How to plan a ritual? Well, this question involves a lot of other questions. The first thing I am going to do is list the questions that I feel you need to ask and then I am going to try to give some very generic guidelines. I hope this helps.

The first thing is to think about what you are trying to accomplish? I have seen rituals that were more for entertainment than magick. Not to say that these were not powerful experiences and raised a lot of power. Rather that they were meant to entertain or honour a holiday instead of accomplishing a specific goal in the world like healing or bringing you wealth.

What mythos will be used in the ritual? The reason that this is important is that this could place certain restrictions on what you can or cannot do. For example, lets say you are trying to celebrate the birth of a family member. I doubt that anyone would use the god of death and decay. You should avoid conflicts with the pantheon you choose. If you are calling god B and mythology about this god states that they hate flowers you should not be dressing the room with wreaths and garlands of daisies. Simple examples but the point is to do a little background research to insure that you do not offend an entity called for the ritual.

How long do you plan to take before completion? Make sure that you have reserved enough time to complete everything unless a break is part of the plan.

How many participants? If this is going to be a group activity make sure everyone knows what will happen and what there part is well in advance. I would hand out scripts at least a week ahead of time.

The basic steps for a Wiccan ritual  go something like this.

Cleanse the area to eliminate any negative influences.

Everybody take your position.

Cast a circle around the area to be worked in. remember that if you are going to be moving around you need to circle the ENTIRE area. It is hard to dance and jump inside an office cubicle.

Perform the ritual. Enjoy yourself in the process.

Ground out any extra energy. Don't leave any excess hanging around.

Take down the circle.

Cakes and Ale. This part is actually kind of important. If a large quantity of energy was channelled it helps to bring the participants back to reality.

  Merlin