WELCOME to my blog series on change; this post is the 3rd. Each of these blogs stands alone and also builds on the previous content. We are individually and collectively undergoing change at a rate, frequency and magnitude new to our life time. The first in the series “Why Change?” and free podcast cast introduced the four powers to navigate change. The second in this series was the story of change which asked you to uncover your beliefs and habitual ways of thinking about change. Find all blogs and free podcasts on each topic here on my blog.
The third in this series invites you to a “journey” of change. Embracing change as constant, whether it is change we initiate or change that is external, is embracing a journey. A journey perhaps with many beginnings and endings, sometimes happening simultaneously. Since change has us dance with the parts of us that like predictability, control and the known, it helps to see change as a journey and utilize rituals, habits, practices and exercises to dance with change. Your entire life is a journey of how you navigate change, how you manage your power or not and the changes that brings forth. By practicing working with change you can go from where you are now to a more stable relationship with change – and look forward to change.
The remaining series engage a series of practices that help you become more aware of your sense of connection, understanding of truth, ability to be courageous and your power to envision the world. If life is a process of change from beginning to end, then we must accept that any problem with change lies not in the world around us and changes we experience, but in ourselves and how we relate to those changes. The goal is to thrive in change not survive change.
Ceremony and ritual help us identify beginning and endings, which signify change. When we graduate from high school there is a lot of pomp and circumstance as we end our dependent childhood and begin independent adulthood. Graduation ceremonies celebrate this change and initiation, it is a way to honor this change and allows us to better receive the gifts and wisdom the change offers, allowing us to move forward in freedom and empowerment.
Ceremonies do this, they heal and empower, allowing our mental minds to fall way for a moment and we can access great internal resources and support of the Universe. As such, I provide an example of a two change ceremonies you can modify and employ. Remember ceremonies are personal, there is no right or wrong way. Change any part to match what feels right for you, personalize by adding or subtracting words or elements to fit your situation.
Despacho Ceremony comes from the Quechuans of South America and is a way to offer thanks and bring harmony or ayni to your life. Despacho Ceremonies are used for many purposes, this one is basic. You will need:
- A piece of paper
- Some thread, wool or ribbon
- Some offerings such as chocolate, sugar, seeds, raisins, oats, flower petals, a thimble of red and white wine and anything else that may symbolize what you are offering thanks for – these items hold your gratitude
- Three bay leaves or leaves from a plant that you feel connected to , picked with its permission –these hold your prayers.
Collect these things and find a quiet place you will not be disturbed. You can play gentle music, light candles or meditate for a while before beginning, getting grounded. Allow yourself to get centered and still. Create a sacred space around you by calling out to the four directions, North, South, East and West and then the Earth and Sky, asking them to hold you as you make your offering. Then, call to Spirit and ask for it to be with you and guide you. Call on any helping guides, ancestors or teachers to be present.
Place the piece of paper in front of you and fold it into thirds both vertically and horizontally to create a container for your offerings. When ready, pick one of the offerings you prepared and blow gratitude for one of the blessings in your life into it, filling it with your intent to give thanks. Then put the offering into the center square of the paper, where ever you feel called to place it. Continue to blow your gratitude for the blessings in your life into the offerings, placing them into the center of your bundle where it feels right.
When you are ready to complete the ceremony, take the three leaves and hold them whole you focus again on the gratitude you are feeling for this moment in your life. Into the first leaf, blow all your appreciation for the blessings and gifts that the past had given you. Then, place the leaf into the bundle, letting go of that old phase of your life as you do so. Into the second leaf, blow all of your dreams for the new phase that is coming into your life now. Give gratitude for the opportunities and gifts this phase will bring you, and then release it to Spirit as you place the leaf into the bundle beside the first. Into the last leaf, blow all of your gratitude for what never changes, the Sacred, and your connection to it, which is always there for you. Place the final leaf into the bundle and take a moment to absorb the beauty of your offering.
Fold the rest of the paper over the bundle, being careful to keep all of the offerings inside. Tie the bundle with some thread, read and white is good as it represents the sacred masculine and feminine combined. Wrap your bundle in a piece of cloth, being careful to keep it upright at all times, and then place it somewhere safe and quiet until you are ready to complete the ceremony out in nature.
Finally, close the sacred space by thanking each direction for holding your ceremony, and by thanking your ancestors, guides, teachers and Spirit for witnessing your offering of gratitude. To complete a Dispacho, you will release the bundle to Spirit, either by placing it in a fire, giving it to running water or the sea, or by burying it in the earth. Create a sacred space, just like when you made your bundle and let go of your gratitude and prayers as you give the Despacho to the elements and to Spirit for them to transform. Close the sacred space life before and know that your prayers have been received.
For a ceremony that plants a seed of change, see the free recording with this blog this month at www.allembracingchange.com. Join us next month as we being to explore connection and its power to help evolve your relationship with change. You can have an ageless body, a timeless mind, a resilient energy, a creative life where you look forward to the next change, the unfolding of life into more and more joy, beauty and brilliance. Next in this series is the Journey of Change.