"Ritual" Seen As A Bonsai WiIlow 2

Willow Bonsai

 The original post: 
http://fatherdaughtertalk.blogspot.com/2009/04/meaning-of-ritual.html
Yet, having spoken of the bonsai willow, we may turn to it and observe that it is itself a thing of beauty; it is tamed and domesticate, true. The bonsai conifers, if properly shaped, will recall the force of the winds and the tempests without actually forcing us to climb a mountain and feel the sting of the wind-blown rain as we search the cliffs for a specimen of hardy pine.
Thus, bonsai ritual is memory and imagination, yet it is also a map for the future, for the only difference in our minds between the future and the past is the tense of the verb we use in our speech: "we did go" versus "we shall go".

I can only disparage the bonsai willow if I do not appreciate its art and its ritual. I never took the time to study this part of Japanese culture. All I know is the dusty and desperate miniature trees I see in tawdry shops or stuck into odd places in big-footprint homes, thus creating an irony wrapped in enigma! Or green curves arranged on flat surfaces in public eateries - unknown whether coniferous or plastic!
I have lost the ability to appreciate ritual. Even worse, the protectors of ritual have lost the ability to present ritual to me.

The paradigm of ritual to me is Christmas. When we speak of the spirit of the season, we are speaking of a short period of time which changes our lives at many levels as we go through the various Christmastide rituals of gift-procuring, gift-giving, communicating by writing cards and making calls, giving parties, baking special sweets and comestibles that are confected at no other time of the year. And there is a spiritual focus that is like no other time of the year.

That is Ritual, and the "high" we get from it... and the "down" as well... shows us what is actually possible by Ritual. And this is what that bonsai willow is capable of, only we are fast losing our ability to interact with it. Our logical and mathematical manner of civilization sees only a small, small tree, whereas a proper appreciation would see many aspects of life's beauties and mysteries.
This reminds me of the story of Jack Wilson, Wovoka, the prophet of the Ghost Dance, who told the story of two men looking into an old black hat: one man saw an old black hat with sweat-stained band; the other looked in and saw the Universe!