The Book of Uncommon Rituals (forthcoming series) is an adventurous collection of original submissions from practitioners from all over the world, spanning a wide range of spiritual paths and no spiritual path. For this series, we are collecting:
Designed as a resource for people who find themselves outside of established traditions, The Book of Uncommon Rituals will be a published collection of rituals to mark life’s key moments, from celebrations of love and new life to acknowledgements of profound loss. This series holds an expansive vision of what ritual is and what it can be, and its framework is God-optional.
We will consider all submissions for publication and all authors will be fully credited. You can find submission instructions below. We look forward to reading your beautiful work!
Ritual is a crucial way of framing human activity. From time immemorial, human beings have crafted rituals to mark important occasions, define the boundaryless space of transition, and structure the liminality of endings and new beginnings. Ritual nurtures our relationships, connects us to ourselves, others, and the world at large, and raises our awareness of the sacred qualities of all life. Ritual breaks us out of the mundaneness, numbness, and the forgetfulness of the everyday, and brings us into the immediacy of the here and now.
Ritual reminds us of who and where we are.
Today, many people live in a world bereft of ritual. More and more, we lack meaningful frameworks to draw us through the stages and complexities of life. Of the rituals that we do have, many are tied to institutions that no longer speak to our contemporary moment, and often do not feel potent or relevant. Many are thirsting for relevant ritual.
The Book of Uncommon Rituals is a collaborative creation in process. We seek submissions from a diverse community of people who long share the life-giving practices they have created or learned. We seek submissions from you: everyday people, artists and entrepreneurs, clergy and chaplains, youths and wise elders.
If you believe there is a need for vibrant ritual in our ever-changing world, please consider making a submission.
Thank you for your interest in submitting to The Book of Uncommon Rituals! Please read all instructions before submitting. Each submission will be considered for one of our forthcoming volumes. Thank you in advance for your contribution — we look forward to reviewing it!
— Editors Wesley Wildman, Melody Stanford Martin, and Dave Rohr, on behalf of the entire Wildhouse Publications team
If you have any questions about submission, please feel free to reach out to Melody Stanford Martin, mmartin@wildhousepublishing.com.
What do a transreligious mystical philosopher/data scientist, a druid activist musician/author, and an Alaskan adventurer/recovering theologian have in common?
A deep passion for supporting the spiritual quests of non-religious people and people on the creative fringes of religious organizations – including through innovative and transformative ritual. Wesley, Melody, and Dave are launching this project on behalf of the nonprofit Just Horizons Alliance and its publishing arm, Wildhouse Publishing, to produce resources that address a deep need for more relevant ritual practices in our time.
All royalties from sales of books produced through the Uncommon Rituals project are dedicated to one of Just Horizons’ initiatives of supporting the spirituality of people who are nonreligious or who dwell in the creative borderlands of traditional religious groups. We enjoy the support of a stunningly gifted team of editorial advisors who will help us gather, select, and organize contributions of the rituals that have bubbled up out of the creative genius of our contributors.
You can find out about Wesley, Melody, and Dave on the Wildhouse Publishing website. And you can find out about our amazing editorial advisors right here.
The Book of Uncommon Rituals benefits from the wisdom and guidance of the advisory board for the Ritual for the NonReligious Project. The board is composed of scholars of religious studies and ritual studies and leaders and practitioners of ritual in non-religious contexts.
Josh Bullock is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Criminology at Kingston University, London. His research has explored the dynamics of organised non-religion, including mobilisation, meaning-making, activism, and belonging, as well as the presence of paranormal, superstitious, magical, and supernatural (PSMS) beliefs among the non-religious. Learn more here.
Carol Wayne White is Professor of Philosophy of Religion at Bucknell University and the award-winning author of many books and articles on poststructuralist philosophies, process philosophy and theism, religious naturalism, science and religion, and critical theory and religion. Learn more here.
Casper ter Kuile is the author of The Power of Ritual, the co-founder of Sacred Design Lab, and the co-creator of the hit podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. He writes and speaks about the future of spirituality and community. Learn more at sacred.design and caspertk.com.
Professor of Religious Studies, Macalester College. Hart is the author of The Blackness of Black: Key Concepts in Critical Discourse (Lexington 2020). His research interests include black studies, social theory, philosophy of race, American philosophy, and the intersections of religion, ethics, and politics.
Professor at the Institute of Global Development and Planning at the University of Agder and research professor at the NORCE Center for Modeling Social Systems, Kristiansand, Norway. Leron has published over 20 books and 200 scientific articles or book chapters on topics such as philosophy of religion, psychology of religion, and the scientific study of spiritual experiences. Learn more at fleronshults.com.
