understand), we have 7 rituals, and only one is esoteric - The initiation ritual. We do our business meeting ceremony once a month, but its real simple and open. Our ritual of initiation is a bit of a bear. We only perform it for initiations. Our chapter used to do a lot of things wrong in it, which were well intentioned, but took away from the spirit and understanding of it. I was elected chapter ritualist, and saw my first international ritual, then saw it performed at a colony instilation. I got to play an integral role in it and finally understood it and its essence. Brought those changes back to the chapter and for the most part the brothers embraced the changes. We learned the meanigns behind what is said / done and it took on a whole new life in the chapter. Our guys live/ eat/ breathe our ritual performance and technical mastery is expected. Its a point of pride for us. Eventually, we gained the reputation for executing a flawless ritual, and then began to be asked to help initiate colonies in the area, which to me, is the highest ritualistic copliment that can be paid to a chapter.

Of course the challenge is to live up to the values expressed in our ritual, and constantly push ourselves and our brothers/sisters to attain those ideals.

When I went to our National Convention this past summer, I witnesses an intiation ceremony. It was beautiful; and I was pleased to see that we did it the "right way"! I think what may have happened to this particular chapter is that they have not emphasized ritual in quite some time. I can tell you that I learn something new everytime I witness our intiation ceremony or ritual in general. I do agree, however, that it does seem a little sad that the only time the group was concerend was when they recieved a National visit.

MysticCat, thanks for posting both of those links. They're outstanding. Read the Sigma Chi one while substituting your own letters/terminology for Sigma Chi's. If that doesn't drive the point home, nothing will.

I cannot fathom not knowing ritual. I'm sorry, but I just cannot. If a chapter finds itself so far away from it's foundation to not have time or not want to regularly celebrate ritual, then there's a problem. It breaks my heart. It does. Any sorority or fraternity's rituals are not something to be done because we as members "have". It's what each organization's founders wished to provide their members for the future, and is what they envisioned for their sorority or fraternity, their ideals. Ritual is what makes each of our organizations what it has been, what it is, and what it will become in the future.

Greeklawgirl summed it up well: If you don't regularly celebrate what makes your chapter a part your sorority or fraternity, why are you there? There's nothing wrong with informal meetings or anything like that, but without ritual there's nothing to bind us to each other and our organizations.


Christin
(the opinions expressed above are my own, and not intended to reflect any official position of AOII or any other greek letter organization.)

I think we're getting on two different topics here....

breathesgelatin originally started the thread re a chapter on her campus that did not include certain ritual aspects in their meetings, as is apparently their national tradition. Then people got to talking about how to perform initiation, etc. IMO these are two totally different things. It is perfectly understandable that someone who has only been a member for a short time would not remember aspects of the initiation ceremony.

As Lana said, our ritual is written and explicit directions are given about how it is to be performed. I had assumed everyone had something similar. I'm starting to imagine some initiations that go "I state your name..." ;)

I can't imagine not knowing ritual... We have to have at least two formal meetings (with ritual) a month... it's required by national... We can't hold things like elections and such if it's not a formal meeting. Everything from initiation and formal meeting to installation of Exec- Board is in our ritual book, so we've never really done anythig wrong as long as you follow the book... everything goes smoothly. I can't imagine that there wouldn't be some sort of book or guidance for ceremonies... just for the fact that things can get done wrong if everything is just passed on from people's memories...

I have heard of chapters that rarely have formal/ritual meetings throughout the year. I knew one fraternity on campus that, at that time, only had ritual meetings during initiation.

I know my chapter has it writen in our constitution (i'm not sure if local or international) that we must have a ritual meeting twice per month which means we usually have two formal and two informal meetings a month... This allows the sisters the chance to do all the things we do and to hear those words we hold so dear.

However, usually a couple times a year, we have a sisterhood, an informal gathering, to sit down and actually talk about our values, our ritual and what it means to us and to talk about how we can "live" our ritual every day.

I remember times when i was president and a few sisters would complain about formal meetings, having to wear pin attire and going through the process, but i'd just have to tell them this is who we are and they should enjoy doing it.

I think before you pass judgement on this sorority, you need to realize that every GLO does things differently. Some may have/do ritual at every meeting, others may only do it once a month, some may do them only 1 time a semester. and not everyone performs ritual at formal meetings- for some, they may not be the same thing.

I know what that is like. I know my chapter still sings some songs wrong. In addition we have actually been told we had been doing some of ritual wrong. A lot of this has to do with the fact that up until this year we have not had an advisor. Just one of those things to keep in mind when people keep saying well isnt that what an advisor is for. I know we have had issues with my chapter and having one, because we go to a school where people dont usually stay in the town after they graduate. Anyways...just something to keep in mind. I still cannot picture not knowing ritual though.

OMG, Sheila!! You made me snarf my hot tea! Ouch!

