Have you ever stopped to look back on the last few months of your life, and noticed a huge, unexplainable shift? Have you ever wondered how you got from A to B? Are you ever amazed at the path that life has taken you down? In January 2012 I had one active blog and a [...]
Tag Archives: ritual
ritual – the book
Posted in contemplation, rituals, wellness
Also tagged book, creativity, draft, journey, personal growth
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being fed
I have stories running through my head all the time. One recent story involves a man and a woman. They are beginning a relationship, and they each have very different attitudes towards food. The man sees food as a necessity, but he doesn’t like to think too much about preparing it, or even eating it. [...]
Posted in contemplation, rituals, soul, wellness
Also tagged cooking, food, personal development, personal growth, relationships
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reflection
Another valuable skill we can develop on our life journey is the skill of reflection. To witness our life, our experiences, our relationships, or our behavior – and reflect on what has happened – is the doorway to understanding, the beginning of the possibility of new choices, and the ability to change. A regular habit [...]
Posted in contemplation, rituals, wellness
Also tagged belief, faith, personal development, personal growth, prayer, reflection, spirituality
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returning from the wilderness
For my last birthday, a dear friend of mine gifted me with Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore. Throughout this irreverent-yet-loving fictional account of the life of Jesus between the age of 12 and his death, Jesus periodically heads out into the wilderness seeking answers from his father (God). [...]
Posted in contemplation, nature, prayer, rituals, wellness
Also tagged Christopher Moore, journey, Lamb, sun, wilderness
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sacrifice
This is another huge stumbling block for me: The idea of sacrifice. It makes me think of primitive humans, killing their best animals – or even other humans – and presenting the corpses as sacrifices to appease the gods. There’s a dynamic of “You give me this, and I’ll give you that.” How many of [...]
Posted in contemplation, rituals, wellness
Also tagged ceremony, personal growth, religion, sacrifice
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surrendering
In order to receive, you have to surrender first. In our productivity-focused, profit-driven, control-freaking world, surrender sometimes feels like the ultimate terror. But you can’t connect with transpersonal energy unless you surrender to it. It won’t be controlled, or micro-managed, or dictated to. It has its own terms, agenda, timeline, and values. If you don’t [...]
Posted in contemplation, rituals, wellness
Also tagged personal development, personal growth, surrender
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induction
I love the word induction. It literally means to lead – to a new place, to a different state of being, to a different form. All ritual is an induction. The question is: Who’s leading? (And how willing are you to follow?)
Posted in contemplation, rituals, wellness
Also tagged hypnosis, induction, meditation, new age, prayer
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invocation
I love the word invocation. It literally means to call in: for help, for support, for inspiration. It’s not surprising that most religious rituals begin with an invocation – or an invitation – for God to be present. Yet so often when I sit down for private rituals – like my yoga or writing practices [...]
Posted in contemplation, rituals, wellness
Also tagged aid, assistance, help, invocation, singing bowl
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crisis
Why does all of this talk about ritual matter? What possible difference could it make to anyone’s life? Possibly none. Maybe it doesn’t matter at all. All I know is, occasionally we may wake up from sleepwalking through life, and realize that something is seriously, seriously wrong. We’ve gained 20 pounds in the last six [...]
Posted in bodywork, contemplation, dreams, rituals, wellness
Also tagged addiction, crisis, depression
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soul food
This past Sunday morning I was sitting in the waiting room of the service centre at a Canadian Tire, waiting for my semi-annual tire change (from snow tires to all-weather radials). I had brought along Marion Woodman's Conscious Femininity – a collection of her interviews between 1985 and 1992 – to read while I waited. [...]
Posted in bodywork, contemplation, dreams, read, rituals, wellness
Also tagged addiction, body, Conscious Femininity, Marion Woodman, Parabola, soul, symbol
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