Three Reasons to Embrace Sacred Rituals
I have been updating my online course on Sacred Rituals. In the past, I have delivered this content at workshops or worked with individuals to create rituals for their lives. I’m still doing that work, and I want the content available more broadly. We are used to being able to access the information we need when we want it. You will no longer need to wait to sign up for a webinar or workshop. (Email me if you are interested in booking me to lead a workshop or individual coaching. )
Sacred Rituals might sound a little woo-woo or religious to some people. I understand! When I first started looking at the subject, I had a similar reaction. I wondered if it was ‘too out there.’ All I could think of was The Divine Secrets to the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. I loved the friendship and rituals that these women share. You can watch a clip here, and I sugged you do! It’s got all the elements of a good ritual.
My course will alleviate your fears if you haven’t created a Sacred Ritual. The ritual you create will be comfortable because you designed it. One of my favourite rituals a client made was when her daughter left for university. She was a single mom with one child. She was going to feel the absence of her daughter in the house. As part of her ritual, she purchased a new pair of slippers for her daughter. When her daughter left the house, she placed them in the front hall as a reminder she would come home. Every time she came and went that year, the slippers were returned to the hall as a reminder. It was simple and beautiful and included a few other elements for the mom and daughter.
Here are three reasons to embrace Sacred Rituals:
They provide a way to honour any milestone. Significant milestones don’t have to be huge. They may be retirement, returning to school, an empty nest or menopause. Establishing boundaries in a relationship or a new undertaking and completing a big task you have avoided are examples of quiet decisions you may want to honour. See my post, “Sacred Rituals for Quiet Moments.”
Sacred Rituals create a pause before you go on to the next thing in your life. Do you ever feel like you rush from thing to thing without letting your soul catch up to your body? A Sacred Ritual can provide a pause in the busyness of life. It can be a time when you stop and say, “Something happened that shifted things for me. I want to pay attention and honour that event.”
They can bring your community together. We often deal with things independently instead of inviting our friends and family into the moment. When I was diagnosed with melanoma, I barely spoke about it. In reflection, I wish I had brought some friends around me to support me. When I turned sixty, I took the opposite approach. I told my friends it was significant and asked them to consider how they could celebrate this milestone. They rose to the challenge, and I have good memories of precious times with each of them.
Sacred Rituals don’t need to be elaborate. You don’t need to wear a crown, burn incense, chant or do anything that doesn’t feel aligned with who you are. You can create a ritual for yourself alone. You can make it simple or big. The purpose of a Sacred Ritual is to honour a milestone in whatever way feels appropriate to you.