Category Archives: Cultural Traditions
Episode 7 – Prayer Flags for Wedding Rituals and Children’s Projects
Movies about climbing Mount Everest always show prayer flags – five pieces of solid colored fabric strung together, blowing in the wind. The meaning behind them is ancient and honors the individual, the family, the community, and the earth.
Episode 5 – Spirit Spoons and Garden Gifts Rituals
Do you need protection? Eat basil. Do you seek abundance? Have some mint. Do you want to help your family find peace? Serve coriander. Herbs and spices are full of magical properties and lend themselves to rituals. Spirit Spoons I … Continue reading
Episode 4 – Oathing Stones and Ritual Rocks for Personal Goals and Wedding Vows
Layered, piled, buried, jutting up from the ground, stones weave the tapestry of the earth. They symbolize the old, the everlasting…the ancestors. What does it mean to make a oath on a stone connected to the realm of the departed? … Continue reading
Episode 3 – Baby Blessings Intergenerational Ceremony for the Unchurched
Have you seen Walt Disney’s The Lion King? One of my favorite scenes is when the witch, Rafiki, presents the newborn cub, Simba, to the gods while Simba’s parents beam with pride. That scene is what inspired a baby blessing … Continue reading
Episode 2 – Imbolc Rituals with the Celtic Goddess Brigid and Root Vegetables
What do root vegetables, horseshoes, the groundhog and the Celtic Goddess Brigid have in common? They’re the ingredients of two mid-winter rituals I want to share with you. I live in Connecticut. Winters are long and cold. In early February, … Continue reading
Want a meaningful way to celebrate the holiday season?
It’s early-December. Here in the northern hemisphere, the days shrink as darkness, unstoppable since the Summer Solstice last June, relentlessly nibbles the light. This battle between night and day is as old as time. And things are about to change.
Imbolc, Brigid, and the Groundhog
Earlier this week, I celebrated the solar festival of Imbolc, the feast of the Goddess Brigid, at Meg’s Inspirations, a local spiritual boutique in Manchester, CT. Imbolc is an old, old Celtic solar festival that celebrates the fulfillment of the … Continue reading
OATHING STONES: For Marriage Vows and More
Hearken back to a time long ago when people believed the land was the home of the ancestors. Everyone knew that the spirits of loved ones who had died now guided and protected those still walking the earth. Everyone understood … Continue reading
HARVEST SEASON: Debt and the Power of Prosperity
In the “Old World” of my Celtic ancestors, August marked the beginning of the harvest season. Country fairs called people from the fields where they grew crops and from the open lands where they grazed herds. August heralded a time … Continue reading
SUMMER SOLSTICE ~ WATER and FIRE
In June of 2015, I led a Summer Solstice ritual at Meg’s, a gift shop and spiritual boutique in Manchester, CT. With my European ancestors in mind, we envisioned people living in ancient times and imagined their anxiety as the … Continue reading