well-seasoned ritual template
“Hey Mom, light a candle for me today; I’ve got that big presentation.”
“Will do, honey,” I text back before heading to my candle box to select a candle & conduct a quick ritual on behalf of the requesting, kiddo.
Over the years of practicing what I’ve come to call becoming a Well-Seasoned Woman, I’ve discovered the deep, sacred goodness to be found in conducting rituals, both simple and elaborate.
3 big reasons why you should consider conducting rituals regularly
#1 seasonal rituals help us navigate change
The calendar year keeps steadily moving forward. So does the chronological unfolding of the days of my life. If I’m not super focused on paying attention, the time all too quickly slips through my fingers, more or less unnoticed and unappreciated. Taking time at the beginning of each of the four seasons to welcome its arrival and then again at the middle of each season to reflect & “course correct” if necessary are valuable ways to get intentional about my Time, Season, and Purpose in a way that allows me to deepen my embodied experience with each while also understanding that ch-ch-change lies just ahead. It allows me to honor the uniqueness of each Season’s gifts, which are, by design, opportunities to evolve. It’s all too easy to settle into the “same old, same old.” But, the path to becoming Well-Seasoned—aka, to saying YES! to Life—means embracing the inevitability of Change. Rituals help me navigate this truth with grit and grace.
#2 nature-based rituals foster a sense of wonder & awe
It’s all too easy in our modern world to pretty much avoid all contact with Mama Nature. We can pull the blinds, turn up the air, put up the screens, and turn on the lights as it suits our habitual schedules and desires. While I appreciate many of the conveniences modern technology affords, I have come to know deeply how inportant it is for me—as a member of the natural world myself—to put forth effort to foster a deepening relationship with the deep goodness, the beauty and wonder and Love on display in tree trunk and soft mossy ground, in birdsong and running brook, in seed texture and leaf outline, in rainstorm and snow fall, in the sharp pungency of basil and the sweet yellowness of daffodil. (Now, ticks and mosquitoes? No thank you.) Investing in rituals associated with the natural world grounds and delights me in the most primal and poetic of ways—with what is going on OUT THERE and what is consequently happening in my own DNA-embedded biorhythms.
#3 rituals support us in deepening our sense of belonging and connection
One of the reasons that I regularly craft & engage in rituals is the same reason why I like a liturgically based worship experience. There’s something about knowing that all around the world, others are also engaged in reading the same scripture, participating in the same rituals that those in my congregation are—-and that this connectivity stretches backward and forward in time, across many generations—that nurtures a deep sense of belonging and connection. Honoring Life’s milestone moments with the repeated practice of my own, homegrown rituals, deepens my sense of belonging—to other women on the Well-Seasoned path, to those who request my witness & support (like my grown kid’s request to light a candle), to my deepest self, and of course to Spirit, who flows through all creative endeavors and intentions.
Ultimately, I don’t want to be on my deathbed, wondering where all the time went. I don’t want to end up at the end of my life and feel that I’d spent all of my time living someone else’s life. Engaging in rituals is a way of connecting with MY LIFE, right here, right now. It’s a way of saying, “My life belongs to me and I want to stay connected to every moment & every season of it, on purpose.”
very short list of ritual-worthy happenings
Here is an admittedly brief list of some of rituals I’ve found support me in making meaning of Time and Season, and that help me refine my Purpose in showing up with intention for my wild and precious life.
Seasonal Thresholds (Spring & Autumn Equinoxes + Summer & Winter Solstices)
Mid-season celebrations (Imbolc & Beltane & Lammas & Samhain)
Lunar “moonthly” movements: New Moons & Full Moons
A New Year ritual
Feminine Flow Life Markers: menarche + pregnancy/birth + menopause + tidal source
Daily “Sacred Circle” rituals (speaking my affirmations & praying for those in my circle of influence)
Whenever an extra dose of grounding, comforting, clarity, encouragement, or support etc. is needed by the ritual-maker, or when someone else asks us to conduct the ritual on their behalf
Deaths of all kinds
Births and rebirths of all kinds
Birthdays/anniversaries
a simple, 5-step, ritual template for well-seasoned women to practice
#1 create your space
Reserve time on your calendar. I cannot overestimate the need to do whatever you need to do to avoid interruption as much as possible. Give advance warning to others in the house. Turn off notifications/unplug. Set your altar space—this can be as simple as a small space on the floor, a coffee table, or a TV dinner tray. Adorn with a candle & matches and as you desire, items such as essential oils/incense, oracle cards, smudge sticks, natural items like flowers, moss, grass, branches, rocks, pebbles, pinecones, sand, seashells, colorful leaves, etc.—whatever is seasonal at the time. When ready, light your candle, smudge (if you have a smudge stick).
#2 set your intentions
Stand outside or sit facing your altar, and say something like, “ I’m thankful for THIS Time, Season & Purpose. I now sync my energies with that of ____ (e.g. The Spring Equinox or the Spirit of Healing, or the Full Moon, etc.). In doing so, I am choosing to honor Well-Seasoned Women across time & space. May I know them. May I be one of them. May I influence the next generation to become them.”
#3 attune and orient yourself
Ground your body, open your heart, and quiet your mind. Put your feet on the floor, place a hand on your heart and another on your belly as you slow and deepen your breathing for several cycles. If you have chosen a WOTY (Word of the Year), affirm your WOTY intentions now.
#4 participate in practices that honor, celebrate, & sync with time, season, and purpose
Practice embodied honoring/celebrating/syncing with Season/Time/Purpose. The more senses you can involve, the better and deeper the love and wisdom reaches & the more fun it is! Whatever activities you choose, the ritual can be as simple or as ornate as you desire and/or as tine and space allow. Showing Up is more important than elaborate, social post-worthy productions. Some ideas include:
Spending time in Nature—sitting by a waterfall, hiking in the woods, walking along an ocean, visiting a garden—any place where your senses are filled with the sights, sounds, smells, and textures of Mama Nature
Dancing to music of your choice with tune and movements that bring to mind the event
Reflecting & Journaling, with or without oracle cards
Creating a collage or word art board in conjunction with your intentions/calendar significance
Cooking seasonal foods that tie in with the moment & then eating/sharing your culinary creations after reading inspirational pieces about the significance of the milestone moment
Gathering with others to conduct a “Circle Way” event, based on an event-specific prompt
Adorning yourself with ribbonry, tattooes, fancy headware to do any/all of the above
Walking a labyrinth or planting a special sapling/flower/plant
Selecting a behavior, thinking pattern, and/or old story to release & then writing it on a piece of paper, which you’l (carefully!) feed to your candleflame. Then, use a sharpie marker to write on a flat stone the new behavior or story that you’re now affirming. Keep this stone on your altar.
#5 affirm & seal the moment
This is most often a reworking of step #2 with the possible addition of some next steps or an affirmation that surfaced during the ritual. “I’m thankful for being able to honor THIS Time, Season & Purpose. I now choose to move forward, affirming that I am releasing ____ and stepping into ____. May I continue loving what needs loving, releasing what needs releasing, and untangling what needs untangling as I practice living a Well-Seasoned life. So mote it be.”
