The Sacred Ritual

As a ritualist I often will turn to my practice to bring alignment to my needs with my hopes, to highlight intention in my actions, or to shed awareness to my words. Doing so establishes an honor to my efforts and an energy to them as well.

Rituals can be found in many spiritual books and websites. My most favorite and often most effective are those though that come from my own being as they have my breath in them, my heart and passion and my longings and awareness. Some rituals have many layers to them and can be quite deep in process and ceremony, while others gain tremendous power from their simplicity.

Rituals can be done to honor seasonal intentions, life's rites of passage, healing opportunities and more. They can be done at specific times of the day, phases of the moon or during significant life stages. I think that rituals can be as unique and splendid as the person acting upon them.

For some, the word ritual creates a snag, yet we are surrounded by them in our day to day lives. Many have rituals that they perform around the holidays, for example. Take the kissing beneath the mistletoe or the breaking of a turkey's wishbone, these are rituals. Rituals can be done at life events such as the tossing of the bride's bouquet at a wedding or the showering of a mother to be at a baby shower. Rituals also can be quite sacred and based on a person's spiritual practice, such as the various rituals we perform at the time of a loved one's death.

The next time you are facing a major life event, try creating a ritual that can honor this passage. Bring to the ritual specific intentions, honor from where you have come and to where you are going on your life's path, or choose symbolism that helps embody the essence of this time for you.

Perhaps a ritual can be created to honor an intention you are setting for yourself. Where do you want to focus your energies? Are there colors that, for you, create powerful meaning about this? If so use them. Is there an action that you can do that embodies this intention that you can incorporate into your ritual?

Bringing your creative self to your ritual planning allows you to incorporate so many different things that can have great meaning to you; music, family artifacts, images, colors, flowers, crystals, food and more.

Bring your playful soul out and allow it to dance with the sacredness of your ritual. See what comes to mind, what awakens and what longs to be honored. Whether it be small and private or more festive and community based is up to you, but the sacred act of bringing ritual to your practice can create a tremendous amount of power, healing, beauty and celebration to your moment of recognition. It will most certainly create a memory making event out of it so that you can often recall the intent of the moment, the special role it played in your life and the way in which your brought your soul's energies to your spiritual practice and life event.

Blessings, Lisa

Listening To Our Stories

We all have a story. It is the tale of who we are, how we came to be, where we hope to go. It holds the potential to make us uniquely whole. It sometimes defines us, often confines us, can inspire, challenge or disappoint.

Knowing that everyone does have their unique story the shaman listens with ears of understanding, looks for the messages between the lines of the story, and weaves the frayed strands together to bring alignment and healing. We learn from our stories and we learn from the stories of others as well.

Our stories provide us with tremendous lessons from which to grow. It is up to us to be open to these lessons. We learn our patterns and our blockages. We learn what is ready to be released or embraced. We learn how we have healed and how we have not.

No two people, no matter how similar they are, share the same story. So to offer unsolicited advice is often pointless. But when we are asked to witness and listen to someone's story we can create an opportunity for the engagement of the energies. We can hold with compassion, we can provide encouragement and we can celebrate successes.

The shaman is often called the Master Storyteller. She will listen to the story and read between the lines, she will find the soul loss, she will help to retrieve what has retreated and heal what is broken. She will bring the story to a place of wholeness and restore the beauty and wonder that is defined by that soul. It is within the wispy layers of the story that she finds the energies of graceful expansion.

Knowing this about our stories, we are gifted the opportunity to change the way in which we listen. Instead of engaging without being asked, we can instead witness with honor and respect. We can listen and be open to the possible lessons that are meant for us. And if we are given the role to do more than witness, we hold the potential to be in service to the soul of the story. We are given an opportunity to answer to the call of duty to be healer, teacher, or more. The greatness of the story awaits.

Blessings, Lisa

Quiet Wonders

Stop anyone on the street and ask them what they would like to change in their world and you will get an answer. We tend to focus a good deal of our time and energies on the changes we want to see and be. We share our thoughts about this with friends and loved ones. We purchase books and programs to support our efforts. We look to others to see what path they have chosen to reach their goals of change. We are a very busy group of changers.

Sometimes, though, changes happen subtly and quietly. We set our intention and then turn it over to the Universe, to God or to our Higher Power. Sometimes, the only action we bring to it is our hope. With fingers crossed we move forward with our day and trust that something will shift, change or release. Sometimes we just have to leave it to prayer and positive thoughts.

We don't always know what to do to create the change we are seeking. Sometimes, we just don't have it in us to push on, so we turn it over to Source. There are those times when it feels like it is a dream, a golden desire, so distant that all we can do is hope. Yet, life has a way of quietly creating miracles.

The Universe knows our intentions, it hears our longings and it aligns with our heart. Sometimes all of our preparations for change lead us to a place of waiting. Waiting, releasing and trusting creates the quiet wonder that we often find ourselves blessed with. Somehow getting out of the way, letting go of the struggle and remaining open to the possibilities creates the silence that opens the space within our life for growth.

Blessings, Lisa

The Many Roles of You

There are the givers and the takers, the movers and the shakers. We all play different roles throughout our days of our lives. Regardless of the role, the energy we bring to it, the way we approach this role has so much to do with how engaged, receptive or present we are. We have the choice to be fully present or to be absent and resentful.

We all hold times where we are doing for others and then those times are balanced with others doing for us. Both are equally important. Neither should be done begrudgingly. Bringing our pure authentic energies to these roles creates beauty and flow. Each role can create acts that are gifts to the relationship.

Whether we are in a place of nurturing or witnessing, it is important for us to bring our appreciation to the moment, to bring our gratitude to those we are engaged with, and to explore the possibilities of the outcome and all its potential. Approaching our roles with this positive perspective allows lessons to flow, energies to expand, and generates forward movement of beauty and grace.

This fullness of energy awakens within us a sense of integrity and a satisfaction of service. It also brings alignment to our body, mind and soul. With this alignment we put out the welcome mat to those who we are meant to meet, to attract and to dance this magical dance of life with. The people and circumstances that become a part of our day bring richness and wonder. By bringing our best to every role we hold, we allow the Universe to create possibilities, to shower abundance and to gift us with lessons that will amplify the brilliance of this lifetime in very powerful ways.

Blessings, Lisa