I just officiated at a ceremony of a dear friend’s 50th birthday party. For most of the evening, it was a simple regular birthday evening – dinner out, cards, wine, laughter. The ceremonial piece was focused around a necklace the group of us had pooled to give her, in honour of her 50th birthday. One of our group, an artist who does one-of-a-kind vision-guided jewelry, designed our friend a beautiful necklace and matching bracelet and earrings (to contact the artist, Carol Goodman, email moonlodgedesigns@yahoo.ca). We began by showing the birthday woman the jewelry and the artist described her process of creation and why she designed it the way she did. Then, I led the group in a ceremony that infused the jewelry with loving praise and blessings for our friend, so that when we finally put it on her, it was radiating with love and will do so wherever she wears it in the world. We had the birthday woman in tears at various points, and as she herself said as she thanked us, “I will never forget this night”. Birthday dinners can come and go, but ceremony creates loving memories that live on.
