HOUSE OF CHAINS  

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What is a mask?

Thinking of masks we see various ornate designs, tribal masks, opera masks, masks warn by dancers and performers. 

But what of the masks that are not physical? The ones we wear every day, or the ones we put in place when attending a ritual or event? A mask can be both physical, as well as symbolic.

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The role of masks in ritual.
There are many reasons as to why masks are used in rituals, and what sort of role they play in that particular area. When a mask is put on we become a different person, and when in ritual can forge a link to the spirits; such as used by shamanic practitioners.

 

Mask can change your identity and faculties, for the assumed appearance is held to affect the wearer’s inner nature and to assimilate it to that of the being represented by the mask.

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The mask is intimately connected to the ritual being performed in either hiding ones true face, or by adopting a ‘public face’. The idea is that the mask makes the change from ordinary time, to the workings of the ritual and its connection to the spiritual, so that it becomes acceptable psychologically.

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Wearing a mask is a way of concealing ones personality, and in ritual, this helps one to ‘connect’ with a spirit or the supernatural. Yet it is not only the mask itself that is important, as the creation of the mask itself is seen to be a form of ritual. Some tribes from West Africa believe that the masks, even though made by human hands, have an individual existence that is separate from the craftsmen who shaped them.

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In regards to ritual, masks have many different forms of purpose. Some, such as the masks of the shamans of the Eskimo, are representations of their guardian spirits, and they believe that they can induce a state of trance by wearing these masks and establish a ‘link’ with the said guardian spirit.

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Masks can also be used as a form of protection against supernatural dangers, such as to avoid recognition by the spirits of the dead at a funeral or ceremony.

“The warrior wearing a mask symbolising a superior power identifies himself with this force and is thereby fortified in spirit. Often masks have been used in a form of ritual to ward away evil spirits, or to act out sacred texts in a festival.

Ritual shifts ones perspective from the outer, to the inner. “The creation of internal reality by the mind is confirmed by the consideration of altered states of consciousness.

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A mask can really be almost anything; a physical object to hide ones face and be used as a sort of spiritual medium, or even the use of a specific attitude or persona in a certain setting. There is no doubt that a form of mask is used widely in many different forms of ritual around the world, and can be seen as a very important prop in those rituals; whether for their cosmetic use, or their ability to help one connect to the spiritual, among other things.

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Is it essential to use masks in ritual?
I doubt that it is essential, however, it would help those doing the ritual and allow them a certain freedom they would not achieve ‘un-masked’.

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Are all masks somehow connected to the spiritual?
It could be a possibility, if one thinks of how much energy and precision is put into some masks. Whatever one’s opinion of masks in ritual, they have been highly helpful in rituals throughout history.

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