Halo Quin [courtesy]
I’m a Witch and I love my brain, but it is weird (as well as wyrd) in that it works differently to most other brains. To put it bluntly, I have Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder, more commonly known as ADHD.
My neurodivergent brain has some great magical strengths! I am creative and passionate and sensitive, all good things. But it definitely comes with challenges, like when I turned up at ritual having entirely forgotten that black underwear would show perfectly through my white robe. This happened at every ritual. For a year.
Or when someone was leading a beautiful pathworking to the realm of the moon and I got distracted and forgot where I was supposed to be – which wouldn’t be so bad, if the person leading it had been anyone but me.
Or when I didn’t start looking for my ritual tools until it was time to leave, and I couldn’t find my magic pebble. (IYKYK!)
And yes, all these things – forgetting useful ritual items, getting distracted in ritual, running out of time for proper preparation, and more – are also things other people do. It’s just we can’t help but do them all the time, regardless of how much we care. There’s a reason ADHD is considered a disability.
Halo Quin’s winter solstice altar [courtesy]
Given that around 7% of the population is thought to have ADHD, even though there are anecdotally higher numbers of ADHDers in Pagan spaces (or maybe that’s just my wonderful oddball friends!), we’re not the majority. This means that the expectations of the neurotypical world still apply to most rituals: Timekeeping. Organisation. Project management. Working memory. Focus.
These are all challenges with an ADHD brain. I’ve been a Pagan and a Witch for most of my life, and I love community rituals. I love attending, organising, leading, and generally enjoying ritual. But although there’s a certain amount of leeway in some groups, depending on the group’s culture and history, even when there’s flexibility and understanding, the challenges are still frustrating.
As a result, over the years I’ve worked out a bunch of techniques for managing my ADHD brain for ritual, and I’ve found that these make things much smoother for me. They can even help people who don’t have ADHD, because, honestly, these are human issues that are just magnified by our lovely wyrd wiring! Here are some challenges, some ways I manage them, and suggestions for ritual leaders to help accommodate their ADHD attendees.
Challenge One: Ritual Supplies
I’m always forgetting the things I need for ritual! So I have a bag set aside as a ritual bag. Because I work in different traditions with different tools, I actually have a couple of them, but it’s a simple process: choose bag, pack everything into the bag. That’s it: it lives in the bag now. (I have a ritual bag for my personal kit, a big canvas bag for the local Pagan moot rituals I run, and a box for my ceremonial magic kit.)
And I have a list of things that I usually need for the ritual. Every time I do a ritual and forget something, I add it to my list. The list must stay with the kit. (Seriously: Attach the list, and a pen, to your bag somehow.)
I also add useful things, like a torch (flashlight for American readers), spare batteries, a long-life snack (granola bars are good – it is easy to forget to eat and food is good for grounding!), a cup for water (I have pretty metal goblets from thrift shops), a trash bag in case there’s rubbish to clear, a lighter, and as I run rituals, I usually throw in tissues, an extra candle, and spare incense.
For ritual leaders: You can help accommodate your ADHD (and brain-fog or otherwise forgetful) attendees by making sure they have a written list of anything they will need for the ritual, or by creating rituals that don’t require them to bring anything. If you’re both ADHD and a ritual leader, then plastic storage boxes with lists are your friend! They also make great impromptu altars and you can tape the list to the lid.
Challenge Two: Following a Script
I’ve been given a script and am expected to follow it. But I struggle to learn text!
Magic books have a long tradition, so I have a “magical” folder that probably should live in my ritual kit bag, and a clip-on book light. I put the script in that so it feels good to hold and read from. I like to highlight my part, and practice reading aloud before trying it in ritual, which really helps. Pro tip: during the ritual, make sure you hold the script low enough that you’re speaking over it, so your voice isn’t muffled.
I also lean on my performance experience, and the knowledge that if a performer messes up, people usually forget as long as they stay calm. I take it slowly, and if I lose my place I generally don’t panic. Everyone does this sometimes: I just take a moment to find my place and let everyone be with the magic in the pause.
For ritual leaders: if you’re writing the ritual, try to use “call and response” instead of monologues, make sure there’s time for a run through beforehand, and don’t penalise people for making mistakes or reading from the script. You might also consider using a ritual framework and improvised words instead of scripted pieces, and prompt people in a ritualistic style with what they’re doing when it is their turn. Be prepared to give example invocations for people who are anxious about improvising though!
Challenge Three: Staying Focused
On bad brain days I have trouble staying focused during pathworkings, watching ritual drama pieces, or other low action activities.
The biggest thing I can recommend is to forgive yourself. ADHD brains need extra stimulation to stay focused, so it is natural to zone out at quiet points. Getting cross with oneself will often make it even harder to focus as it lowers already low dopamine, so self-forgiveness is a key step.
I make it a game to notice what things keep me engaged and which things don’t. This gives really useful information – and it makes it more fun which helps with focus!
If you find focus at quiet points hard too, then you might have found, like me, that doodling in class, or similar, helped with concentration there. In ritual, don’t doodle – do magic! When you know where you get distracted, you can brainstorm what magical activities to do then that supports both the ritual and your brain.
I like feeling into the energy of the ritual and supporting it, reminding myself of the ritual’s intention and strengthening that magic. We can also find magical ways to fidget. I know, that sounds like a negative thing! But fidgeting really helps. We can rock or sway, tap along quietly to the beat if there’s music, or play with suitable magical objects like crystals, cords, or ritual rings.
For ritual leaders: remember to invite people to move in ways that are helpful to them for pathworkings, meditations, and similar. Some people do better when laying down or sitting still; for others, standing and swaying, or walking round the space, will keep them more engaged. Giving people simple, optional, things to chant quietly or do with their hands while in receptive parts of a ritual can also really help those that need an extra boost.
The Joy of Ritual with ADHD
These are some things that have helped me with the challenges of ritual, but it’s always worth remembering that ADHD (and other neurodivergences) can come with some brilliant strengths for ritual and magic. Every person is different, so your list might look different to mine, but for me my ADHD means I am:
- Really good at improvising!
- A fabulous pattern recogniser – which is great for divination and for weaving together threads in ritual planning.
- Creative and expressive, handy for ritual drama and knowledge-sharing…
- A fast learner when it comes to magic, because I love it!
Ritual feeds the spirit, builds community, and makes the world more magical, so it’s worth putting a bit of effort into making it work for you.
I’d love to hear what challenges readers have found, what tools and techniques you use that help, and what you’ve found your particular brain is really good at in ritual. Whether you’re ADHD or not, we’ve all got strengths and challenges, and sharing helps us understand each other, and ourselves, better.
Happy enchanting!
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