Topic: New Year's Day ritual

[dc_chance]

About 6 years or so ago, a Cherokee (elder Native American Indian) taught me a ritual for closure to old and opening for new beginnings.

I did the ritual once after I learned of it. I have shared it with few others who understand the medicine of such things.

Recently, I participated in the dreaming/awareness workshop here and there are similarities to certain aspects. I thought I would share with those interested as it seems to be a good tool/exercise for me to use once again and perhaps it might be of use to others here.

For me, New Year's day seems a good time to do such a thing. Since the traditional New Year is a few weeks away, I'll share what I did my first time.

Several weeks beforehand, I made notes....

I wrote down things that troubled me... ideas/thoughts/experiences that needed to be released. Or relationships that were not what they should have.. could have been... and that I still held energy around.

I wrote down the thoughts that creep in sometimes... you are not smart enough... not good enough... whatever enough.... that slipped so often into my mind.

I wrote down things related to loved ones who had passed away...

The process is about healing and release... very simply... write down things that you do not want to trouble you again.

So... I had this list....

On New Year's day, I took my list and and got into my car.. and headed to the mountains of North Georgia. Not knowing specifically where I was headed, but I knew I would figure it out on the way, or would recognize an appropriate place when I got there.

As I drove north... about a 3 hour drive... I recalled a place. Nestled in a valley between some of the highest mountains we have there. I recalled a secluded mountain stream.... nestled in a quiet, remote valley... fed by springs the flowed from beneath and within the mountain... I knew it was the place.

Though I'd only been there once before, I found it.

I pulled from the road and stepped from my car... the air in the mountains chill on my skin and in my lungs. I rolled my windows down and reached into the car to start a cd playing... Native American flute and drumming... it seemed appropriate...

I turned the stereo up loud and walked to the stream. The place I first came to seemed fitting... a calm little pool between two sets of rapids.. one upstream, one down.

I knelt down and slipped my fingers beneath the surface... it was colder than the mountain air I breathed.

There were many rocks in the stream and along side on the bank. I gathered a few and placed them in the calm water. I built it up until it was steady in the stream and above the current. I could reach it if I leaned out from the bank.

I gathered leaves and branches for a small fire. The fire would be built on the rocks in the stream. I placed them carefully on the little altar (if that is the right word... it matters not)... I had sage and smudged the area.... then lit the leaves and twigs...

As the drums beat cadence in the background and the flute called out to Great Spirit, I pulled the papers with the things I'd written from my pocket.

I tore it carefully, separating between each item I wanted to release.

I began to place each bit of paper on the fire... saying the things I would say for release.. asking Spirit for help and guidance.... I would watch the fire kiss the edges of my thoughts on paper... the flames licking and racing across in the breeze pushing down through the mountain valley.... the words were consumed in the flame... blackened.

Bit by bit... piece by piece.. I placed them in the fire.... watching the smoke climb towards the heavens...

I burned the things that needed release/relief from or in my life...

When the last piece was burned, I dipped my hand into the stream and gently washed the pure, clear waters from the mountain stream over the rocks and ashes... watching them be caught in the current and carried away.

As always, I am rambling here.. so I will close with this...

The fire purifies symbolically.... it cleanses your mind and spirit of the things that need release....

The waters of the stream carry away all the things that remain after the purification...

The native tradition is these things that have troubled you are carried away... the smoke is caught up in the winds and the wind travels to the furthest regions of the earth.... the stream trickles and flows.. becoming a creek.. the creek a river.. the river winds to the ocean... the ashes make their way there and are caught up in the waves and they can never find their way back to trouble you again.

A few days afterwards, I was driving home from work... and old thought began to slip into my mind... a negative thought that served no value. I paused for a moment... and recalled the ritual.. I said something to the effect..... "you can't bother me anymore.. I have released you and you hold no power over me".....

The thought left my mind and has never returned.

I plan to do the ritual again this New Year's day.

Try it if you will.. it may be of benefit to you.

You don't have to journey to a special place... there are places that serve as well near to where you sit right now if you will think of them..  the details don't really matter... it is about the "intent" of release.....

