Looking for Poland

This was our first trip to Poland, and Krackow, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was our first stop. Krackow dates back to a little Stone Age settlement.

It’s is remarkably well preserved for a city that has stood for over a thousand years, and survived the hell that was World War II.

Even the McDonalds there is deeply rooted in Poland’s ancient history.

Literally! During its construction, medieval foundations were discovered and incorporated into the restaurant design. We bought a cup of coffee so we could go downstairs to check out the McVault in the basement, and it was like nothing you’ve ever seen in The House That Ronald Built.

Krackow suffered under the Nazis, but Warsaw got pounded. At the Warsaw Uprising Museum we watched a movie that gave us an aerial view of post-war Warsaw. Of that bustling metropolis, only miles and miles of rubble and ruins remained. The scale of destruction was unimaginable.

When the Poles defended themselves against the German invasion, the Nazis response was to destroy hospitals, schools, churches, universities, and commit mass murder upon both Jew and Gentile. When finally forced to retreat, out of spite the Nazis blew up anything still standing.

The Peugot Building was built where the old synagogue once stood. The Jewish Historical Institute is next door, in a reconstructed building that housed the Jewish Library.

Between the Nazis and the Soviets, over 400,000 Warsovians were murdered in the war. Those lives and all their promise can never be replaced. But the people of Warsaw rebuilt their city, brick by brick. Canaletto’s 18th century paintings were used as visual references to recreate beloved heritage sites. All along The Royal Way that artwork is displayed…

…in front of the structures that were rebuilt using them as guides.

You can’t say they don’t make ’em like they used to.

The Warsovians resurrected the Old Town Square too.

Some say it’s like Disneyland, too perfect, but I thought it was beautiful, and I loved all the cool details.

The royal palace in Warsaw…

…was also destroyed and reconstructed.

Some furniture and other treasures were spirited away before the Luftwaffe bombings, but the throne room and the banner with its royal eagles were destroyed.

Only one of the original eagles survived, and somehow found its way to the United States. It was used a model to replicate the original design.

The clock in the Knight’s Hall, featuring the god of time, is forever stopped at 11:15, a moment never to be forgotten– the exact time the Nazis bombed the palace.

Poland’s history is harsh and fascinating, colorful and complicated.

Reminders of its painful past are everywhere–like the memorial to the Uprising of the Warsaw Ghetto Jews killed in this bunker by the Nazis.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Pilsudski Square, which was called Hitler Platz when occupied by the Germans.

We saw statues honoring the Polish Resistance and the Warsaw Uprising…

…and one honoring the children who worked for the resistance, although their roles involved carrying messages more often than guns.

There was the memorial to the 15,000 Polish officers murdered in 1940 by the Soviet army at Katyn.

There were even teenage street musicians in uniform, singing war songs.

On a street corner we glanced down and realized we were standing on what used to be the Ghetto Wall.

So much suffering. So many stories, most of which can never be told.

After living under the jackboot of the Nazis, like so many other countries of Eastern Europe, the Poles endured further decades of Soviet oppression. But each new rebellion brought them closer to independence.

The success of the Solidarity movement was a long time coming, a difficult struggle that was as much for freedom as for bread.

It is all inextricably woven into the fabric of their nation’s past.

I wondered how it had affected the people…

…and how much of it was passed from one generation to the next.

After centuries of oppression and foreign rule…

…Poland is now a prosperous and independent Democracy.

I saw joy there, most often in stolen glimpses.

But wherever we went we felt safe. People were always polite and helpful….

…although rarely quick to smile.

I’ve heard that Europeans believe Americans smile too much and too easily, and perhaps we do.

But in Gdansk…

…an old woman caught me watching her. I could either avert my eyes and hurry on, or smile and give a little wave, which I did. And when I did, she smiled back with such unexpected warmth that I couldn’t help myself–I blew her a kiss.

That was Poland in a nutshell.

Falling Into Ritual

Early_Fall The past two days I have gone out into the world, camera in hand, in search of fall color. Yesterday was one of those prototypical autumn days, blustery and chill, with lowering cloud that muted most of the color. Still, every now and again there would arise within the landscape, for no apparent reason, patches of rich, vibrant yellows and reds.

This morning was again cloudy, although the sun managed to break through at times, brilliantly spotlighting patches of full fall color. Unfortunately this inevitably occurred while I was driving. Still, I brought home what I hope will prove to be fine photos.

I like to pay attention to the season round, watching our lives play out on what Hutchinson called an “ecological stage.” Here in the northern latitudes the set is always changing. We share the stage with many organisms, human and non, in relationships that are themselves forever in flux. Hutchinson likened this to an “evolutionary play.” We are, then, engaged in an evolutionary play acted out on an ecological stage. How cool is that?

Speaking of plays, my wife and I are busily constructing an extensive set for a piece of toy and object theatre that will accompany, we hope, a presentation we are to give in New York City next month. We are also working on the text and movement visuals for this third major iteration of a project that has changed remarkably over the past few months. Time has passed and we find ourselves at the point where we must put aside other almost necessary tasks and focus on the one at hand.

I am reminded that Mother Teresa once reportedly told a young, New York based, theater professional that rather than going to India to work with her (Mother Teresa), she should stay here and try to melt the frozen hearts of North Americans.

