What has GC taught you?

[susan314]

Originally Posted by cuteASAbug

My question is- how would they know? 9 pnm's out of 10 would not walk into a recruitment party and go "hey, I want to be an Alpha Gamma Delta because I already have your ritual and I think it's beautiful."

I think that knowing the ritual of the GLO that you pledged prior to initiation would spoil the meaning of the whole ceremony for you - part of the fun of initiation is finally having everything revealed to you.

As far as knowing the rituals for other GLOs...I suppose I'd be lying if I didn't say that I had a mild curiosity about stuff. However, despite that mild curiosity I wouldn't actually try to find anything out b/c its none of my business. I extend the same courtesy to other groups' ritual as I would want extended to my own.

I suppose on some level it disturbs me a little that there are people out there trading rituals, but its one of those things that we just have to let go b/c we'll never be able to stop it. In the long run, our ritual is more than just what's written on paper...its the actual feeling and experience you get from being in the room with your sisters and hearing the words spoken by them, etc. I've seen written copies of our ritual (legitimately, b/c I used to have a role in my chapter's initiation ceremony ), and I can honestly say that reading it on paper pales in comparison to actually being there for a real live ceremony. Knowing some of the secrets doesn't give you the full experience.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by susan314

I think that knowing the ritual of the GLO that you pledged prior to initiation would spoil the meaning of the whole ceremony for you - part of the fun of initiation is finally having everything revealed to you.

As far as knowing the rituals for other GLOs...I suppose I'd be lying if I didn't say that I had a mild curiosity about stuff. However, despite that mild curiosity I wouldn't actually try to find anything out b/c its none of my business. I extend the same courtesy to other groups' ritual as I would want extended to my own.

I suppose on some level it disturbs me a little that there are people out there trading rituals, but its one of those things that we just have to let go b/c we'll never be able to stop it. In the long run, our ritual is more than just what's written on paper...its the actual feeling and experience you get from being in the room with your sisters and hearing the words spoken by them, etc. I've seen written copies of our ritual (legitimately, b/c I used to have a role in my chapter's initiation ceremony ), and I can honestly say that reading it on paper pales in comparison to actually being there for a real live ceremony. Knowing some of the secrets doesn't give you the full experience.

Exactly. I know that there are people out there trading my, and other people's rituals, but you can kind of just shrug it off. It doesn't mean anything to them and they're not any closer to being my sister because of it.

I think there are some people who legitimately are interested in rituals for more academic reasons, but that doesn't mean I'm going to hand mine out to them. (Not that I exactly keep one around either).

I suspect we're all nosy and curious, I am, but that doesn't mean you can't be mature about it. (And this sounds like the opposite of maturity to me)

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

I think there are some people who legitimately are interested in rituals for more academic reasons, but that doesn't mean I'm going to hand mine out to them. (Not that I exactly keep one around either).

I hadn't thought too much about this until yesterday when this story broke on GreekChat and someone mentioned the idea or more "legitimate" ritual collectors in a pm, but it really would be interesting historically and symbolically to examine founding principles and social influences and aspirations in terms of representations in ritual.

What did the founders choose, out of what tradition did they think they picked it, (like AOPi's rejection of having a coat of arms as Medieval and some groups avoiding the term sorority as Latin not Greek, etc.), what contemporary (to the founding) vision of womanhood, manhood, or friendship do the symbols align with? etc. There might be Ph.d in there somewhere for someone who doesn't care about oaths they've taken and secrecy.

I don't mean to go all Da Vinci Code on your butts, but symbols and their significance is pretty interesting generally.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by Alphagamuga

I hadn't thought too much about this until yesterday when this story broke on GreekChat and someone mentioned the idea or more "legitimate" ritual collectors in a pm, but it really would be interesting historically and symbolically to examine founding principles and social influences and aspirations in terms of representations in ritual.

What did the founders choose, out of what tradition did they think they picked it, (like AOPi's rejection of having a coat of arms as Medieval and some groups avoiding the term sorority as Latin not Greek, etc.), what contemporary (to the founding) vision of womanhood, manhood, or friendship do the symbols align with? etc. There might be Ph.d in there somewhere for someone who doesn't care about oaths they've taken and secrecy.

I don't mean to go all Da Vinci Code on your butts, but symbols and their significance is pretty interesting generally.

Yeah, and when I say legitimate I don't mean in the sense that it's necessarily OK for them to be doing it, just that they're not the point and giggle *OMG I Can't BELIEVE they wear CATSUITS* crowd.

