where women celebrate their ageless authenticity

The Healing Powers of Ceremony

Sometimes what we hold in our hand can transport us magically to the moment of the experience when it first came to be for us.

I have a locket that houses a tiny red leaf my father gifted me as a child. We shared a love of nature, and he carried it home in his pocket from a challenging mountain trek. I wear it on days when I need to feel the strength of his embrace.

Turns out, objects often hold a vibrational imprint from the energies that have touched them, vibrating at specific frequencies, and there is even a word for the connection: psychometry — the supposed ability to discover facts about an event or person by touching inanimate objects associated with them.

For me, symbols and mementos are like windows to the deepest understandings we don’t have words for. And when we connect with them, through rituals and ceremony, we are stirred in our hearts again and again.

It’s all about connecting to something bigger than ourselves.

Evening blessing of flowers in river Ganges

When we wish to create a safe resting place to hold the complexities of life, rituals, and ceremonies are a great way in. We can embrace traditions and even design our own. The only thing that’s needed is to step into a sacred space with our presence.

Professors of psychiatry at The University of Texas Health Science Center found that even a simple ritual like decorating for the holidays during Covid in some ways gave us back a sense of identity and normalcy when so much of our lives felt out of our control. By bringing joy into our lives on our own terms, we can cultivate meaningful connection where it might otherwise be missed.

In “The Book of Ceremony,” author and Shamanic healer Sandra Ingerman believes: “We are hungry to connect with more than what we experience with our ordinary senses in the material world. By performing ceremonies, you will find yourself stepping into a beautiful and creative power you might never have imagined.” I find her teachings offer a resourceful guide for creating original ceremonies for any occasion.

Stone and moss Nature Newborn photography digital background prop.

Here are some tips for creating a powerful ceremony:

  • Keep it short and simple so everyone stays engaged.
  • Do your prep work in advance, have your elements in place, and begin by giving thanks.
  • Have a designated space where you can gather as a place of comfort (indoors or out). This offers the ideal space to bring sacred objects or natural elements (candle flame, water, crystals, flowers) that will elevate your state of well-being.
  • Greet participants by inviting guests to leave their ordinary thoughts behind to fully join in. Use a bowl where participants can store cell phones, so they can be fully present. Songs or music can offer inspiration.
  • Set a clear intention: Be clear with what you are asking for when you perform your ceremony and declare it. Invoke prayers. Inspire. Be inclusive.
  • In closing, offer space for guests to share if they would like to express what feelings arose.
  • Afterwards, refreshments offer up a great way to unite the community in celebration.

We created a baby naming ceremony with our immediate family for our first born, and it remains among my most cherished memories of her childhood. I wrote a poem and my musician husband played a tune he wrote. Each relative gifted our daughter a keepsake that meant something to them personally (nothing purchased). We were all deeply touched by the energies we initiated of our own creation. And just thinking about it now lets me relive the outpouring of love all over again. It’s amazing how our hearts open when given the space.

Take time to make your soul happy