Morning ceremony - What Do You Do?

Some time back, after having written the previous blogpost, a friend of mine asked with reference to my morning ceremony, "But what do you do?" 

It wasn't that this particular friend needed advice. She's a skilled magic worker and knows the ins and outs of many spiritual traditions. It was a question interwoven in conversation about these ins and outs. But, she did make me think. If I would put words to what I do during my morning ceremony, however brief it is, what would those words be? In fact, I had to think for several weeks.

Light some candles and burn some sage? Yes, but that's not especially important and sometimes practically impossible.

Write in my journal? Yes, sometimes, if I have something to say to myself or have a dream I want to remember because I find it interesting. But this is not a necessity either.

Be in a space where I can be alone with my thoughts before I take on the day? Yes, absolutely. But that's just a practical setting to make it work at all. I have a renowned bad morning mood. At least, that's what I thought for the longest time but I 've come to  think it's rather that the transfer from dreamworld to awake world is especially tricky for me. Thus, a quiet space is more about saving my immediate co-humans from unnecessary grief. As well as performing any morning ceremony at all.

Do I talk to spirits? Sure, if they are in the mood and I'm capable of receiving any information of worth. Which is great but information is just information. It doesn't actually change anything.

It wasn't until I edited a transcript with a fairly unique character that I got it. He played on words and said something along the lines of, "People talk of mindsets, but I rather say that I set my mind ..." (the man's name is Lee Tunney-Ware.)

That's it. During morning ceremony I set my mind. How I set my mind depends on the day. If there are challenges I boost myself. If there is unclarity, I focus it on certain things: positive things and positive outcomes. It doesn't work if it's make-believe, as in, "I hope this person is miraculously un-annoying today" or the like. For the most part we have an approximate sense of what we're going to face. A person we perceive as annoying will most likely continue to be annoying in our eyes. We have little control over them, if any, but we do have full power of our reaction, or even better, non-reaction in this specific situation. Just as with other daily endeavors. Some things we can control, others not. It's easier said than done, but quite doable. I set my mind on what to focus on, whatever that may be, and how to respond when I meet challenges. Which, of course we will, especially the ones we're trying to avoid. The law of attraction works both ways, after all.

Then I set my heart, my emotions. Could this be the last day of my life? Sure it could, could be anyone's time to move on quite logically. What is important? What is truly of importance, emotionally? So, I focus on that, and it can truly be whatever, whatever makes my heart tick, or even better, warm.

Then I set my spirit. This is a fun part, but also the trickiest, as spirit world works according to it's own logic. If I throw out wishes one day, I can't back out of them the next because things doesn't happen as fast or the way my I and my ego would like. This level demands a lot of trust. Some New Agers like to call this level higher, as in "knowing more and better than" but I personally prefer deeper. This is just semantics, but I don't want to end up in some quasi religious hierarchal mindset. The point is that I set my spirit aligned with spirits I work with that in collaboration that things I cannot see a logical solution to will work out with clear intentions and a whole lot of trust from my end.

So I guess, that's what I do when I do my morning ceremony; I set my mind, my heart and my spirit. Simple enough question. Long answer. Thank you for the question my friend. 

Morning sun, City Park, New Orleans

Morning Ceremony and Healings

 

Journal doodle: Moon to moon

I'm presently doing a morning ceremony dedicated to a certain kind of healing. Healing is one of those New Age subjects that can stir controversy. Rightly so. There's a lot of snake oil salesmen (and women) out there. and one should be careful when it comes to the most crucial thing of all - our health. But there are also a lot of misconception about healing as well; such as, that New Age people think that a certain crystal will make them heal from breast cancer or that a mantra can make the lame walk. As with everything it's a bit more complicated than that. In my opinion neither the crystal nor the mantra will hurt anyone, but if someone say they can heal you this way and in addition charge a lot of money ... run for it, or roll out in your wheelchair if you are the lame one. To make promises about miraculous healings that you cannot know if you can keep is obviously cruel, mostly for the hopes they may raise. This preying on people in a vulnerable situation is where healing as a concept should be questioned and scrutinized. There's a lot of good, responsible healers out there and a lot of bad, unscrupulous ones too. We have to use discernment in this area as any other. Fortunately, we can do our best healing ourselves. We may even have friends that are talented healers that can help us out, if we ask.

The difference between healing and conventional medicine is that you take spirits' help into account, including advice and help you've gotten from other spirit workers. You also take full responsibility for your healing. This doesn't exclude doctors visits but this world, the healing world, is void of measuring instrument and defiantly void of wellness competitiveness. Spirits want you to be whole, or as whole as possible. To put it simply, to help you strive towards wholeness is part of the job they signed up for. When you are in a healing space it encompasses body, mind, soul and spirit and work on all levels simultaneously. You might receive advice from anything from food intake to how to place your bed to changing you job. All you need is an open mind and the ability to listen closely.

When I do a morning ceremony dedicated to a certain healing theme this ceremony stems from a basic need; from something health wise that I wish to improve because this would improve my life and my ability to move in it. The technique is quite simple, but the results can be most helpful and sometimes even astonishing. This is how you can do it in case you want to try: 

Choose what it is you want to heal. 

Choose a time a day your willing to work with this issue.

Choose a time period of time you are willing to work on this. 

Decide beforehand that you are willing to do the work. 

Receive healing and, if possible, listen to the spirit messages and your deeper self.

Get to work.

I always choose early mornings simply because if I don't do it then, the day will pass and I'll end up not doing it. As far as choosing what to try to heal I have a bunch to choose from, but who doesn't? Funny thing is, no matter what I choose it will always, and I mean always, improve my overall health. Perhaps it is the willingness here that is the key. That is, I tell myself, and thus my spirit helpers, I'm willing to give it a go. Time period is important for me psychologically, if it's too long I will stop focusing pretty soon out of pure pre-built up expectation exhaustion. If it's to short there's hardly enough time to make anything happen. I often choose to work with the moon as she gives a natural rhythm that you can't mess with. She will wane and she will wax regardless of our opinions. There's comfort in that. It also connects your work to ancient healing practices. Your calendar is in the sky, not on your smartphone.

To listen to spirit messages is a tricky one, there's a bunch of sweet people out there who can talk you through it. I like the explanations of this young woman Sygga, for example. She's intense, fast and wordy so perhaps, if you're the calmer type, you prefer the words of this woman Gabby. Their advice is similar. But even if you don't think you can hear or receive anything from spirits you can still dedicate a moment and receive the healing. Light a candle, speak your healing wish aloud, ask spirits to help and meditate a bit. Before you know it you will not only feel better, you might also get an intense craving for something you haven't eaten in ages and when you read up on it it will turn out that this particular food contains a substance that target your ailment exactly. Or, the like. Trust me, it works. 

But doesn't it work just because you think it will? you may ask. Well, of course that's part of it. There's a few trite and true things that is always true when it comes to improving health: a good diet, exercise and ... placebo. Researchers have to add the margin for placebo effect for any medicine they try out. So, instead of seeing placebo as a scientific research nuisance, let's embrace him as the superhero in medicine he is. Placebo is truly a possible miracle worker. Though, I personally believe there is more to it. If I didn't I wouldn't be writing this and I certainly wouldn't spend my mornings staring at a candle to listen to what spirits want to nag me about from one full moon to the next. They are terribly chatty and it so happens that healing happens to be one of their favorite subjects.

Street art, Baywater area, New Orleans