Session One | Opening & Belonging
Returning to Everyday Life
At the end of each Session and as you meet your everyday life with its responsibilities, routines and roles, I encourage you to:
Ritually close and exit the gathering space (guided visualisation below)
Begin a regular practice of taking something back to try out, to contemplate, to discuss with others, to enliven and concretise the experience insight in some way - i.e Live The Question.
BRINGING RITUAL INTO YOUR LIFE
A brief mention about rituals:
Rituals are actions that mean something, particularly something to you or your community. They don’t need to be fancy or elaborate.
A ritual act might be to connect with your body through massaging with a nourishing oil before your shower, or taking a deep breath before beginning a task. Maybe an image or object feels symbolic for you.
For instance, the symbol of the key is a very powerful one for me. It has been for a little while, but it also seems to be quite a strong one for this Course. I therefore hold the curiosity of “I wonder what would happen if I wore it, or carried it in my pocket like a talisman” as a ritual act.
This ritual might change from session to session or become cumulative and additive.
Living as an initiated Woman
Doing this is a practice in living as an initiated woman - as someone who willingly ventures into the underworld, into liminality, learns what must be learnt, and then returns to the topside world carrying the wisdom and lessons to be lived.
An attitude of experimentation is key to seeing how things work in reality. This is enacted in a way that is not for achievement or praise, but held in the wisdom of the archetypal and impersonal experience.
creating a ritual act to ‘take with’
Bring to mind or body 1 thing from this Session that feels resonant and helpful.
It could be an image or a personal insight, or a question to live.
It could be something that you listened to or read that sparked your interest. Or one of the practices, or a prompt that you’d like to work with more.
What is a ritual practice that you can perform (as rituals are actions) - to keep that in forward in your body-mind?
