Summer Solstice

The 2nd Annual Women’s Summer Solstice Gathering has now come and gone. It was a wondrous 2 days of ceremony, taking time out from our daily lives to offer back to the Earth. In our usual ways, we are in the process of taking materials, resources, energy for our own use, and so to take conscious time out to give of ourselves is a key element of living in balance. We worked ceremonially with the energies of the personal and transpersonal, as they related to each of the elements: air, fire, water, earth and how these elements in turn related to their further correspondences of Father Sky, Grandfather Sun, Grandmother Moon and Mother Earth. Our ceremonial activities included dance, breath, fire building, fire smudging, prayers, water lustrations, flower essence creating and more. As a group, we really came together beautifully, and in offering, we received much of our own healing in return. If anyone is interested in finding out more, please contact me at crathwell2@yahoo.com and I would be happy to put you on our mailing list for the Gathering.

Ceremony in the News

Today Prime Minister Stephen Harper addressed Parliament apologizing on behalf of the federal government to the former students of the Indian residential school program. His statement was followed in the House of Commons by speeches from aboriginal leaders and the day was marked by ceremonies in communities across the country.

From my place as Ceremonialist, I am interested in seeing how does this taking responsibility by the government on one hand, and the receiving of this admission come into form? On the part of the government, the protocols and procedures of the House of Commons are observed as per normal though on this day, other Parliamentary business was cancelled and aboriginal leaders were invited to respond immediately after Stephen Harper’s statement. I would say that there are regularly some ritual elements, steeped in traditions long documented, that govern the day-to-day business of the Canadian government. How “alive” this is, is actually up to the particular people involved and if they authentically embody the “spirit”, if you will, of the rituals and of their words. My wish here is that today’s words were authentic and that they will come into concrete form, in the ways that are best as determined by the people affected.

From the point of view of the aboriginal communities, it is quite a different thing to receive than to deliver, and from what I could find out in the news (most of it focused on Harper’s speech and not the aboriginal ceremonies), the ceremonies included: a sunrise ceremony at Parliament Hill to honour former residential school students who had died; a smudging ceremony inside Parliament Hill (I bet the place could do with a real cleaning!); a “letting go” ceremony in Nova Scotia; and other events across the country. My firm wish here is that such ceremonies were not “staged” by the government for their positive PR effects, but rather that they were the powerful, living, organic ceremonies that would best serve the people affected by today’s statement. Ceremonies don’t fix the legacy of problems left by the residential school system, but they can be tools of healing, letting go and moving forward from a new place.

And one final observation: there is no way to have marked this day without ceremony. Think about it – how would that communication have gone out and been received if not with a formal space and time apart, carefully chosen words spoken on behalf of many, symbolic gestures and actions of giving and receiving. Societally and culturally, ceremony is the tool we use to mark the big changes. As long as there have been civilizations, there have been ceremonies. One of our upper needs on the hierarchy of needs, but one we cannot let go. The challenge always is to have the ceremonies be meaningful and reflective of authentic change. May this be so today.

Cosmic Pathways Healing Fair

Yesterday I may have seen some of you at the Cosmic Pathways Healing Fair – an event that provides a great opportunity to find out what is going on in the alternative health communities in the Ottawa area. Holistic practitioners from all kinds of traditions and with all kinds of services are invited to have booths at the fair. People pay a small entrance fee and then they can buy “tickets” for $10, which they can use to buy mini-sessions with anyone in the room (all the money goes to charity). What a great environment to meet people of all kinds and to get a sense of who they are and what they offer. And the people it draws – I tell you I had so many really engaged, enthusiastic and fascinating conversations with such a variety of people. And the questions were so great, I thought I’d answer a couple of them in this blog for everyone.
Q. I have a garden that I would like to have “cleaned” on the energetic level – can you do anything for me?
A. Yes, I can do what is called a “Land Clearing Ceremony”. Like a House Blessing Ceremony, I ceremonially clear out the old energies and welcome in the new on your behalf. My processes are the same, the only difference is that it is outdoors instead of indoors.
Q. I would like to have a daily spiritual practice of some kind, but I am having problems being regular about it. Can you help?
A. Yes. There are several possibilities, and the one that came to mind with this person was that I could come to their place and set up a personal altar space for them. An altar is entirely unique person to person, and the overall intent is to have some physical space with physical objects that help you see your life in a symbolic sense, thereby connecting you to a “Higher Self”, however that lives for you. You would see the beauty of this space every day and change the objects on it occasionally, as your life moves and changes. An altar can reflect your ancestors; the seasons and how your life connects to the patterns of nature; important processes or events in your life (ie. a significant birthday, the process of forgiving a particular person that you are trying to complete, a loss of a loved one); or anything that clues you in to your life from a spiritual perspective. In my role as Ceremonialist, I would act as a consultant, giving you ideas, helping you set up different altar objects and I would also energetically set up the altar space in your home so that it becomes a dedicated ceremonial space.
If anyone has any other questions, please email me at crathwell2@yahoo.com. I would love to hear from you!