Sacred Practices

Trees of Life - Yggdrasil
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MORNING PRAYER – Barefoot on the Earth, I “root” beside the stream. Somedays I bring my drum and sing the songs the Creek taught me. Some days I sing fragments of old hymns remembered from childhood.

CENTERING & GROUNDING – “Take five.” A moment to breathe. A moment wherever I am to pull my energy back to myself and disengage from whatever is stressing me in the moment. Breathing in deeply to a count of five, holding for a count of five, breathing out for a count of five, holding the emptiness for a count of five, and repeat.

DAILY SEIDHR – Pull a Rune for the day ahead. Or maybe pull an Oracle Card. Take stock of my mood. Give myself the gift of introspection or self examination through a daily practice of journal writing.

DAILY GALDOR – When a need arises, I select the Runes that will address that need and chant or tone as the spirit moves me. An example, as I work my garden this year, I tone FEHU a lot. I tone in sequences of three, six, or nine, as these are sacred numbers within the Northern Rune tradition.

SMUDGING & CLEARING – Sage, Incense, Mugwort, and Sweetgrass can be placed in a safe container and lit, and the smoke fanned within one’s aura, living quarters, ceremonial quarters, or any space that needs clearing. Uses: to clear one’s aura and personal spaces of negative energy.

LISTENING – Bringing the fullness of one’s presence into relationships is an act of reverence that honors the sacred spirit within each person. The practice of listening can be extended to work with the elements: the Water, the Winds, the Fire, and Earth. “Listening” may manifest in many ways – through feelings, insights, sounds and smells, and the appearance of symbols, synchronicity, and omens.

CEREMONY – Ceremony brings community together in ritual acts of devotion for many reasons. Ceremonies honor solstices, equinoxes, phases of the Moon, birth rites, coming of age rites, weddings, divorces, death rites, or any cause that a group wants to create an intention for. Ceremonies may be revealed by one’s Guides or written in accord with one’s needs.

CREATION – Any action that lends itself to a state of meditation can become a sacred practice if one thinks of it in the right way. It is an act of bringing a state of harmony to the self. House cleaning, washing the dishes, making art, making love, making a song, writing a book, riding a horse, training a dog, or raising a child are among the many possibilities. Like bringing the fullness of one’s presence into the act of listening, bringing one’s fullness of presence into the act of creation stills the mind and activates the heart.