I'll write of my experience this coming  New Year's day in this thread in case anyone is interested.

[Jennifer-]

I like this.. thank you! Looking forward to hearing of your upcoming experience with it also

[tangerine dream]

I like this.. thank you! Looking forward to hearing of your upcoming experience with it also

Me, too!

[Jahn]

"I am not ...whatever enough". heh, I recognise that feeling, such are the times.

[Jahn]

I plan to do the ritual again this New Year's day.

Try it if you will.. it may be of benefit to you.

You don't have to journey to a special place... there are places that serve as well near to where you sit right now if you will think of them..  the details don't really matter... it is about the "intent" of release.....

I'll write of my experience this coming  New Year's day in this thread in case anyone is interested.

Great! You remind me of Tommy Two Feathers, he was also a master of rituals.
All here know the importance to treat the assets around us with the highest value. By doing that some gates to wisdom are opened.

The fire has the power to burn away old things in an instant.

My clearest case regarding the use of my open stove was when I burned away 4 300 USD. It was a loan that I had toward my father. From the beginning it was more than 10 000 USD but I had repayed most of it. Then when we moved to town four years ago he said that he gave me the rest of the debt as a gift to our new house. To be in debt like that is not to be in one's own personal power so I saw a great opportunity to make a fire ceremony while burning that contract and releasing  the end of my debt to my father.

[dc_chance]

"I am not ...whatever enough". heh, I recognise that feeling, such are the times.

Good to know I am not alone with some of the wanderings of my mind....

[dc_chance]

Great! You remind me of Tommy Two Feathers, he was also a master of rituals.
All here know the importance to treat the assets around us with the highest value. By doing that some gates to wisdom are opened.

The fire has the power to burn away old things in an instant.

My clearest case regarding the use of my open stove was when I burned away 4 300 USD. It was a loan that I had toward my father. From the beginning it was more than 10 000 USD but I had repayed most of it. Then when we moved to town four years ago he said that he gave me the rest of the debt as a gift to our new house. To be in debt like that is not to be in one's own personal power so I saw a great opportunity to make a fire ceremony while burning that contract and releasing  the end of my debt to my father.

Interesting...


And, I also noticed Tommy worked with rituals quite a bit. I never really put much energy into such things until this year. What I am realizing is that.... hmm... I think it brings a focus of intent.... or it seems to center my energies toward a specific goal...

I wonder too, if the rituals passed down from the ages carry with them a power of their own... do the rituals carry with them somehow a collective energy.. and by working with the rituals with proper mind set and focus... are we able to tap into the resonance.. or vibrations... of that energy?

I suppose I enjoy thinking of such things as a collective consciousness.. collective memory....

I sometimes think that people who believe they have lived a previous life are in reality tapping into the vibrations of energy left by someone who lived before... meaning... they are able to "attune" to certain things that the one who lived before tuned in to.

Reading on quantum physics opens my mind to all sorts of thoughts..... (ha.. that is a very dangerous thing!).... one premise that prompted that thought was that there is a collective memory bank or field... made up of energy.... frequencies of vibration.... all collective memories reside there and we tap into the things that have passed through our minds...  sometimes a person is able to tune into the vibrations left by another person... whether it comes biologically.. mentally... spiritually.. physically....whatever.... something about their being is similar to another being and they vibrate in unison.... Maybe it is a bit like a radio.... we can tune in to certain frequencies of energy...

OK... I am rambling, so I'll cease.

Burning $4,300 USD is quite a ritual! It definitely makes a statement.

[Jahn]

Burning $4,300 USD is quite a ritual! It definitely makes a statement.

Absolutely, it was a great moment.

And, I also noticed Tommy worked with rituals quite a bit. I never really put much energy into such things until this year. What I am realizing is that.... hmm... I think it brings a focus of intent.... or it seems to center my energies toward a specific goal...

I wonder too, if the rituals passed down from the ages carry with them a power of their own... do the rituals carry with them somehow a collective energy.. and by working with the rituals with proper mind set and focus... are we able to tap into the resonance.. or vibrations... of that energy?

