To set the scene, my last self honouring ceremony was held in the woods, in a beautiful little yurt. I created a nest of blankets beside the wood-burning stove, an altar of shells and roses, candles configured for ritual, a bundle of homegrown rosemary burning. The space became a cauldron of soothing, a womb of the woodland. As I held my client through a journey of voice and drum, ritual and relaxation, we were accompanied by the sound of the birds and rustling trees. She voyaged through rest, release, bliss and empowerment as I wove this sacred rite. It is always an honour to hold and witness such an experience and feels like my deepest calling and work.
Opening the yurt door, rosemary smoke and lavender wafting into the evening, I know that we both emerged returned to something within.
The beautiful yurt in the Sladebank Woods here in Stroud
This is one of the unique ceremonies I hold - a ‘self honouring ceremony’. I have been through many names for it, ‘self love ceremony’, ‘empowerment ceremony’ but I ended up deciding on this name because I think it most closely represents the core of what is held. A self honouring ceremony is a 1:1 private session with me, in which I hold and guide the participant through an immersive ceremony of ritual, relaxation, sound and song. It is hard to summarise any real ceremony’s essence but this ceremony is one of much heart-connection, reclaimation, one of gentle but dynamic empowerment, one of holding but also witnessing, one of rose magic and the senses.
There is simultaneously much and little detail I can give about these. When people ask where my ceremonies come from, I tell them that they are born from me, from the call of the new-ancient, from my own remembering, my body-wisdom, my ancestors, my esoteric and experiential education, my passion for seeing people re-wild and remember. I don’t use recorded music or devices in the space, all sound is of the space, fire, breath, drum, voice, nature. In ceremony I am weaving new and ancient magic, learnt and remembered. The space is also held by those invoked into it, by the flames of the candles and fire, by the flower petals.
I feel (and witness) that these are so needed. I believe that we are deserving and in need of spaces and sacred time in which we can remember what it is to be held and celebrated. I believe there is an urgent need for more magic, nurturing, connection to nature, honouring of our multi-facets and generally more ceremony and ritual in our lives.
I can and have also held these in home spaces, and indoor sacred spaces and, whilst closer to nature has felt most potent, there can also be equally important deep magic and safety in the energy and familiarity that a home space or something other may offer.
I wanted to write this really just to share some of the potency of this sacred offering for anyone interested in receiving it. Really I cannot verbalise the power, potential and core of something of this nature, something so felt! But I hope you enjoyed reading and maybe caught a little glimpse of the magic.
Blessings and love,
Mali Earth Flower
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