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Today I am grateful for Ritual. Ritual can be big and organized, or little traditions like a cup of tea in the morning if you make an intention. Ritual is always with intention.
The first thing I do when I arrive somewhere is set up my alter, orient myself to the directions and the elements, and ask my new space for safe keeping of my soul and body, of my heart and mind. Grateful for the beautiful flat that will home me in London for at least the next month. And the beautiful power pieces I received from beloveds during my time in Tamera.
The second thing I do is find the water. This morning I found the Thames River and whispered it a song as an offer, to let the waters of my ancestors know I am here.
This image is of the common alter in our community space in Tamera. It was also a traveling alter that we wrapped up and carried with us whenever we left the land. To the beach with us it went, and it also walked with us for two weeks on our walking water pilgrimage through south-west Portugal.
I put two pieces on this alter. One is a wampum shell with two purple rows to remind me of the lands I come from and the generosity of the Haudenosaunee people. It is a reminder to be in solidarity with first nations, carriers of earth wisdom, and to do my healing around whiteness. For my whiteness is what keeps me from hearing the earth, from slowing down, from respecting and having contact with black and indigenous people of color. This is a core healing I have to do, and I placed it on the alter as an intention for one of my healing tracks in this life. The second piece is a stone I picked up Praia Milhão on the coast of Portugal. It was a day I was in deep work around my father. My inner child was OUT, playing in the waters, with the sand, being silly, and also tender. She did NOT want to go write the letter to him. It was too angry and too sad. And as I was in ecstatic joy exploring the tide pools and the creatures, I found a stone that landed right in my heart and reminded me that I am so loved by the world, by the sea, by the stars. I remembered I was made of stars by this stone. And this made everything easier. So I placed this stone on the alter with the intention to remember I am of the universe and I am totally lovable. This made the work so much easier. Throughout the course, the alter pieces were always scrambled and replaced and I took care to notice which direction my pieces landed in. Was it in the child's playful and watery south? Was it in the dark earthy forests of the west? In between west and north, where air, commitment and resilience come in, waiting for me to take a stand for something? And without missing a beat, it was synchronistic every time. When we give intention and we open our senses for signs, we receive answers. This is the magic and power of ritual... It is our gateway into communicating with the divine.