[BetteDavisEyes]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

*OMG I Can't BELIEVE they wear CATSUITS* crowd.

You bitch!!! Thanks for revealing that part of our ritual!!!

[Drolefille]

Shut UP, they still don't know what color!

[Tom Earp]

LOL, people will and do collect anything, just check ebay!!!!

I know some Ritual Collectors and they hold them very close to the vest. They have couth!

Yes, I have read some and for what it is worth, each GLO has their way of doing Rituals and that is thier business.

LXA has it's own as anyone else does.

I am a member of mine and that is the one I care about!

Oh, does anyone use candles?

Guess it proves how nosey some people are and more worried about others first.

Also shows the minds of some people who worry about people to much!

[SydneyK]

Originally Posted by Alphagamuga

I hadn't thought too much about this until yesterday when this story broke on GreekChat and someone mentioned the idea or more "legitimate" ritual collectors in a pm...

Ok. I've reread this thread and I'm thinking some posts must've been deleted because I'm pretty lost. I don't really know what story broke here. Maybe you're referring to something in another thread? If so, can you point me in the right direction?

And, this brings me to something else I've learned on GC. If you want a direct answer, ask a direct question. Of course, you have to be prepared for the answer to be, "This doesn't concern you. Mind your own business."

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by SydneyK

Ok. I've reread this thread and I'm thinking some posts must've been deleted because I'm pretty lost. I don't really know what story broke here. Maybe you're referring to something in another thread? If so, can you point me in the right direction?

And, this brings me to something else I've learned on GC. If you want a direct answer, ask a direct question. Of course, you have to be prepared for the answer to be, "This doesn't concern you. Mind your own business."

I'm not sure what's still in the thread, but in essence, it has come to the attention of some GreekChat mavens that someone using the name of a frequent recruitment thread poster who had transfered schools and is planning to re-rush, solicited and received on a different message board copies of various GLOs ritual.

Post 90 has a list

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by susan314

I think that knowing the ritual of the GLO that you pledged prior to initiation would spoil the meaning of the whole ceremony for you - part of the fun of initiation is finally having everything revealed to you.

As far as knowing the rituals for other GLOs...I suppose I'd be lying if I didn't say that I had a mild curiosity about stuff. However, despite that mild curiosity I wouldn't actually try to find anything out b/c its none of my business. I extend the same courtesy to other groups' ritual as I would want extended to my own.

I suppose on some level it disturbs me a little that there are people out there trading rituals, but its one of those things that we just have to let go b/c we'll never be able to stop it. In the long run, our ritual is more than just what's written on paper...its the actual feeling and experience you get from being in the room with your sisters and hearing the words spoken by them, etc. I've seen written copies of our ritual (legitimately, b/c I used to have a role in my chapter's initiation ceremony ), and I can honestly say that reading it on paper pales in comparison to actually being there for a real live ceremony. Knowing some of the secrets doesn't give you the full experience.

You're right on so many counts. But it does bother me a little that we might have active plans in place about pins on E-bay, but nothing for ritual that I know of. I think part of what may bug me the most is that I think that while we all learn ritual as member, members don't even usually get a written copy as far as I know, so we're talking about someone with some authority being pretty casual about information members are instructed to hold dearly.

And I'm emphatically not asking anyone to explain, but it's the skulls as symbols that alway trigger my curiosity. Roses, pearls, and squirrels, while absolutely lovely and dear to my heart, just don't have the mystic impact of a skull on your badge or crest.

ETA: I feel obligated to note, I'm not goth or emo.

[KSUViolet06]

Whoa. How did I miss this? My goodness.

I wouldn't be happy if someone had a copy of my ritual. But I'd take comfort in the fact that just reading it doesn't mean you "know" it (most of it cannot be understood by reading anyway). It has to be experienced for anyone to ever truly understand it.

[ForeverRoses]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

I wouldn't be happy if someone had a copy of my ritual. But I'd take comfort in the fact that just reading it doesn't mean you "know" it (most of it cannot be understood by reading anyway). It has to be experienced for anyone to ever truly understand it.

So true. When I was in college I babysat for a family on a fairly regular basis. They had a room they called the library, and I remember looking at the books once and stumbling across a ritual book (I was a pledge at the time). So I pulled it of the shelf and looked at it. And quite honestly, it didn't make alot of sense to me- I got the gist of it, but not the emotion or the mysticism or whatever you want to call it that it would have when it was actually happening.

Would I look at it if I had the chance now? Nope. Once I went through ritual I realized what it means and how imporant it is. Mine is enough for me, I don't need to know anyone else's.