Defining Rituals

The three defining rituals are the Familiar, Demesne, and Implement rituals; three rituals which have special significance for Practitioners in the Western or Occidental world.

Commonalities

Each of the defining rituals can only be performed once in an individual's lifetime.<ref>Once lost, though, you don't tend to get the ability to get stuff back. If demesnes/familiar/implement are allegories for where you're at, your life partner, and your career, then it'd make sense you'd have the ability to pick a new one, much as it's common nowadays for people to have two marriages, or make a massive career change mid-life, or (not so common, but possible to) pick up and move halfway across the world. But the practitioner world tends to lag behind the real world in these things. Perhaps in a few decades, with some precedent. - Comment by Wildbow</ref> They serve to help define one's identity on a magical level,<ref name=":0"/> as well as each providing a valuable, flexible resource for their Practice. Only the Demesnes ritual is immediately obvious,<ref>Sandra said. “Unlike the demesnes claim, it isn’t always obvious if someone has carried out one ritual or another, like the familiar ritual.” - Excerpt from Gathered Pages: Andy's Notes</ref> though there are some ways to tell regardless.<ref>“She seems taller,” Avery remarked, watching Lucy pull her sneakers on and chat with Verona. Lucy put her hand out past the eaves to check the rain, then stepped out, carrying some of the stuff they’d brought in.

“She doesn’t seem that way, but she is,” Snowdrop said.

"Yeah.” - Excerpt from Cutting Class 6.9</ref>

The three rituals have a great deal of traditional weight behind them; combining or otherwise modifying the rituals is possible, but tends to lead to worse outcomes without that weight. For example, combing two of the rituals (a living familiar-demesnes for instance) will take up both "slots", preventing one from performing either ritual again, but will not provide as much power as performing both rituals separately and often carries other drawbacks.<ref name=":0">Comment by Wildbow</ref><ref>Comment by Wildbow</ref>

Being products of Europe and Western Practice, they are limited to Western countries and people or places influenced by them (such as Japan.)

Other Rituals

Some rituals are also used to define a given practitioner's practice. Finders in North America become such by walking the Forest Ribbon Trail,<ref>Avery spoke up, “I can’t go back for the coin or I would. We could send Verona and Lucy but you didn’t want…”

“No. That would make them Finders, when they need to find their own way. And the Wolf would be too hard on them, after the way you left. I’ll manage for the time being.” - Excerpt from Back Away 5.d</ref> while a Little Wolf goes through a secret ritual called a Great Wrong to become a wolf.<ref>Little Wolf</ref>

On a related note there are several rituals, though likely protected, that can be used to modify and improve familiars after the ritual is already done.<ref>dragonshouter: I know that its probably a good idea for a practitioner to wait and not pick a low tier Other for a familiar but if you did could you increase it to your level with practice. I want to be friends with my familiar but I also like power. Could I give a peckersnot level goblin a powerful warren gardened item and if it matched the his theme let him "evolve". Ex. Cockfight, a chicken looking goblin who likes to fight, given a goblin ring that gives strength to become Cockring?
Feel free to come with example familiars!

Wildbow: There are likely rituals that let you formally donate and invest power. Just makes sense that it'd exist.
By default, though, assuming a practitioner without the resources, they'd have to devise that kind of ritual, or elevate themselves, which would have a side effect of bringing the familiar up with them. - Wildbow on Reddit</ref> It is unknown if such investigate is possible for the results of the other two rituals.

History

The Ritual Implementum is the oldest of the three.<ref>For as long as there has been practice there have been tools to hone that practice.  Of the three defining rituals of the Western practitioner, the Ritual Implementum dates back the furthest and is the most frequently carried out. - Excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text</ref>

References

<references/>