My Initation was totally different than most!

While I have seen the Ritual many times, it still raises the hair on the back of my neck from the importantance of what it means! I to this day still see things that I missed.

I do not understand, that if this is a Ritual Ceremony that is done at least twice a year that they would not know what it is about!

There is a difference in being on the Ritual Team and sitting watching!

But not to know, what is that all about! Am I to dense to understand?

I had a Brother recited his part over the phone today as we were talking about Ritual. He is # 54. Well we have over 600 +.

Importance of Ceremonies/rituals
 

I think its also tied in with a general issue of a lack of 'rituals' in our society, and thus a lack of appreciation of their importance and usefulness.

To add to what someone else noted, the Boy Scouts of American published in their magazine for adult leaders a good article on the importance of ritual. Here's the link http://www.scoutingmagazine.org/arch...09/a-rite.html while the focus is on the ceremonies used in Scouting, much of what is said can apply to the rituals in GLOs.

Hope this helps

Michael Brown

Interesting thread.

There are a few different things here...

1. "Not knowing ritual" in terms of not knowing/remembering specific secrets imparted to new members during their initiation, like how to do the handshake, the tune of a song, how to set up the initiation site (which after a year and a half as ritualist, I will never forget :p ). Not a huge deal... these are essentially tangibles. A few minutes with the ritual book or a member who knows it well and it'll come back.

2. "Not knowing ritual" in terms of not knowing the specific practices to be carried out during (formal) chapter meetings. I think this is what breathesgelatin is getting at. If you're supposed to be doing certain things every week or every other week at chapter - you'd better be doing them. Again, to some degree they're tangibles, but it serves as a regular reminder of my third point...

3. "Not knowing ritual" in terms of not having internalized the ideals of your sister/brotherhood and not living them every day. *This* is the real problem.

aephi alum--that pretty much sums up exactly what i'm trying to say. thanks.

I think it's all right if newer members are still a little sketchy on some of the really apecific things that you learn in initiation, but I think if you're not doing your meeting ritual at least a time a month or so, you're not going to remember or be aware of the wonderful values your organization has when it comes down to it.

This must be an ADPi thing! When I was a newbie, our pledge mother told us that the National Blessing was sung to the tune of "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" and, if you really compare the two, she wasn't off by much. Unfortunately, I still tend to sing it that way. Just to get back at me (I'm sure! :rolleyes: ), I cringe when I hear some of the ways other songs are currently sung.

And, I shouldn't admit this, but we were SO frightened/excited at pledging, that at least half of us DID say, "I state your name..."! I fondly remember one of the sisters saying in a stage whisper, "Oh, I'm not so sure about this bunch!"

honeychile

LOL!! Too funny...

not to give too much away but....
 

inititation boo-boo's:
-almost burning the house down
-trying not to laugh because damn-we look funny (you KNOW what I am talking about)
-loosing your place when you're reading-ouch
-spending months memorizing your lines only to say them out of order b/c you are so nervous
-MISPRONOUNCING ALL THOSE WORDS IN GREEK_AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!
-mispronouncing the pledges name
-mispronouncing your own name!
I really don't think I gave way anything secret here-I I did, some one edit me.

Re: not to give too much away but....
 

I don't know if this is taboo, but it sure is funny! LOL! ;)

Sadly, my chapter doesn't do *that* many rituals. When we do, only the people who have major parts in it ever see our ritual books. Most of us don't have a clue what's in them. I would think that it would be okay for initiated sisters to be able to read through the ritual books, but I guess not. I don't know if it's like that for other organizations though.

We actually have occasional ritual reading nights... Basically a few initiates will show up at the house and just read the ritual. Refresh themselves, etc. I know that every time I read it or hear it I get something different from it.

If you don't pay much attention to your ritual you're missing out on something huge.

Ditto to ktsnake's comments -- right on target.

It should not only be okay for initiated sisters (or brothers) to read through ritual books, it should be encouraged. We certainly encourage brothers to study and be very familiar with our Ritual.

And our national constitution requires that "All rituals of the fraternity shall be presented from memory."

After I got initiated I asked the ritual chair if I could look at the book and she goes "Well, I guess, but there isn't much in here..."

Hmmmmm
When are you holding elections? Maybe you should run for Ritual chair because she is obviously not very interested.

Our president keeps all the ritual stuff at her place. I mentioned something to our old president (we just had officer transitions) about looking at the ritual book once, and she just gave me a look like "and just why do you want to look at it?" It was like I had just committed a no-no of sorts, going to ground I shouldn't.

We have a new one now, who I am living with next semester, so hopefully I'll get to see it then! ;)

I just got elected Chaplin :D So I will make sure no more oopsies.

That is crazy! All initiated brothers or sisters should be able to read their ritual books! It should only be kept secret from those who are not members of the GLO (obviously) but to keep it hidden from sisters scares me for some reason.