Being Ceremonial
Growing up, I never thought of myself as someone who was ceremonial. In fact, I was often frustrated because I wasn't religious and didn't have strong cultural traditions that seemed to go hand-in-hand with ceremony and ritual. I wasn't sure what I believed in, and as a result, ceremony didn't seem available to me. So when big things in life happened, like marriage or miscarriages, I felt lost with how to honour the moment and move through the transition with a deeper understanding.
Looking back, I realize that I did in fact have ceremony, but it wasn't presented that way. I stumbled my way through those big life moments using tools that I believe are innate to us all. I gathered people using storytelling. I connected people with archetypal knowledge. I brought in the four elements in various ways. Carl Jung refers to this innate ability as our 'collective unconscious' and while I initially studied this concept in relationship to mythology, I believe that it also applies to our desire for ritual and our ability to be ceremonial. Ceremony isn't something that lives inside an institution or a structured framework - it's part of being human, and we all have access to it.
Growing up, I never thought of myself as someone who was ceremonial. In fact, I was often frustrated because I wasn't religious and didn't have strong cultural traditions that seemed to go hand-in-hand with ceremony and ritual. I wasn't sure what I believed in, and as a result, ceremony didn't seem available to me. So when big things in life happened, like marriage or miscarriages, I felt lost with how to honour the moment and move through the transition with a deeper understanding.
Looking back, I realize that I did in fact have ceremony, but it wasn't presented that way. I stumbled my way through those big life moments using tools that I believe are innate to us all. I gathered people using storytelling. I connected people with archetypal knowledge. I brought in the four elements in various ways. Carl Jung refers to this innate ability as our 'collective unconscious' and while I initially studied this concept in relationship to mythology, I believe that it also applies to our desire for ritual and our ability to be ceremonial. Ceremony isn't something that lives inside an institution or a structured framework - it's part of being human, and we all have access to it.
We’ve come to realize that being ceremonial is like a muscle – you need to practice it each day and build it up, so that when something big happens in your life, you already have that muscle toned. You can then approach the big life event with a ceremony practice already in place. Your muscle memory will support and guide you to instinctually know how to process, heal and move forward. Following my heart, or intuition, is what led me to ceremony, and it also led me to the realization that while we all have the capacity to become ceremonial, we need to practice and hone in on what aspects work for us and what parts we want nothing to do with. Finding ceremony is a deeply personal experience, and it’s one I’ve learned to cherish.
My journey back to ceremony felt like I answered a call, and yet I don’t believe in God, nor do I believe in predetermination. So what was calling me? Was it something deep inside me? Was it the collected experiences of my ancestors? Or was it simply a decision to create connections with those around me in the hopes of repairing a disintegrating social structure? I don’t think there’s an easy answer here, but I do know that when I started talking to people about my personal desire for ceremony and rituals that reflected our modern reality, and my secular, anti-establishment, perspective, they nodded their heads in excitement.
And so, we’ve started to explore the nature of ceremony and ritual and how it can apply to life as we know it. For now, we mostly have questions that we are seeking answers to – that is, after all, our nature as human beings. How can we start to see rituals as integral to the way we live our lives? How can we gather with meaning and intention, while still honouring tradition and a personal expression of self? What will the new symbols for ceremony be, or will we reimagine the old ones and bring them forward with us?
“It is important to understand that symbols, like ritual, have no innate power. Whether those you select for your rituals are entirely of your own creation or ones common to public ceremonies around the world, they are useful only to the degree that they strike a resonant chord for you.”
Kathleen Wall and Gary Ferguson shared this insight in their book Rites of Passage, Celebrations for the Changes in Life. This is at the core of what we are exploring as we dive into the importance of ceremony and ritual in our modern lives. Symbols and rituals hold meaning based on how we interpret them, and they are only as powerful as we imagine them to be. They are also integral to how we connect with ourselves and with others. As a society, we are hungry for symbols, rituals, and ceremonies that reflect where we've come from, who we are, and why our lives matter. This is nothing new, we're simply tapping back into ancient wisdom and allowing it to transform based on modern society.
“It is important to understand that symbols, like ritual, have no innate power. Whether those you select for your rituals are entirely of your own creation or ones common to public ceremonies around the world, they are useful only to the degree that they strike a resonant chord for you.”
Kathleen Wall and Gary Ferguson shared this insight in their book Rites of Passage, Celebrations for the Changes in Life. This is at the core of what we are exploring as we dive into the importance of ceremony and ritual in our modern lives. Symbols and rituals hold meaning based on how we interpret them, and they are only as powerful as we imagine them to be. They are also integral to how we connect with ourselves and with others. As a society, we are hungry for symbols, rituals, and ceremonies that reflect where we've come from, who we are, and why our lives matter. This is nothing new, we're simply tapping back into ancient wisdom and allowing it to transform based on modern society.
It’s an exciting time as we get to imagine what serves us, what inspires us, and what connects us to a world we see but don’t always feel. We look forward to having you on this journey with us.