I do agree that many things are possible without ritual. So, I guess the question should be what is ritual for. If it is just a tool to focus your will, then I agree. The next question would then be why do people such as Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki or the Cicero's, who teach ritual work, waist their time continuing to do ritual work when it is not necessary? What about people like Crowley, Dion Fortune, Mathers, Case? There has to be more to ritual work.
First, I would say that following a prescribed ritual blindly is no good. After you learn the basic tools, such as LBRP, BRH, Opening by Watchtower, Middle Pillar, Greater and Supreme Rituals of the Pentagram, etc., you should start creating your own. But these are just tools, and once the triggers are properly in place you may trigger their effects with only a thought. I actually don't like calling these rituals. More like something you do without thinking about it, like brushing your teeth.
So, why should we do ritual? It is to focus your own mind and intentions, but there is more. To quote Dion Fortune, "All these formulae have unwritten astral workings attached to them; if they are used in ignorance by the uninitiated, and without the astral workings, the magnetism which has been worked up in the symbols is given off and not replaced; but when they are used by the trained occultist, who performs the astral workings with power, more magnetism is worked up than is given off, and the symbols become stronger. That is why the old formulae, which have been used by generations of trained adepts, are so extraordinarily powerful." (Quoted from Ceremonial Magic Unveiled) Clearly there is more to ritual work than focusing your own will.
There is another point to ritual to consider. It is also an act of devotion to those higher forces, the higher will, gods, or whatever term you would like to use. I'm not talking about worship such as with a church or cult. I mean devoting yourself to something higher. The goal was not just to make contact to the HGA, but to grow so that the HGA is conscious and operating through you, or that your lower will is so refined that the will of the higher self flows instantly through and is expressed by the lower. That refinement is something that is continually maintained and corrected. The tuning fork, if you will allow the expression, for maintaining the correct refinement is found in ritual.
Third, ritual work helps to create an altered state of conscious that allows communication with the subconscious mind. The connection to the higher spiritual levels is not found in the conscious mind, but in the deep subconscious. The structure of the mind prevents the conscious mind from directly editing the subconscious. If it did it would be much easier to change behavioral habits. That communication is done through symbolism, and entering the altered state of conscious allows you to bypass what is known as the "critical factor" and put changes or requests directly into the subconscious, and therefore give a direct link to the spiritual realms.