I wonder whether Mother Teresa knew about Windigos, cannibal giants with frozen hearts, who, given the opportunity, devour entire families and villages, if not ecosystems. Even now, every now and then, someone falls under the Windigo’s spell and goes on a murderous, blood lust driven, binge of violence. There used to be a Psychiatric diagnostic category for this, “Windigo Psychosis.” No, really!

It seems to me we humans, especially those of us living under the influence of late Capital’s consumer culture, have pretty much gone Windigo. Our collective heart is frozen solid, and we are going about the task of devouring our many relatives.

So, what are we to do about it? I like to think about the seasonal round as a complex teaching metaphor and a healing ritual. I’m hardly alone in this; for many Native people the central metaphor is that of the Medicine Wheel, in which the four cardinal directions and seasons are understood as standing for life stages, cognitive schema, and seasonal maps. I believe life looks, and is lived, differently in each of those diverse quarters.

Within the Wheel there is an implied fifth direction, which is often portrayed as up; that direction is time. When we move concurrently around the circle and through time, we traverse a spiral. With each turn we return, as T.S. Eliot was given to say, to the same place, only to find that it is different.

It seems to me that autumn is the best time to remember this. Now, we are busily gathering in what we have tended all summer. Soon we will place our attention on the Ancestors and the debt we owe them for Dreaming us into existence.

I find myself thinking a good deal about the sacrifices our forebears made so that we might have life. For some reason, I find myself returning to thoughts about anaerobic bacteria who, way back at the beginning of life on our planet sacrificed themselves so that those of us who would come later might breathe.

In the background is the approaching winter, the time of darkness and Dreaming. Autumn returns every year, yet the particulars, and our life situation, are different from one autumn to the next. Those changes make memorable stories.

If I might refer back to the puppet play for a moment, I will share with you that it is partially about healing in the face of consumer culture’s overwhelming greed. Given this, I doubt it is an accident that the Ancestors have found their way into the play. After all, when we forget our indebtedness to them we are likely more susceptible to the whispering of the Windigo, more given to all consuming hunger and greed.

The play is a sort of healing ritual and a playful ceremony. After the play, we will share with the audience a bit of knowledge about the ways we use puppetry to address social, spiritual, and psychological trauma, and encourage the participants to try out some of those techniques for themselves. This teaching and sharing is, of course, another healing ritual.

It seems to me that ritual and ceremony seek to return us to a richly connected relationship with time, place, and others; in doing ritual helps to awaken the Healer Within. It can be formal or informal, high or low, unique or everyday. There are times when it is good to spend weeks or months preparing for healing ritual or ceremony. Often, when these more formal activities go well, they are both memorable and life changing.

I have a warm memory of traveling for two hard days, with two of my teachers and a few other apprentices, to a cave deep in the Amazon. Healers had made the trip to do ceremony in that cave for some twenty thousand years. The ritual itself took maybe twelve minutes, then we went swimming. Of course, the trip to and from the cave were also the ritual and ceremony, as were the preparations made before hand, and the stories told afterward. As far as I can tell it was all part of the healing.

I suspect that when we pay attention, simple rituals like attending puppet theatre or placing ourselves squarely in the midst of Nature and seasonal change are also healing. One thing’s for sure, when we are awake to the sacred in our lives, feeling connected to our selves, families and larger communities, and to All That Is, the Windigo find it very difficult to ensnare us in their web of greed and hunger.

I’d like to believe that my writing, and your reading, are another form of healing ritual. Nothing fancy really, just time and space shared by two, or more, people, and just perhaps, the spirits. Let me know what you think.

Visualize the Raindrops Falling

i visualize in the warmth of the sun
or in the darkest hours of night

healing is held in the gift of seeing

i see between the wind blown leaves
pause each raindrop as it is falling

everything stops but my breathing

i listen to the silence all around
even in the midst of all the chaos

molecules of life touching gently

i close my eyes for a moment in between
for dreamers will always be dreaming

music notes orchestrate birth and death

i feel the strings of instruments hold me
soft as satin and stronger than webs of silk

healing is found in a moment of peace

i visualize oceans and mountains colliding
creating new life as gentle flowering buds

death can never be the ultimate ending

i see myself walking an ocean shoreline
by the still spray of a wave before it crashes

peace is standing between raindrops as they pause

i see there briefly a place my mind rests
devoid of wars, disease, famine and otherness

healing is held in the gift of seeing

what could be if only for a moment in time

Grace

A relaxing winding down video, poem and music, which promotes a sense of well being and peace.

GRACE

Taste the sweet nectar of life,
allow it to fill you to the brim.
And, let the joy in your heart,
walk the landscape of your soul,
in the light of wonder,
with grace to guide your way…

Here’s the link to the peaceful and calming video.

cheers,

Bridget Cameron 🙂

Holding Up the Sky

Elephant was walking through the forest when he spied a bright patch of color on the trail before him. He stopped and looked more closely. It was Hummingbird, lying on her back in the middle of the path, with her tiny legs high up in the air.

“Hummingbird! I almost stepped on you!” said Elephant.

“I’m sorry,” said Hummingbird. “But I heard the sky was going to fall today, and I wanted to be ready.”

“Ready?” asked Elephant.

“Yes. To hold up the sky,” said Hummingbird.

Elephant laughed. “Do you you think you could hold up the sky with those skinny little legs?”

“Not all alone,” admitted Hummingbird, “but I’m ready to do my part.”

