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Rituals

My Shamanic Journeys Experience

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I made my first shamanic journey in 2015, in a gathering about Shamanism by Ayşe Nilgün Arıt. She had an interesting story if I remember correctly. She was working as a high-level manager in a pharmaceutical company in Turkey, then in a visit to South America, while walking in nature as a tourist, she met the person who later became her teacher. The person got closer to her and gently said ‘welcome, we were waiting for you.’

Since then she began to learn the details of the shamanism from Don Miguel Angel Vergara Calleros and then as the interest in Turkey was increasing and so many people were demanding this information about shamanism, she designed some gatherings to start the shamanic path, which I am very thankful.

Shamanism is the wisdom of our ancestors to be deeply in connection with nature and the cosmos. It is interesting as Mircea Eliade found out all the commonalities of the wisdom and the rituals and ceremonies of ancestors all around the world, showing that somehow our ancestors could connect with the source, where their wisdom is coming from.

5 years ago, I went to 2 days gathering, in the middle of a city, inside a normal room with several people. We listened to many stories from Ayşe Nilgün Arıt. Then I read her books and began to practice some shamanic rituals that she has provided.

At the end of this 2 days gathering, she holds a space for us all, to experience a shamanic journey. My first experience was incredibly vivid as I was doing with her, later on, when I began to practice on my own, it took a lot of time for me to figure out my power animal and my way to shamanic journeys.

Some months later, I attended another gathering of her and have been practicing the shamanic rituals she provided, for many years now.

What is a shamanic journey?

In Shamanism, there is a belief that there are below the world, upper world, and middle world. In the below world, you can meet with your power animal(s) and ask them any kind of guidance. 

There are some fundamentals around shamanic journeys:

First of all, you need to find out your power animal (nagual), those animals that appear in your journeys, you can have a power animal for all your life and depend on your circumstances and your needs you can also have temporary power animals coming to your journeys. 

How one can find her power animal? 

By going to shamanic journeys to find your power animal. My journey of finding my power animal took almost 6 months and many shamanic journeys meanwhile. In the beginning, till I found my power animal, I was going to shamanic journeys with just one intention, finding my power animal. Once you find it, then in your next journeys you can go with any intention that you need guidance. 

How one can start a shamanic journey?

In shamanic journeys, shamanic drums are the keys. Drumming temporarily changes brainwaves to Theta waves, where images become very active. You can not control anything but just begin to journey. If you play a shamanic drum, you would know it, once you get the drum to play, you get this sensation that drum plays itself, that you do not have any control. 

The drum is magical, both for the Shaman that is playing and for the person who is in the shamanic journey. Even though my experiences with live drums were always quick to go to journey, at home for my shamanic journeys, I use shamanic journey recordings, especially from Michael Harner, 15 minutes or 30 minutes option, depending on my mood and need for it. 

For every shamanic journey, one goes via a secret place, a door, a pool, a well, you choose it. 

How does the shamanic journey process continue?

First, you lie down, it is important to have the spine upright. You can cover your eyes with something for a better experience than you simply imagine this place of entrance to the shamanic journey as detailed as possible. This place can change or all the time could be the same. For me, I am entering the same place since I started experimenting on shamanic journeys. 

Importance of clear intentions

It is important to have your intention very clear as shamanic journeys are working with symbols as in dreams, so the experience you will have with your power animal will be full of symbols. If you have your intention focused and clear, it will be easier to understand the meanings of the symbols. 

Then you will let your self just be and experience the journey. In the meanwhile you can interact with your nagual as well, asking more questions for clarification. 

It is a relationship what you have with your power animal and any relationship flourish with care

I love my nagual and I am very grateful for all the guidance he has provided to me. In years, we have created a relationship. Sometimes in this world, when I see animals in an unexpected situation, I know that my nagual is asking me to come for a shamanic journey, or when I do not go for a long time, I miss him so much and he misses me too. 

In the shamanic journey, the drumming has 3 parts. Let’s say if 15 minutes drumming, first 13 minutes is a steady rhythm, then for 1-2 minutes the rhythm changes and then becomes quicker, as a reminder to come back, so you are just coming back remembering all the steps you have been taken. Finally, you come back to your tunnel and finish the journey once the drumming finishes. 