Dr. Blades holds a Masters in Theological Studies, and a Doctorate in Global Feminist Theology. Her interests lie in language and theology and its relation to gender. She uses her eduction for the healing of herself and other women who have suffered spiritual and/or religious abuse.
University of South Africa Visiting Scholar, Harvard University Divinity School; Founding Director, Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning; Managing Editor, Religious Studies Review; Director of Research, The Institute for Humanist Studies (Washington, DC). Learn more at anthonypinn.com.
Fio Gede Parma (they/she) is a Balinese-Australian queer, non-binary witch, initiate, mentor, and award-winning author. They have authored or co-written and edited 8 books including The Witch Belongs to the World, Ecstatic Witchcraft, and Magic of the Pearl Pentacle. She has been initiated into four traditions of Witchcraft and their Craft can be described as intrinsically transgressive, anti-imperialist, love-drenched, justice-oriented, folkloric, and initiatory. Fio has taught the Craft and ecstatic spirit-work in five continents and regularly offers workings and courses online. For more about Fio visit her website: fiogedeparma.com
Harvey Whitehouse is an anthropologist whose research focuses on the role of religion, ritual, and group cohesion in the evolution of social complexity. He is the author of numerous books, most recently The Ritual Animal: Imitation and Cohesion in the evolution of social complexity (Oxford University Press, 2021) and Inheritance: The evolutionary origins of the modern world (Penguin Random House, 2024).
Rev. Patrice Curtis has served several Unitarian Universalist congregations, is currently a director at denomination headquarters, sits on the board of the interfaith Interim Ministry Network, and serves as a mentor for seminarians. Rev. Patrice is a published author, including contributing meditations to anthologies, and is pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree at Iliff. Beginning with humanitarian work in Africa and Europe prior to ministry, Patrice continues to be inspired by the diversity of traditional and nontraditional rituals that sustain communities.
Founder of Metonymize. An engineer by training and disposition. Kripa’s independent research interests include multiagent intelligent systems analysis and design. He hopes to use Ritual studies and insights from Anthropology to better understand and build scalable and sustainable systems for coordination, communication and prediction. Learn more about The Syncrite Project.
Rev. Mary Martha Thiel is an ACPE Certified Educator and Board Certified Chaplain with the Association of Professional Chaplains. Her areas of interest include spiritual care of the nonreligious, spiritual care of LGBTQ+ elders, and teaching healthcare providers to incorporate spiritual generalist care into the practice of their own disciplines. Mary Martha is a UCC minister.
Dr. Christopher Turner is the director of Reflective Learning, and provides professional development for carers who need an understanding of human spirituality that is not determined by religion. Christopher also works in the mental health field, specifically in suicide postvention support. Connect with Dr. Turner on LinkedIn
Distinguished Research Professor, Emerita MTSO, Fellow of The Center of Theological Inquiry and of the Ecumenical Institute. Dr. Mercadante is the founder of HealthyBeliefs.org.
Reverend Walker served for ten years as Pastoral Care Associate at San Francisco Theological Seminary and the University of Redlands. Reverend Walker continues to provide pastoral care with an array of communities through PathWalkerCare. He specializes in Complex Trauma/PTSD, religious trauma, disability, survivors of violence, and neurodivergence. He works primarily with LGBTQ, pagan, Christian, and agnostic/atheist communities.
Professor of Religion at Boston University and Founding Director of CEDAR – Communities Engaging with Difference and Religion. His many books include (with Robert Weller): Ritual and Its Consequences (2008), Rethinking Pluralism (2012), and How Things Count as the Same (2019). His book Oaths and Vows: Words as Genesis (together with Maria Schnitter) is appearing August 2024. Learn more at cedarnetwork.org.
Christopher is currently working as an Educational Policy Analyst and is a dynamic individual deeply invested in exploring the intersections of psychology and spirituality. Chris holds an M.Div in Theological Studies from Boston University and a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is a disciple of Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati and a student of Ramakrishna Seminary. Learn more here.
Prof. UwB, Head of the Society & Cognition Unit, University of Bialystok
Rev. Bentley Stewart serves as the Pediatric Palliative Care Chaplain at Orlando Health’s Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. In addition to his two decades in healthcare, he has spent time as a congregational pastor, a church planter, an Anti-Racism Trainer, a mentor for seminarians, and a street chaplain for people experiencing homelessness. Bentley approaches ritual crafting as a choreographer of embodied language for when words are not enough.
Professor of Cognitive Anthropology, Queen’s University Belfast. Professor Lanman’s work on atheism and secularization utilizes both cognitive and social anthropology to explore atheism and theism. He has also worked with a number of collaborators to investigate the effects of ritual participation on self-identity, group cohesion, and extreme pro-group action and has written on philosophical challenges in the scientific study of religion. Learn more here.
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info@wildhousepublishing.com
© 2024 Wildhouse Publishing, All Rights Reserved.