It doesn’t take much to transform something from the mundane to the sublime: a few deep breaths. A heartfelt wish. A couple of flowers. We can do this every single day and elevate our daily routines into daily rituals.
However, turns of seasons can be a wonderful excuse to consciously cultivate gratitude and connect with our true intentions. Plants have been used for millennia as aids in marking these ritual passages of time, and many traditions believe that consuming herbs, such as those in Rasa, provide living connections with the experience of the sacred.
If you’d like to take an extra few minutes to honor this turning of time, here’s a simple ritual you can do to mark the day. For best results, go outside!
Summary of Your Sacred Solstice Ritual:
1. Define your space
2. Make it sacred—TO YOU
3. Step into the divine space within
4. Light your candle or incense, sit
5. Harness the sun
6. Integrate
1. Define your space
It's good to begin by defining the space somehow, to create a safe container for your ritual, whether that be with a cloth or beloved scarf, or a flat stone or a piece of wood. This part also includes defining your TIME, and making it yours. This means: turn your phone off. Let this time be just for you, even if it's only 5 minutes.
2. Make it sacred—to YOU
Put anything in the space that reminds you of what’s most dear to you. Images of loved ones; heirlooms handed down by family; elements from nature—stones, plants, feathers, flowers, a stick that caught your eye. It can be anything, as long as it feels meaningful to you.
Bring in the element of fire. Fire signifies transformation—it is the element that genuinely transforms things from one substance into another, and it is the fire of our digestion that transforms food into fuel. Whether you light a candle or some incense, bring them to your sacred space to light in Step 5.
Feel free to bring in something to drink or eat—some special chocolate, a bowl of Tea, a cup of Rasa Koffee, whatever it may be. These will be physical symbols of your gratitude and intentions that you can take into yourself and further empower the ritual.
Take an extra moment to feel your gratitude for each of the things you put in the space and remember why they matter to you.
3. Step into the divine space within
We all have a different experience of the sacred, and we ALL have had that experience—whether it’s through childbirth or a gorgeous sunset or looking into the eyes of a lover or a place in nature that takes your breath away, we have all experienced something sacred.
Access that place within yourself, however you know to do so.
Take a few deep breaths.
Pray.
Do a few yoga asana.
Sing.
Write.
Dance.
Draw.
Whatever gets you into that deep inner space inside.
4. Light your candle or incense. Sit.
Feel what is arising—in your body, emotions, and mind. Allow yourself to not judge any of them. They’re just messengers from your self. Whether you are distracted, anxious, blissful, Think of all the things you’re grateful for. Let your heart fill with love for them.
Sometimes, this is all the prayer we need—expressing gratitude for what we already have.
Other times, it feels right to set an intention and make a commitment to meeting a yet unmet desire. If this is you, move from gratitude into feeling into your deepest desire. Instead of “I want more money,” ask yourself, “What is the experience I seek from having more money?” If you desire a partner, look instead to the yearning for connection that is underneath that outer desire. Steep in those deeper inner yearnings, and...
5. Harness the Sun
As if you were the wielder of all power in the universe, gather the sun in your heart. Feel as though you literally have a blazing sun inside you, with light and heat radiating from your center.
And as though the experience you seek was already met beyond your wildest dreams, radiate that feeling out of your heart like the sun’s rays, blessing your loved ones, your “enemies,” and all of existence with the exalted state you gain from meeting your inner desires.
6. Integrate
Feel the blaze inside begin to subside and settle into a softly glowing orb in your heart. Allow a smile to turn up the corners of your lips. Feel a sense of confidence and satisfaction that you have, in fact, just fed yourself exactly what you sought outside of yourself, directly from within. Make a slight bow if you are so moved.
If you brought something to eat or drink, slowly enjoy it now—knowing that it is empowered with the juju you just created, and that feeling you saturated in is now literally becoming your body.
Thoughtfully clean up the sacred space you have just created, and maintaining that sense of conscious connection with yourself, move into the rest of your day or evening.
Shine on,
Lopa 💛