A sacred ritual is different to the many little rituals you perform throughout the day like driving to work the same way each morning or always choosing the same coffee mug on your tea break. Many of these things happen so automatically that we may not even realise we’re doing them––they’re activities we perform out of habit without any conscious awareness.
But what happens when we bring intention to our rituals? We add a little spark of magic to our everyday, creating something spiritual and deeply nourishing.
What is a sacred ritual?
Every religion has its rituals. We’re all familiar with Holy Communion, Bar Mitzvahs, fasting during Ramadan. These rituals have a deep significance to the people that perform them.
However, not all sacred rituals are religious. In many Western cultures, we have a birthday ritual of lighting candles on a cake, singing Happy Birthday, blowing out the candles and making a wish.
In Bali (and many other Eastern cultures), daily rituals are performed in many households with a small offering of flowers or food being left on the household altar to pay respect to the gods or ancestors.
Thousands of years ago, our ancestors performed rituals to bring rain, encourage a good harvest, to give thanks and to ward off unwanted events or bad spirits.
Some rituals are culture-specific or may only happen within your family group, like having a family roast every Sunday.
What all these things have in common, though, is they’re designed to connect on an emotional level and bring us closer to each other and our definition of a higher power.
Why design a sacred ritual?
There are many reasons for wanting to bring a touch of the sacred into your life. Sacred rituals add a deeper level of meaning to your day (and the passing of time, in general). They allow you to create stronger connections with yourself, each other, and your environment. They can be a welcome time-out from the rat-race, adding some magic and mystery to your busy schedule Learn crystal healing for beginners.
You may want to explore creating a sacred ritual for:
Coming of age, such as the beginning of menstruation or particular birthdays
Honouring other life transitions such as births, marriages, or death
Gratitude
Asking forgiveness (atonement)
Asking for help
Purification
Marking endings and beginnings
A sacred ritual can be a joyful event or a solemn one. It may include other people or be private. There are no rules, other than that it should be meaningful to you and come from the heart.
How to create your own sacred ritual
A sacred ritual is a deeply personal thing. When you create your own sacred ritual, it must hold meaning for you, whether you create it entirely from scratch or use elements of familiar rituals you’ve grown up with.
As you’re designing your sacred ritual, it can help to journal about why it’s important to you and what you’re hoping to achieve. This will help you connect emotionally and understand what symbology you may want to include.
Some sacred ritual journal prompts include:
What is your ritual is for?
Why is this important to you?
Who will you invite (or will it be a private affair)?
Are there specific timings that need to be taken into account (such as full moon, birthdays etc)?
What significant objects or tools do you need to include (candles, crystals, smudge sticks, sigils, sacred geometry, gifts from nature, sentimental items, photographs of special people)?
Are there any special preparations you need to make beforehand such as meditating or having a healing bath?
How long will the ritual last?
We encourage you to have fun with this and bring joy and creativity to the process.
If you’d like to learn more about creating sacred rituals, you’ll love our Sacred Ritual Intensive Course! It contains in-depth information about all the elements you need to create a nourishing, spiritual ritual.
Kate Mantello is a Master Crystal & Energy Healing Practitioner, Founder & CEO of Evolve Healing Institute and the author of 'Rock On - The crystal healing handbook for spiritual rebels'. If you would like to learn more about crystal healing or how to become a crystal healing practitioner, then please check out Kate's world-class, internationally accredited online crystal healing courses. Alternatively, for a deeply personal healing experience, you may like to book a 1-1 online intuitive crystal healing session with Kate, which also includes your very own crystal prescription.
Mel Shieldhouse is a freelance copywriter and content creator, specialising in helping busy, heart-centred entrepreneurs attract their dream client. If you’d like to work with Mel, you can contact her at Teacup Copy.