Elephant looked down at the little bird. And he thought. And he nodded. Then he lowered himself slowly down onto his knees, rolled over onto his back, and into the air went four big legs, and a trunk.

–a tale from China–

“Holding Up the Sky” is retold from Margaret Read MacDonald’s Peace Tales: World Folktales to Talk About.

Convergence of Healing

She had returned from the sun when I visited
her smile embraced us welcome
as the warmth of the sofa, where we sat together,
her restraint soaked the air stifling our words.

Suddenly her eyes filled as
the protests poured their river between us;
against the fish of days bleeding together

as she perfects the jugglers’ art,
spinning the tops of work & care
silently mourning far-flung family
while carving a life in a foreign land.

The sun she had come from was an eruption
throwing Zeus’ bolts into her life
a message of death flew her to its core
his mother had died, her duty the funeral.

Now home, sleep called her
but its luxury was beyond her ability
care called its siren song from the rock of her heart
a heart that wished to grieve
for a sister three months beneath the ground.

I the daughter of such a woman
who had flowed as she had flowed to this land,
but I had known good times,
now I too faced days of Fate’s ire:

days of juggling care for a man once strong
but now fearful of every bite
every breath a matter of concentration
as he battles to live, recover, thrive.

I juggle the clubs of his calls
with the universal mundane duties of life
that spin their web over my days
encasing me in their lace of duty
while my heart longs for rest, joy.

I drown tears and fears behind my smile
as I watch a new generation frolic,
I long for my loved ones fledged afar.

Together we talked and Laughter lit her tides
joining our hearts in comfort’s relief:
the promise of an evening together
a glass of wine, a chance to talk,

Hera’ blessing flowed in an Heraia of peace
a wish for the year to turn
from Eris to Aphrodite, a new era of joy

©Carolyn O’Connell

I Practice Turning People Into Trees

“When you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying, ‘You’re too this, or I’m too this.’ That judging mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.” Ram Dass a.k.a. Richard Alpert (b. 1931), American spiritual teacher and author

Photo credit ~ © Jamie Dedes

Gil Fronsdale on Starting Where You Are At

Gil Fronsdale is a Buddhist who has practiced Soto Zen and Vipassana since 1975, and is currently a Buddhist teacher who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Gil was trained as a Vipassana teacher by Jack Kornfield and is part of the Vipassana teachers’ collective at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. He was ordained as a Soto Zen priest at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1982 and was a Theravada monk in Burma in 1985. In 1995 he received Dharma transmission from Mel Weitsman, the abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center.

He is the guiding teacher of the Insight Meditation Center (IMC) of Redwood City, California. He has a PhD inBuddhist Studies from Stanford University. His many dharma talks available online contain basic information on meditation and Buddhism, as well as subtle concepts of Buddhism explained at the level of the lay person.” Wikipedia

Video uploaded to YouTube by insightmed.
Photo credit ~ Insight Meditation Center, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Deriv 3.0 Unported

Breathless Between Language and Myth

Note: For some of us, our writing – whatever it may be: poetry, fiction, nonfiction, journaling – is our daily spritual practice. It is the place where we consciously connect with our core Self: the Ineffible, which some call God.

Here I am, suspended breathless
between language and myth.
Strands of undomesticated words
weave ladders to freedom, and

a dove in the stripy-barked birch
recites the works of Homer.
I found the rules of grammar
written on my tongue by the wind

and the alphabet strung like
seed-pearls around my willing neck.
Each day I take to the quarries,
hard mining for the sweetly lyrical,

blistered from digging in hot sands
and hard stone for parables.
The very walls that bound my heart
are fairly breached by the

gentle solace of poems spun
on a vision quest, on toiling
though the hill country of
my youthful and once indomitable

dreams: like dandelion fluff,
I blow them into history.
I write as though poetry is
the only real nourishment –
. . . . . . .perhaps it is.

A Ritual for Gratitude

by Terri Stewart

Rituals can make you happy, according to neuroscience. This ritual is, drumroll please, gratitude! Now, gratitude isn’t exactly a ritual but more of a way of being. But when we get stuck in a negative loop, perhaps we need to have a handy gratitude ritual. Rituals are so easy to create for our own lives (thank you for teaching me, Deborah Globus at lapadre.com).

Rituals have four steps:

Create a sacred or holy space. I use sacred and holy in the sense of healing and wholeness.
Declare your intention. What are you doing? Name it!
Embody your action. Do or say something that embodies your intention or moves you on the path.
Closing. A simple “may it be so” or “amen” or whatever your imagination brings!

So, back to gratitude. When we are in a negative loop (and it does happen) or when we are anxious, according to an article in Time magazine, practicing gratitude “activates the brain stem region that produces dopamine.” So it actually does a thing! How can we create an easily accessible ritual that will remind us to practice gratitude?

My first thought was to have a gratitude jar. Then I found this pinterest page: Mason Jar Crafts for Kids. It had a picture of what I’d like a jar to look like! It is decorated with shiny shells and twine. Easy peasy. Of course, I don’t have shells, so maybe another option like one wrapped in pretty lace. But I’m going to pretend I have shells for now. I will also need little strips of paper (fortune cookie size) and a pen or pencil. Ooo…colored pens! Or sparkly pens! Whatever you want to make a healing space.

