Ceremony or Ritual - which is it for you?

When you do your religious/spiritual workings do you call then rituals or ceremonies? I had always called my circle workings “rituals”, and saw my meditations, journeying etc as “workings” because that was how they were named in the tradition I was taught so many years ago. However, talking to some shamanic folks I know I found that they did not like to use the word Ritual to describe what they were doing, as it was too linked to church based religions and too formal. They felt that sitting by their fires, journeying and all their other work was better named as Ceremony.

I decided to look up the meanings of both these words as I was unsure of their full meanings, I saw them as interchangeable and didn’t know which one was used for the more formal occasions. This is what I found out from the Cambridge Dictionary:

A ritual is “a way of doing something in which the actions are done in the same way every time”

A Ceremony is “a set of acts, often traditional or religious, performed at a formal occasion especially to recognise an important event or the performing of such acts”

So the way I see it a ritual is something you do the same way every time; this can be as simple as always saying “bless you” when someone sneezes, up to formal rites (“a set of fixed words and actions”)  and can be as personal, informal and private as you wish. A Ceremony however is a ritual formally carried out in public with others who are watching the ritual being carried out without being an active participant.

So, having looked it up I will carry on naming my workings as I said before, I don’t do any of these rites and workings in public, so for me Ceremony is not a relevant name for what I am doing. However I know that the meanings of words over time have changed in many instances, so if you want to use Ceremony then carry on!! 

I’d love to hear your take on this, what names you give your workings and how you feel about them. Whatever you call them I hope that you gain knowledge and insights from all that you do.