ABSTRACT
Much of the literature on women's liturgy and ritual stresses its collaborative or communal dimension. The roles played by others in accompanying the women working through transition are a crucial part of the process, and shape the ways in which these rituals broaden out from the individual to the communal. Some of the women interviewed were—and are—part of groups that meet regularly for some kind of sharing, liturgy or ritual. In ritual, with its social and collective dimension, one woman's particular life-story or transition is explored and interpreted, but within the shared narratives and experiences of others. Shared ritual provides a context for meaning-making which acknowledges the social embeddedness of women's lives, their connectedness with one another and the wider world, and adds layers of interpretation to the individual's unique story. The women concerned discuss the relationship of public and private in relation to their rituals.