My jar is my sacred space for gratitude.
I say, in my head or out loud, “I declare this a time to move from negativity to gratitude.”
Write three gratitudes on your little strips of paper. Fold them in half and put them in the jar.
Closing: May I remember to be grateful. May it be so.

That is sooo easy to do. And even if I don’t have a pretty, sparkly, shiny jar, I can stop myself and do all of the above and just say that wherever I am is sacred space. I think it is a good idea to have a physical reminder in your day-to-day territory, so I like an idea of a decorative container of some sort to remind you or even nag you into being grateful. 🙂

What are you grateful for today? How would you make this ritual your own?

Onward!

…

Deborah Globus/LaPadre’s link to creating ritual: http://www.lapadre.com/your-path-to-practice.html

Time article on neuroscience and rituals: http://time.com/4042834/neuroscience-happy-rituals/

Mason Jar Crafts page: https://www.pinterest.com/FreeKidsCrafts/mason-jar-crafts-for-kids/

A Ritual for Naming Difficult Emotions

by Terri Stewart

Ritual creates a movement and an opening. Scientific American summarized research on ritual and pointed out an experiment on losing the lottery. In this experiment, they offered a winning stake of $200. They asked people how they would spend the money if they won. They drew a winner and that person left the room. Then they divided into two groups. One group was asked to “draw about how they felt.” The other group was asked to perform a ritual of drawing, then sprinkling the drawing with salt, tear up the piece of paper, and then count to ten, in their head, five times. After this, all folks had to do a survey on how they felt after their loss (angry, sad, etc.). The ritual group was found to be calmer than the non-ritual group.

All that is to say, ritual helps create calm, inner peace, and strengthens our existing spiritual practices.

A ritual around naming negative feelings might be aided by the article in Scientific American! And those items are easy to acquire. You will need paper, pencil, salt (or other herby thing that might burn pleasantly), and a place to do fire. If you can’t do the fire thing, then I might suggest acquiring dissolving paper from any magic store.

The ritual might look like this

Form a sacred space. For this, I am going to use the little bowl I use to set my lavender/sage smudge stick into. It is a little tiny souffle dish with sand in it. This might take preparation! But you don’t necessarily need the sand. If you get the dissolving paper, then a bowl with water. I am using this bowl because it is already a ritual point for me when I use it for smudging.
I say, in my head or out loud, “I am here to learn from my feeling of ____________.” Insert negative feeling here. Note that it is a socially negative feeling. Feelings aren’t really negative, they serve a purpose. Anger, anxiety, sadness–they all deserve to be named and they will teach us. If you have a difficult time naming your feelings, then a feeling wheel might be helpful. I am wondering about naming anxiety about the electoral process and symbolically burning the entire RNC and DNC conventions. This may be the only way I make it through the US elections.
Write your feeling onto the paper. Listen to what the feeling is saying to your body (are you amped up? is it saying run?). Acknowledge the wisdom of the feeling letting your body know you are not controlled by your feelings but you definitely take into consideration the wisdom there. Sprinkle a little salt onto the paper or a dried herb. Salt is good as it has been symbolically used in the past to do rituals of clearing energy. Tear up the paper into little pieces and burn the paper. (or dissolve it in water).
Closing: May I remember to love and embrace all my feelings as the wisdom of my body. Let it be so.

That’s not too difficult! A ritual that would work to help name difficult emotions.

How would you make this ritual your own?

Rest in Great Natural Peace

MEDITATION

Rest in natural great peace this exhausted mind,
Beaten helpless by karma and neurotic thoughts
Like the relentless fury of the pounding waves
In the infinite ocean of samsara.
Rest in natural great peace.

Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche

♥ ♥

♥

Photograph of Nyochul Khen Rinpoche courtesy of Rigpa Wiki.

Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche or Nyoshul Khenpo Jamyang Dorje (Wyl. smyo shul mkhan po ‘jam dbyangs rdo rje) (1932-1999) was such a consummate master of Dzogpachenpo, and such an authority on the teachings of Longchenpa, that his disciples regarded him as Longchenpa in the flesh. He was the teacher of many of the younger generation of lamas, as well as a number of western Buddhist teachers. He became one of Sogyal Rinpoche‘s most beloved masters. MORE

A Ritual for Decision Making

by Terri Stewart

The neuroscientists point out that making decisions involves the prefrontal cortex in that it reduces worry and anxiety. Additionally, it calms the limbic system and a “good enough” decision involves the prefrontal cortex in a way that makes people feel as though they have more control.

I love the idea of “good enough” decisions. Sometimes I get hung up on making “the best” decision. Neuroscience says that is a bad idea! Making “the best” decision “brings too much emotional ventromedial prefrontal activity.” Or, it fires the wrong part of the brain.

I remember, in my brief studies of Ignatian Spirituality, that in St. Ignatius’ rules there was a point in time on our path towards living lives of love, that people no longer make choices between good and bad. The choice becomes between good and good. Eventually, over time, the differences are barely discernible. Do I choose “this good” or “that good.” Waiting for the interior movement to identify what he called feelings of consolation or desolation could take forever. Perhaps, no one is displeased if you choose good. A radical thought, I know. But any choice towards good, is, in itself, a good choice.

