Spiritual Rituals
We live in very interesting times on this Mother Earth. Time has seemed to speed up, distraction is everywhere, and as a whole, modern society has all but lost its ancient connection to its spiritual nature and to the Earth. In light of this, many people are searching to reconnect with the sacred and many have adopted different spiritual paths such as yoga, meditation, First People’s ways, Eastern philosophies, Taoism, Buddhism, and countless others, searching for a deeper meaning to this life we all share here together.
Over the past few hundred years, millions of ancestors have migrated overseas across the world away from their own culture, many allowing their native traditions to fade away, slowly dissolved by the modern societies in which we live. Many people who are still deeply connected to their traditional roots hold tight as the Western World spins faster and creeps further into the natural green edges that surround it. Others feel the need to explore ancient, sacred traditions that they may not have been born into, but still nourish the soul, open the mind, and heal the heart.
All of these spiritual and religious practices have something in common: ritual. Ritual is intrinsic to the human experience. From the beginning of civilization, every culture held ritual and ceremony at the heart of existence. Sacredness and spirituality weren’t just a part of daily life, they were a way of life. By understanding our inherent connection to nature, our higher selves, our ancestral traditions and the Divine, we can recognize the need for nourishing them all through personal sacred ritual.
What Exactly is a Sacred Ritual?
Rituals come in many different forms. Some are communal, others are very personal experiences. They are performed for many different reasons; to nourish the spirit, for prayer, healing the self, initiation, celebration, to attain sacred wisdom, or to commune with spirits, deities, gods or goddesses, to name a few. They are a way of putting intention into action by acknowledging the spirit realm using prayer, incense, and spiritual tools. A ritual, ceremony, or sacred rite, is a procedure in which a spiritual experience is achieved at a soul level.