Rituals
“The
rituals of Christmas are truly rituals, part of the holy festival.
They should be done with care. Ritual feeds the soul the way food
nourishes the body.”
Thomas
Moore (The Soul of Christmas, p.74)
When my sons were
children, we often went out to a tree farm and cut our Christmas
tree. The whole business of selecting a tree, cutting it down, roping
it to the top of the car, hauling it into the house, muscling it into
a tree stand and putting on the decorations took a whole day and
evening. We had a particular order for decorating—lights first, of
course, then colorful strands and then the ornaments. When the boys
were little, most of the ornaments were gathered around the bottom
third of the tree—as far as they could reach. Last of all, the star
went on top. This was a ritual that we all looked forward to—the
beginning of the season of giving. We knew good things were on the
way.
I remember being invited
to dinner by my friend, Sharon, during Hanukkah, the Festival of
Lights. She lit candles on the menorah, and said the prayers in
Hebrew before we sat down to eat. It was a beautiful ritual. The
purpose of rituals is to invite in the divine. They designate the
space as holy. The Christmas tree is not part of the nativity, but
the “cosmic tree” can be found in most religious traditions.
Beginning in Genesis with the sacred tree of knowledge in the Garden
of Eden, to the end with the tree of Golgotha on which Jesus was
crucified, trees play a prominent role Christianity. In the Jewish
tradition, the Tree of Life grows from the heavens down to earth; in
India, flowers and ribbons are placed on trees deemed sacred, and
Scandinavians have special reverence for “Yggdrasil,” a version
of the world tree.
We may not think of the
things we do this time of year as rituals—decorating the house,
preparing special foods, wrapping gifts—but they are. If we had
strong traditions around particular holidays as children, we tend to
see them as simply routine—this is just what we do at Christmas, or
Hanukkah, or Kwanza. But rituals have deep soul connections. When we
do them consciously, they enrich our lives by connecting us through
the ages with our ancestors, and with future generations. At this
sacred time, when autumn gives way to winter on the Solstice, we find
ourselves thinking about the people we love, both past and present,
in a different way. We remember and feel the influence of those who
are no longer with us; we feel their presence more than at any other
time of year. I think it is the rituals that draw them near, that
close the circle. This holiday season, invite in your ancestors,
include them in your rituals, and experience the difference in depth
of meaning this will bring. Establish sacred space.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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