Ignatius did specify seven qualities for entering discernment:

Openness
Generosity
Courage
Interior Freedom
Habit of Reflection
Good Priorities
Not Confusing the Ends with the Means

I am wondering if a ritual for decision making is needed or if a ritual to celebrate a decision is needed. Or both. Hmm. Also, remembering that ritual, in itself, increases feelings of calm, control, and peace. So neuroscience is on ritual’s side.

I think this may take up more space and more time. But thoughtful decisions generally require more than a slip of paper! In discerning good from good, I wonder if relying on our artistic senses might help us find the heart’s calling. Yes! Letting go of the words and entering into the artistic expression of art, poetry, or music. I suggest setting aside a good chunk of time. Four hours or more.

The ritual might look like this

Sacred Space

Form a sacred space. Set up a work space. Bring to your space the things that ground you. That could be holy texts, symbols, flowers, photos of your cloud of witnesses, etc. Also bring to the work space the things you need to be creative. I’m going to borrow from SoulCollage(R). I am a SoulCollage(R) facilitator and think it lends itself here with a few modifications. The art supplies you will need are: magazines, pictures and photos; glue; scissors; cardstock (5×7 is easy to find, 5×8 is the typical SoulCollage(R) size), pencil, pen, journal. I also recommend having some meditative music playing in the background. Spotify has a meditation playlist that is pretty good!

Declare Your Intention

I say, in my head or out loud, “Before me, I have a decision between _______________. I am here to discern the good path.” Write this down in your journal.

Do It! Embody Your Ritual!

Create a typical pros/cons list before you begin. On two facing pages, list out decision 1, pros, cons and on the right page list decision 2, pros, cons. When you are done, pause and check-in with yourself. Lay your hand on the decision 1 list. Do you have feelings of happiness? sadness? anxiety? Take a moment and write down your feelings at the bottom of the page for decision 1.

Lay your hand on the decision 2 list. Do you have feelings of happiness? sadness? anxiety? Take a moment and write down your feelings at the bottom of the page for decision 2.

Is clarity rising?

Wisdom cards are coming! Next, take two pieces of cardstock. Lightly write on the backside of each piece of cardstock one of the decisions. New job/current job; back to school/current education is enough; pizza/lasagna? (ok, kidding aside, I’m on a huge food thing right now).

Turn the cardstock over. Make sure you don’t know which is which. Mix them up. Shuffle them. Don’t look! Trust the process. The process for each card will be the same.

Choose a card. Place it before you. Start looking for images in your magazines, photos, or books. Start pulling out images that are screaming, “use me!” “I’m yours!” “Choose!” Start layering the pictures onto the card in front of you. Typically, we think of having a background image and a few foreground images. Cut and glue to your heart’s content. Repeat the process for the second card.

Return to your journal. Have two facing pages open. Look at your cards. Are they naming themselves? If so, write the names across the pages, one on each page. If not, write a description of the card. Maybe the name will come.

Take a moment and write down any emotional reactions you have to the cards when you are viewing them.

Now for the reveal! Turn the cards over and see what they are saying. Write your decision under your card name in your journal. Like this:

-cardname-
-feelings-
-decision 1-

soulcollagewhale Now is the time to interrogate the card. With your potential decision in mind, put yourself into the images on your card. Look at the image. Become the image in the card. Now speak from the card’s perspective. Answer each prompt in your journal. Writing for about 5 minutes for each prompt.

-Complete the sentence. I am the one who ______________ . Write until you are left without words to write or until your time is concluded, your choice.
-Ask the card, “What do you have to give me relating to decision 1?” Again, write for 5 minutes or until you are without words.
-Ask the card, “What do you want from me relating to decision 1?” Again, write for 5 minutes or until you are without words.
-Ask the card, “Is there anything else you have to tell me today relating to decision 1?” Again, write for 5 minutes or until you are without words.

soulcollagecow Do this for each card. When you are done, hold both cards together. Has a decision settled into your body? Have you moved forward in clarity? It is possible that it may become cloudy before it is clear!

If a decision is clear, circle it. Or glue glitter onto it! Or decorate it!

Closing the Space

What feels right to me to close the space is a sacred time of cleaning up. Putting away the magazines. Washing the table if the glue got a little wild. All of that, within the time of holiness. Whole-iness. But having the cards and journal centered so that you are working around them, honoring their presence in the space.

At the time of completion. Turn the music off, face your cards and journal, and make a deep bow honoring the work that you have done and the decision you have made. Acknowledge the joy of a decision and the grief of letting go of the “what could be” in the alternative.

Read this:

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the infinite peace to you.

May it be so.

…

OK. This is a more complex ritual. But decision making is complicated. It involves our self-worth, self-perception, often loved ones who are relying on us, and resources that we may risk. A complex decision deserves to be honored. If you like your card that became your decision, you may want to keep it nearby to remind you of what went into your becoming.

Onward!

