Becoming a member of The Assemblage of Areté may improve our lives and the world, but only if we choose to live in accordance with the commitments we make during the Fire, Water, Air, and Earth rituals.
One of the key features of our weekly convocations is the dedication ceremony. Meant to encourage participants to dedicate themselves to the ideals of Aretéanism and to the weekly challenge; the dedication is a reverent moment of personal contemplation for all who witness or partake in it.
The dedication ceremony has three simple phases to it, which cover each of the metaphorical elements symbolically used by The Assemblage of Areté:
First, the Narrator of the village exclaims the three tenets of Aretéanism and prepares the four elements for those in attendance: lighting a candle to remind the village to seek an enlightened world, pouring water to remind us to clean our lives of our wrongdoings, hanging a towel to remind us to raise our flag for others to follow, and shoveling some soil so that we will remember to tend the world as the garden it is.
Second, the Narrator invites those in attendance to step forward to the altar, to touch the symbolic elements and therefore dedicate themselves to their commitments.
To do this, participants begin by quickly passing their hand through the candle flame
Then participants dip their hand into the basin of water.
Next, participants dry their hand on the towel.
Finally, the participants reach into the pot of soil and withdraw a small stone, which they keep with them in their pocket throughout the week; until they have spent time laboring at their stewardship (if they have one to maintain)... or if they do not yet, they keep the stone with them until they have meditated in nature at a place of their choosing.
Third and lastly, the Narrator brings the dedication to a close by exclaiming the words, "Heroes, Be Excellent to Each Other!" to which all in attendance reply with, "...And Party On!"
Newcomers sometimes wonder whether they should participate in the dedication... the answer is that it is up to them! If you believe in what each symbol in the dedication symbolizes, then we encourage you to make that belief an active one by dedicating yourself to those principles with us! If you agree with what the dedication represents, we'd also encourage you to speak to your Narrator about becoming a member, or a member at a deeper stage of commitment!
Meanwhile, if you do not feel comfortable participating in the dedication for any reason, or if you are only comfortable engaging with portions of the ceremony, then by all means restrict yourself to just the portions you wish to participate in, or refrain from participating entirely. Attendees of our convocations should never judge one another for their level of participation or non-participation in the dedication. All the same, we hope you'll agree that the ritual represents commitment to excellent principles, and join us in continually dedicating ourselves to them!
Photograph for "Dedication" provided by William K. Campbell