I would say no, unless practising within a certain tradition. Rituals in themselves contain nothing,that is the common idea, rather all has to do with the people that perform the ritual and their ability to connect to Spirit and higher energies. We tap any vibe or connect to Spirit/Manitou/God etc. on the merit of our own, the ritual are, as you say, a way to keep up the focus for some time.

I sometimes think that people who believe they have lived a previous life are in reality tapping into the vibrations of energy left by someone who lived before... meaning... they are able to "attune" to certain things that the one who lived before tuned in to.

There is a collective mind, some have written about it where Carl G Jung is perhaps one of the more known authors. Rebirth or Sansara is a concept that is accepted in most cultures and religions. It is our life adding to a Higher Self in a series of opportunities to grow and evolve. One thing though that is often disregarded is that for the Higher Self there is not necessary that the incarnations comes in a chronological sequence. That mean that a previous life in chronological time can have been both above and below the level of growth that we have in this particular lifetime.

[Quantum Shaman]

Hey, you. 

I like the ritual you described - sounds like a good way to bring into focus those things we need to release.  All too often, I find that the things I'm hanging onto may be nebulous and undefined - unless I make some sort of real effort to bring them into sharper focus.  Part of the process of defining those things may involve making lists and really looking at it on paper.  In the past, I used to work with a lot more "ritual" - whereas I have more or less dispensed with that now, in favor of direct gnosis, but there are certainly times when ritual may be useful in defining our focus so as to help us move energy.

One of my favorite rituals is what I have come to call, "Scattering my ashes."  Whenever we have a fire in the winter, I gather the ashes over a period of days, and then scatter them in a trail from my doorstep, leading out to the road. The idea is that all roads lead everywhere and anywhere.  As I am scattering the ashes, I invoke spirit, becoming mindful of the ned to release the ashes that bind us to the past, and simultaeously cast "wishes into the wind" to bring new opportunities and new awareness to the door.

Thanks again. 

Interesting...


And, I also noticed Tommy worked with rituals quite a bit. I never really put much energy into such things until this year. What I am realizing is that.... hmm... I think it brings a focus of intent.... or it seems to center my energies toward a specific goal...

I wonder too, if the rituals passed down from the ages carry with them a power of their own... do the rituals carry with them somehow a collective energy.. and by working with the rituals with proper mind set and focus... are we able to tap into the resonance.. or vibrations... of that energy?

I suppose I enjoy thinking of such things as a collective consciousness.. collective memory....

I sometimes think that people who believe they have lived a previous life are in reality tapping into the vibrations of energy left by someone who lived before... meaning... they are able to "attune" to certain things that the one who lived before tuned in to.

Reading on quantum physics opens my mind to all sorts of thoughts..... (ha.. that is a very dangerous thing!).... one premise that prompted that thought was that there is a collective memory bank or field... made up of energy.... frequencies of vibration.... all collective memories reside there and we tap into the things that have passed through our minds...  sometimes a person is able to tune into the vibrations left by another person... whether it comes biologically.. mentally... spiritually.. physically....whatever.... something about their being is similar to another being and they vibrate in unison.... Maybe it is a bit like a radio.... we can tune in to certain frequencies of energy...

OK... I am rambling, so I'll cease.

Burning $4,300 USD is quite a ritual! It definitely makes a statement.

[tangerine dream]

One of my favorite rituals is what I have come to call, "Scattering my ashes."  Whenever we have a fire in the winter, I gather the ashes over a period of days, and then scatter them in a trail from my doorstep, leading out to the road. The idea is that all roads lead everywhere and anywhere.  As I am scattering the ashes, I invoke spirit, becoming mindful of the ned to release the ashes that bind us to the past, and simultaeously cast "wishes into the wind" to bring new opportunities and new awareness to the door.

Thanks again. 

Nice!

I do this occasionally, though on a smaller scale with notes I have written to myself or pieces of paper that need burned.  I don't necessarily make a path, because the ashes are not enough, but I do scatter form my front door and let the winds of spirit take them away.