…

SoulCollage(R): http://www.soulcollage.com/

Deborah Globus/LaPadre’s link to creating ritual: http://www.lapadre.com/your-path-to-practice.html

Time article on neuroscience and rituals: http://time.com/4042834/neuroscience-happy-rituals/

Scientific American article on why rituals work: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-rituals-work/

A Ritual for Touch

by Terri Stewart

Neuroscientists point out that touch releases oxytocin into our systems. Touch has several categories and corresponding changes on your body:

Handshakes and pats on the back actually release small amounts of oxytocin. Of course, we need to be clear with our permission boundaries and that the person is not hyper-sensitive to touch or has a history of abuse. Perhaps this is why passing of the peace is so popular in churches that practice it. The drawn out shaking of hands and hugging goes from person to person! Upping everyone’s oxytocin!
Touching someone you love actually reduces pain
Holding hands with someone you love alleviates pain and helps you get through difficult situations. They did this experiment:

One fMRI study scanned married women as they were warned that they were about to get a small electric shock. While anticipating the painful shocks, the brain showed a predictable pattern of response in pain and worrying circuits, with activation in the insula, anterior cingulate, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. During a separate scan, the women either held their husbands’ hands or the hand of the experimenter. When a subject held her husband’s hand, the threat of shock had a smaller effect. The brain showed reduced activation in both the anterior cingulate cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex— that is, less activity in the pain and worrying circuits.

Hugging five times a day has been shown to increase happiness
Can’t hug or shake hands or any of that? Massage has been shown to release serotonin and dopamine and decreases cortisol.

So there’s the science. I don’t think it is advisable to randomly walk up to people and start hugging them. So how do you design a ritual around touch? Or around hugs? Pretty sure this will take two people. And I’ll admit it, I am a non-touch person. I’m a little hyper-sensitive to touch so I generally go on high alert when being touched. It’s awkward. But I do like hugging a safe person.

Ok. Let’s see what we can do.

A quick research reveals to me that touching animals also releases oxytocin as does touching yourself. Woot! We’re in!

Sacred Space

To form a sacred space, I think I’d like a circle. Surround yourself with the things you love in a circle around you. Flowers, in a grove, books, pictures, art supplies, music sheets, candles, your gratitudes, or be in the center of a labyrinth…whatever it is that you love. And it doesn’t need to be a lot of whatever it is. Shoot, you could be in the middle of your favorite work space! Choose to be standing or sitting, whatever makes you comfortable.

Declare Your Intention

Today, I choose to reconnect with myself. To accept my body as a gift of comfort and joy.

Photo by Spirit Fire (CC BY) — Art by Spirit Fire
(CC BY), flickr

Do it!

Now, we’re going to travel chakra by chakra, visiting the body’s energy centers by direct touch. For some of us, our range of motion is limited. Adapt each item as you are able. Also, where possible, touch your direct skin. Take your shoes off!

Touch your feet (root chakra). The root chakra is for grounding and security. For some of us, our feet and ankles are weak or damaged. Acknowledge this while accepting the connection to the earth. Hold each touch for as long as you desire. Do a breath practice while holding your touch. When you breathe in, think or say “Root of life,” on your exhale think or say “Thank you.” Do this five or more times.
Touch the area below your naval. This is the sacral chakra. Sacral means sacred or holy and it also is the sacrum at the base of your spine. It is for relationships and emotions. This may be a difficult area for many. I have two c-section scars and of course, it is not as flat as I’d like. Set those thoughts aside. Do a breath practice while holding your touch. When you breathe in, think or say “Sacredness of life,” on your exhale think or say “Thank you.” Do this five or more times.
Touch the area at your solar plexus. This is for vitality or power. When singers sing, they use their diaphragm to give them power! When you take big breaths that reach every part of your lungs, you touch the diaphragm area. This may be difficult for those who are affected by asthma or even if you have a cold. Accept the limitation at the same time you hear its strength. Do a breath practice while holding your touch. When you breathe in, think or say “Power of life,” on your exhale think or say “Thank you.” Do this five or more times.
Touch the area at your heart. This is for love, connection, and balance. Let go of any short comings you feel and move into the gift of your heart. Do a breath practice while holding your touch. When you breathe in, think or say “Power of love,” on your exhale think or say “Thank you.” Do this five or more times.
Touch the area at your throat. This is for communication and healing. Let go of any short comings you feel and move into the gift of your voice. Do a breath practice while holding your touch. When you breathe in, think or say “Power of voice,” on your exhale think or say “Thank you.” Do this five or more times.
Touch the area at your forehead. This is for intuition and understanding. Let go of any short comings you feel and move into the gift of your knowing. Do a breath practice while holding your touch. When you breathe in, think or say “Power of wisdom,” on your exhale think or say “Thank you.” Do this five or more times.
Touch the area at the top of your head, or the crown of your head. This is for transcendence or enlightenment. Let go of any short comings you feel and move into the gift of the cosmos. Do a breath practice while holding your touch. When you breathe in, think or say “Power of all,” on your exhale think or say “Thank you.” Do this five or more times.

Closing

Let your hands come to a gentle rest in your lap. Breathe in, breathe out. Bow or tip your head downward. Breathe in, breathe out. Move your hands back as possible, tip your head back, open your chest area. Breathe in, breathe out. Return to neutral.

Namaste.*

Onward!

…

Self-Soothing Behaviors: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25628581

Translations of namaste: http://www.wakingtimes.com/2014/11/08/meaning-namaste-many-translations-one-universal-intention/

A Ritual for Peace, a poem

If there were ever worthier cause than this, then tell me please. To start and think how each and every step we take will mark the ground with footprint there that, howsoever small,
one day a thousand footprints coalesce
into a hardened monument, that stands
… forever irresistible to all.
Each one of us will contribute toward exposing the futility of war,
the rape of Mother Earth. To save her soul, reiterate,
unquestioning, the need
for all to find another way … for all;
to seek new politic and social order.
And might this be our greatest ever quest that every day we do or be our best ensuring love and kindness finds a place
in every breath we take, that gives us grace to reconcile conflicting minds and cease the fight, and search for everlasting peace.
[This has to become my daily prayer]

A Ritual for Release

by Terri Stewart

Note: This is from my context, please release what you need to release and adapt as you see fit for your context.

