“When we create sacred space we are able to incubate our conscious intentions. And when we set our intentions, they are woven deeper and received louder by the forces around us.”
For tens of thousands of years, ceremonies have been used - universally - to aid communities of people in times of change, hope, transition, fear, celebration, and prayer.
Ritual and ceremony create a bridge between the physical world we live in and the world of the unseen: the divine, the spiritual, and the universe. As a bridge, ceremony provides us with direct connection and contact to the spiritual forces around us, allowing us to work in tandem, bringing our prayers, wishes, and dreams to fruition.
Sacred Space
When we create sacred space, we are able to incubate our conscious intentions. And when we set our intentions, they are woven deeper and received louder by the forces around us. Before you begin ceremony, it is important to prepare your space before opening up channels to other realms.
The spiritual forces around us, much like the energies in the physical realm, are comprised of dark and light elements. We do not always have control of the energies around us. So by clearing the space of any unwanted energies, we are able to perform our ceremonies safely and successfully.
Once you have cleared your space, you have already begun the process of creating Sacred Space. Creating sacred space involves intention, presence, awareness, and direction.
Intention: What is it that you seek? What is the purpose of this act?
Presence: Center yourself, connect to your center and feel into your abstract mind, allowing your felt-senses to be heightened.
Awareness: Have a curiosity to what is unknown, clarity to recognize a shift in energy, awareness of what is internal and external, a clear mind to hear psychic messages and see images from other times or realms, the ability to sense what is different and similar.
Direction: a direction of energy, a purpose: a ritual or ceremony, a deity or source to connect with for a higher purpose.
Your sacred space will embody different things from day to day, as it is, like yourself, in constant ebb and flow. You may be drawn to certain attributes or archetypes, and that too is part of the great balance. The great balance is what I find myself striving for, asking for, in ritual and ceremony.
I create sacred space in order to connect deeper to myself and to the forces around me, guiding me, co-creating with me. Ritual brings me assuredness and connection, and ceremony rekindles and reminds me of my ability in this realm and of my possibility.
I wonder what ritual and ceremony will bring to you.
What’s the difference between Ritual & Ceremony?
Ritual is a part of ceremony; however, both hold unique purpose and power separate from one another.
For example, every night as I fall asleep I connect to my energy body and give myself Reiki; I consider this to be a bedtime ritual. However, if I built on this ritual and played my crystal bowls and began chanting and vocal sounding, with the intention of shifting something within, this would be a ceremony.
Ritual work is something repeated daily, once a week, seasonally, annually, etc. whereas ceremony is created with a detailed intention and performed to ask for a specific outcome. With this understanding, a ritual can be enacted again and again, whereas a ceremony will change and evolve each time.
Before I have a client come into my space, I perform a preparation ritual and ceremony. In the ritual I clean my space, positioning things into their places and prepare the treatment bed. Once things are orderly, I burn sage to mark the opening of ceremony. Here, I open my channels and call on elements, guides, and benevolent energies to help clear out and cleanse my space. I show my gratitude.
In this example, my preparation ritual has created the foundation for my ceremony to be built upon. Then ritual shape-shifts into a ceremonial request to transform this ordinary space into a container of healing.
What’s the difference between Ceremony & Intention Setting?
Much like the comparison of ritual to ceremony, a ceremony includes both rituals and intention setting; however, both ritual and intention setting may not include ceremony.
For example, before I begin my yoga practice, I ask myself if there’s an intention or purpose that would like to step forwards - this is a ritual. In this example, I do not prepare anything or build on this experience beyond acknowledging an intention to work with.
Once I begin to breathe this intention into my body and put it into action, directing my shapes and movements, this is ceremony. In this example, a student could work with the same theme every day, as a ritual, and the student’s movement practice would still be different day to day, just as ceremony shifts with each opening.
Getting sacred with it
“When we create sacred space we are able to incubate our conscious intentions. And when we set our intentions, they are woven deeper and received louder by the forces around us.”
What is something that you want to commit to? What is one thing you would like to shift in your life? What ritual or ceremony can you enact in order to release these desires out into physical form? What are you asking for creation?
5 Easy ways to get Sacred
IN THE SHOWER
Next time you take a shower, give yourself some extra time. From the moment you turn on the water, to each item you remove from your skin, be very present, focused, and directed. You are about to experience a sacred water ceremony.
Once you step into the shower and you feel the water ripple across your skin, feel all of your tensions, fear, narratives, slow and soften away. Every river of water moving across your body is bringing purification and rejuvenation to every cell and expression within your body. You feel alive and returned with vigor.
As you soap your body you enact a body blessing, spreading appreciation and attention throughout your body. Once the soap has been rinsed from your skin, you are ready to emerge.
The water will stop running, and in this new silence allow yourself to take 3 connective breathes (in and out of the nose, if possible), before getting a towel and drying off - affirming and tucking each affirmation, want, self-love moment, safe and secure within your being.
SAGE CLEARING
Open up a window and burn a sacred herb or wood, such as sage, mugwort, palo santo, or cedar. All of these herbs or woods are tools for clearing a space of negative energies while providing both a grounding and enhancing energetic shift. Walk around your space, remaining present to your intention, meeting each corner and everything on the way, with focus and attention. You may close the window once you have moved through your space and feel the more spaciousness and neutrality.
PULL AN ORACLE
Pull an oracle at the beginning or end of the day/week as a way to reflect on your current path and where you want to go. An oracle can include (and is not limited to) tarot, angel cards, animal guide decks, runes, etc. Inviting some form of divination into your week or day will build a stronger channel of communication between yourself, your higher Self, and other energies of spiritual counsel.
CLEAN & DECLUTTER
Take 1-2 hours to devote to cleaning your space. As you move from one room to another, clean and enhance the energetic vibration as you go, moving with the intention of clearing stuck energy and restoring the space back to balance.
De-clutter, clear out, re-gift belongings, beautify your space, and connect to the essence of caring for your space and acknowledging it.
WORK WITH CRYSTALS
Choose a crystal to work with each day/week/month. Carry this crystal with you, interact with it, connect to its essence and energy, and care for it. Learn about its characteristics: what chakra is it associated with, what attributes does it hold, does it work with a certain element, what attracted you to this crystal? Be curious and remain reflective about how you feel, what you experience with the crystal, and where you may want to focus on next in your body.
As you can see, getting sacred, creating rituals and ceremonies does not need to be complicated. It is all in your intentions and it is a beautiful way to center yourself and stay connected.
AUTHOR: Natasha Allain is an OSYL Igniter and Mirror of Truth, Modern Medium, Healer, Yogi & Intentional Artisan. Her main purpose is to truly see You. She is here to mirror your Gold and hold space for you to reclaim your Spirit! Together, you will journey inwards and foster a stronger communication line between your body, mind, and Spirit.
Find out more about Natasha and her services HERE.
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