I am sometimes asked about the use of ceremony in healing, and whether ceremony in the context of psychotherapy has benefit. I believe that while the form ceremony takes in shamanic healing may be different from its appearance in psychotherapy, the essence remains the same. I also find that the intention brought to ceremony determines whether it has healing power.
Story is central to psychotherapy and to ceremony; ceremony and story are interwoven. Story invites a shared narrative and can be verbal or not. The best stories are ceremonies, enwrapping us in places, people, and history. They tell us who we are, where we came from, and where we might be going.
Healing ceremonies enfold us in stories of belonging and transformation. Rather than being purely personal, such ceremonies remind us that we are integral parts of an immense whole. They point to, or immerse us in, the deep river of meaning and connection underlying our brief passage through life, placing us in the transcendent, and assuring us that transformation and continuity are simply two aspects of the same structure.
Ceremony is large, consisting of the commitment to making ceremony, all preparations, the focused time of enactment, and the individual’s and community’s response to the ceremony. Ceremony can last three minutes or many months, yet it includes all of these ingredients.
Thus we touch many realms when we are carefully engaged in making ceremony. We are inviting the presence and participation of the many sides of Self, the non-human world, family and friends, ancestors and spirits, and the Creator. Of course, we are connected to all of the above all the time, yet it is human to lose track of this. We image we are alone on our journey. We may even believe our actions impact no one but ourselves. Ceremony reminds us that we are immense beings profoundly interconnected with innumerable others.
Many healing ceremonies require preparation. Before the ceremony we are encouraged to consider the state of our lives and the changes that might be necessary for us to return to a lived sense of connection and balance. We may be required to gather materials, place ourselves in a receptive mood, and consider our need for support and care post ceremony. Sometimes we may be encouraged to enlist family and friends in making preparations, and to arrange for a feast at the ceremony’s conclusion. Each of these steps is a vital aspect of the ceremony.
It is useful to remember that psychotherapy is, at its best, ceremony. Two or more individuals, including perhaps a family, sit together. The therapist holds the sacred space and pays close attention to the flow of story, emotion, and belonging through the room.
Sometimes those engaged in psychotherapeutic healing may decide a formal ceremony would be helpful. Then the intention behind the ceremony is clearly spoken, preparations are made, and a time is set. The structure of the ceremony is carefully considered, and decisions made; everyone present is invited to participate in the process. The ceremony may be enacted during the therapy hour, scheduled for another session, or arranged to take place at a time outside the usual therapy time. Extended social supports may be invited to attend.
When ceremony is conducted in support of shamanic healing, the process may be similar. While the shamanic healer may choose the shape and general time of the ceremony, the recipient/s of the ceremony are often deeply engaged in preparations for the event. After all, ceremony is done with individuals and communities, rather than to them. It is crucial participants feel a sense of deep engagement with, and ownership of, the event.
For me, discovering the myriad ways ceremony may aid the healing process, and how it may be used in our contemporary setting, is an ongoing adventure. My teachers say this has been so for a long time, although it has become more to the foreground with the loss of traditional knowledge as a result of colonization.
As our world changes we find ourselves addressing novel problems and conditions. Yet as bewildering as they may seem, these remain a part of human experience. Over the years ceremonies have changed their form to accommodate evolving need. This process will surely continue.
Dreaming the World 
Ceremonies are important for preparing all the involvere souls, I think.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Irene
Michael, I’ve read this post with great interest. I hope the art of ceremonies won’t be lost, although I understand there is nothing wrong with changing ceremonial traditions over time. It is about the soul(s) connecting and realizing its smallness and its greatness, isn’t it?
Paula, I imagine people will continue to make ceremony, as we always have. The forms and content will undoubtedly change, but the activity will continue. We have, as you said, a built in desire of soul to be connected. Even in the darkest times the desire will awaken in some, perhaps in many.
Dear Michael:
I have always appreciated your sense of ceremony and its association with healing. In another blog we share, “Into the Bardo,” I refected on a wonderful poem on “Old Love” written by Victoria Slotto. Her poem reminds me of the way life offers us a chance to create spontaneous rituals that sometimes become ceremonies that turn out to transform our lives. Here is my post there. I think it is very relevant to what your shared here. Thank you.
All of us as we age we experience various kinds of “heart wounds”–wounds of the body and the spirit– that show up as we age. One time my dear departed wife and I created a wonderful healing experience that transformed these wounds and let us celebratie our wholeness at the same time. Both of us have various scars associated with surgeries we had at various times in our lives, mine a large scar accociated with open heart surgery and hers associated a life-long fight with breast cancer that eventually took her life. Unfortunately, these scars have become associated with many experiences that were associated with a way life has limited and wounded us. One Saturday morning, traditionally associated with a life-long ritual of intimacy that became increasingly difficult to experienced when we made love, we created a new form of intimacy that transcended the scars and pain associated with our wounds and gave us a new way of experiencing our wholeness. As we lay in bed together, we toucned our scars and the wounds associated with them and with tears and profound gratitude we celebrated a form of wholeness that goes way beyond a growing sense of limit and brokeness. This gave us a new appreciation of the way life continually offers us new chances to define and experience ourselves anew .
Rob. Your description of your ritual enacted weekly with your wife is deeply moving. How wonderful to hold together the marks left by life! Your ability to convert trauma into comfort is a beacon to the rest of us.
Reblogged this on hocuspocus13.
Thanks for the reblog.
your welcome
Very true. Australian Aboriginals are the oldest culture on Earth and we believe that nothing works properly if it isn’t attached to the right ceremony. Would love to chat further about this topic if you want to explore it further..
Leroy, I would love to continue the conversion!
Reblogged this on HedgeWycket.