Ritual for Release on the Sabbath Day

Social justice work can often seem to be very sad and disenchanting. You really do run into the worst of people. However, you also meet the best in people. Where they transcend what-is and move into what-shall-be. I find that Sabbath is necessary to sustain social justice work.

Sabbath from everything that I’ve learned is grounded in work-stoppage, rest, being in contrast to the prevailing economy, and holiness. Why do I say these things?

The recognition of Sabbath comes from the creation story in Hebrew scripture in Genesis. G*d does all this work creating the world and everything in it in six days. And on the seventh day, comes rest from creating. That is work-stoppage and rest!

The command to honor Sabbath comes down to the Israelites after they leave Egypt (the prevailing economy) and are called into a new life. So Sabbath life is in direct contrast to a productive life. Additionally, the commandments call for us to honor Sabbath and to make it holy. Not just rest, but honor and holiness. The roots of the word holiness include meanings like “to make whole” and “to heal.”

As I was ruminating about posting about Sabbath and all that it means to me to step outside of the prevailing production system, I thought, “I need a ritual that will help cleanse the seemingly endless supply of idiocy that comes my way.” And let’s face it, we all have an endless supply of idiocy that comes our way.

So here it is! Using the handy-dandy template from LaPadre.com (Deborah Globus):

Declare sacred space
State intentions
Create an embodied ritual
Close

Since this is a ritual for releasing angst and the need to solve social justice issues in order that Sabbath may truly be a place of being made whole, I think the sacred space should be in my home. Or yard. But definitely somewhere close by. I will do it in my back yard.
Things I needed to create the ritual:

Bowl
Pitcher of Water
Towel <–very important!
Yoga Mat (my yard is not great so I want the mat to sit on)
Something to write my ritual onto (I used my handy dandy Surface)
My favorite sacred poetry book: Women in Praise of the Sacred (all the readings except scripture readings are from this book)
My favorite sacred text (Bible for me): The Voice
My iPod to play my favorite meditative music:

Please use this is a guide to create your own meaningful ritual. I am choosing five readings-2 from Hebrew scripture and 3 from Women in Praise of the Sacred.

Everything is set and I'm doing the breath prayer. — Everything is set and I’m doing the breath prayer.

Opening:

Breath in / Breath out – Breath Prayer – at least five times

On inhale name your idea of God or Ultimate Transcendence, on exhale name the results you desire

Example: Holiness / Bring Peace

First reading (A reading that speaks to the issue of how we treat other people. Excerpted from Exodus 22:21-27.)

²¹Do not wrong or oppress any outsiders living among you, for there was a time when you lived as outsiders in the land of Egypt.

²²You must not take advantage of any widow or orphan. ²³If you do oppress them and they cry out to Me, I will certainly hear them, ²⁴and My wrath will be kindled.

²⁵If you loan money to any of the poor among My people, do not treat them as borrowers and act as their creditors by charging interest. ²⁶If your neighbor gives his coat to you as collateral, then be sure to give it back before night falls—even if he has not repaid you in full. ²⁷You see that coat covers his body and may be his only protection against the cold. What do you think he would sleep in? When he calls out for Me, I will hear his cry. I am kind and compassionate as you should be.

Confession: I have heard your cry to care for your people. All the people. At the same time that I cry out against injustice, I am aware that I am inextricably part of this system. I am both oppressor and oppressed. I give my heart up today so that I may be forgiven when I am too zealous and when I am not zealous enough. Please forgive me.

Ritual Pouring: Pour the water into the bowl. Hold the pitcher high! Make it splash. It is meaningful water! Breath prayer: I am / forgiven. I am / forgiven.

Second Reading (please substitute words as you see fit for your tradition, “The French Beguine,” 13^th century, from The Soul Speaks):

Beguines who hear these words,
If life on earth
Makes you weep and complain,
Find your comfort in God:
Know that it is His will
That keeps you dwelling here below,
And the more your hearts burn with love—
As mine did, when I lived—
The more lovely to Him you will be.
It is the color in which He is clothed.
In this you will be like Him.

Prayer: I am here to rest in Gracious Love. Still my burning heart just for this day so that I may be refreshed, renewed, and restored.

Ritual Offering: Lift the bowl of water to the sky, let it carry the meaning of your heart. Connect yourself, grounding in the earth, through the bowl of water, through the air, to the flame in the sky—the sun. Take in all the elements supporting you and your breath.

Third Reading (by Mechtild of Magdeburg, 1207-1297ish, “How God Answers the Soul):

It is my nature that makes me love you often,
For I am love itself,

It is my longing that makes me love you intensely,
For I yearn to be loved from the heart.

It is my eternity that makes me love you long,
For I have no end.

Prayer: Let me be love, today and always. Let me unite with love, today and always. Let me walk with love, today and always.

Ritual Cleansing with Letting Go: Wash the waters over your face. Say a word of release for each washing:

Ig flickingwater norance (wash water over face quickly and then flick the water off of your fingers)
Hatred (wash water over face quickly and then flick the water off of your fingers)
Disregard (wash water over face quickly and then flick the water off of your fingers)

Fourth Reading (excerpt from the Gnostic Gospel: Nag Hammadi Library, 2^nd-4^th c., from The Thunder: Perfect Mind) This reading reflects the dichotomy of being oppressor and oppressed:

Sent from the Power,
I have come
To those who reflect upon me,
And I have been found
Among those who seek me.
Look upon me,
You who meditate,
And hearers, hear.

…

For I am the first, and the last.
I am the honored one, and the scorned.
I am the whore and the holy one.
I am the wife and the virgin.
I am the mother, the daughter,
And every part of both.
I am the barren one who has borne many sons.

…

I am the incomprehensible silence
And the memory that will not be forgotten.
I am the voice whose sound is everywhere
And the speech that appears in many forms.
I am the utterance of my own name.
…

I am knowledge and ignorance.
I am modesty and boldness.
I am shameless, I am ashamed.
I am strength and I am fear.
I am war and I am peace.
…

I am the one they call Life,
The one you call Death.
I am the one they call Law,
The one you call Lawless.
I am the one you have scattered,
And you have gathered me together.
I am godless, and I am the one
Whose God is great.

Ritual Cleansing with Letting In: Wash the waters over your face. Claim a word of life for each washing:

Love (wash and hold over your face for a moment)
Peace (wash and hold over your face for a moment)
Mercy (wash and hold over your face for a moment)

Closing:

2 On the seventh day—with the canvas of the cosmos completed—God paused from labor and rested. 3 Thus God blessed day seven and made it special—an open time for pause and restoration, a sacred zone of Sabbath-keeping, because God rested from all the work done in creation that day. (Genesis 2:2-3) holdingwater

Go now in peace to rest, rejuvenate, and be restored.

Amen. (So mote it be).

…

What would you release?

What would you hold onto?

How could you use a ritual like this? On a special Sabbath day or in daily life?

…

Ritual

“Then you would pray to the birds too, consumed by an all-embracing love in a sort of transport, and pray that they too will forgive you your sin.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky

I meet my friend the seagull on the rocks:
mesmerized by ocean, we share this ritual.
I feel wind through my hair
adore me like never before.

It keeps waking me, taunting
me, blowing love’s echo in the night.
Just me and time is all it takes.
Eternity swallowed that simple.

How I disappear in azure eyes.
Words pulsate in my blood,
I can read ad infinitum,
wishing the road never ends.

Softness and power I cannot resist —
hunter and hunted in one —
beauty flows through you, overwhelms
and delights me to insanity.

The sky fills with hundreds of birds
who witness the sun steal away, the day die
as your smile eclipses the light
and turns the dream into a spell.

From Life in Suspension (Salmon Poetry, 2016); Hélène Cardona’s bio is HERE.

Black Honey Fare

A girl inhaling clean salty air
on the coastline of the Pacific
once harboring pristine beaches
held in awe in the early fifties

Cradled first in a mother’s arms
embraced in a warm blanket of sun
sand sticking to arms and legs
to tiny feet and pudgy hands raised

Eyes swallowing the ocean forever
encompassing a spotless horizon
just a sweet taste of waves and wind
‘til progress brazenly stepped in

Iron giant beast bereft of eyes
harnessed to flat steel platforms
began springing forth on Hwy 1
like parched wilted weeds in the sun

They anointed the soil like locusts
legs attached with heads in motion
digging deep in the earth drinking
oil thick like honey sickly menacing

Pollution crept in first unnoticed
air thick at times with heady fumes
sticky black tar littered beaches
Tin Can Beach amassed its leaches

Years were swept as incoming tides
realization of what man had made
eyes burned of air toxic to breathe
a process to clean, erect a sheath

Signs were posted of ‘Danger Beware’
bulldozers took away tin cans and trash
Bolsa Chica Beach left in its wake
all was done for humanities’ sake

A woman inhaling remnants of air
on the coastline of the Pacific
iron giants without eyes still stare
never sated on their black honey fare

– Renee Espiru

Thank you for sharing the beauty and inspiration:

Thank you for sharing the beauty and inspiration:

Thank you for sharing the beauty and inspiration:

Thank you for sharing the beauty and inspiration:

Thank you for sharing the beauty and inspiration:

Thank you for sharing the beauty and inspiration:

Thank you for sharing the beauty and inspiration:

Thank you for sharing the beauty and inspiration:

Thank you for sharing the beauty and inspiration:

Thank you for sharing the beauty and inspiration:

Thank you for sharing the beauty and inspiration:

MEDITATION

Rest in natural great peace this exhausted mind, Beaten helpless by karma and neurotic thoughts Like the relentless fury of the pounding waves In the infinite ocean of samsara. Rest in natural great peace.

Thank you for sharing the beauty and inspiration:

Thank you for sharing the beauty and inspiration:

Thank you for sharing the beauty and inspiration:

Thank you for sharing the beauty and inspiration:

Thank you for sharing the beauty and inspiration:

Thank you for sharing the beauty and inspiration:

Thank you for sharing the beauty and inspiration:

Rest in natural great peace this exhausted mind,
Beaten helpless by karma and neurotic thoughts
Like the relentless fury of the pounding waves
In the infinite ocean of samsara.
Rest in natural great peace.