Then you gently open your eyes, do some grounding work is very much recommended afterward. 

Once you finalize the journey, the first thing which is recommended to do is writing down all your journey. You can have a shamanic journey notebook, to keep them all together. This is a powerful thing to do, to finalize the ritual, and to put much care into your experience. 

It is recommended to do shamanic journeys at most twice per week, not more than that. I generally do once a month or once every 2 weeks, though. 

Shamanic journeys have been a great guiding tool for me and still is. I am so glad that I have learned about them and then had the persistence to try until I gain the trust of my nagual. 

Rituals and Symbols of Sacrifice Feast

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In the Islamic world, 2 special days are celebrated each year. Feast of Ramadan and Sacrifice. Today I will talk about the symbolic meaning of Feast of Sacrifice.

Why do people celebrate it? What does it mean symbolically?

Sacrifice feast is related to being close to God. There are 2 different words in Turkish ‘yakın olmak’ and ‘yakin olmak’, just 1 letter changes all the meaning though. ‘Being close’ to God is ‘yakın olmak’ then yakin olmak, leaving yourself totally, so filling with God and moving with the divine. 

Sacrifice feast is symbolizing these 2 concepts; ‘yakin olmak’ and ‘yakin olmak’.

You can not leave yourself and fill with the divine unless you sacrifice the excessive desires of Nafs, the animal inside you, the sense of self, the ego.

Here comes the story of the prophets Isaac and Abraham

Abraham saw in his dream that he was sacrificing his son Isaac, and he intended. There Isaac said to his father to cover his eyes so he could surrender fully. At this moment, God accepted his intention and asked not to sacrifice his boy and sent a sheep to them to sacrifice. 

This story includes many symbols, an important one is Isaac asking for covering his eyes. Here Isaac symbolizes Nafs, ‘sense of self’ and here God says that no need to sacrifice the self, Nafs is needed, what you need to do is sacrifice the many requests of the Nafs and to do that, your Self needs to ask for it.   

Ramadan and Sacrifice Feasts, both are related. 

Sacrifice Feast is the last moment of the self-nurture the one that started with Ramadan Feast. Sacrificing your self. Sacrificing so much that your occurrence becomes beautiful, and from this beauty and inner peace, 3 groups will take profit: you, your loved ones that are close to you and people around, who are spiritually poor, they would see you and realize your way of being with inner peace. 

In the Quran, everything has both meanings: inner meaning and outer meanings. So with sacrifice one sacrifices the sheep as well as her self. As we mentioned above, from this sacrifice of self, 3 groups would take profit, as well as from the sacrificed sheep’s meat 3 groups would take profit: 

– For the person to consume later, one third

– To eat with loved ones and to celebrate all together, one third

– Giving to those who can not afford to buy meat, one third

Why is it important to sacrifice the desires of a sense of self, ego?

In Sufi tradition, it is believed that human beings are here to know, serve, and worship God. God has created all the creation because God intends to be known, and chosen human beings as a partner. To serve and worship, one needs to look for and know first. How one can know God? By knowing your self.

In the Quran in surah (shortest chapter) Al-Kawthar, sacrifice is declared to be a religious duty, meaning that necessary to do to reach inner peace and freedom, being free from the desires of sense of self and being in full surrender. 

How one sacrifice the desires of the self?

To sacrifice the excessive desires of the ego, one needs to leave arrogance. Arrogance has 3 types according to Cemalnur Sargut

Idiocy: Not being able to see the sense of God. Thinking that one’s knowledge as correct always.

Smuggnes: Thinking that sense of self is me and being the prisoner of this self all the time.

Stinginess: Being unable to sacrifice the excessive desires of the sense of self.

If we can not leave these 3 types of arrogance, we can not accept ourselves as sacrificed our sense of self.

What are the rituals of the Sacrifice Feast?

It is an important day to be close to the Divine and the loved ones. People are coming together with their families as a big celebration. 

delicious food variety

Delicious foods are prepared days before, younger people are visiting older ones, offended people make peace between each other.

The day starts with morning prayer, in the mosque for man and at home for women. 

Then early in the morning sacrifice ceremony starts with prayers.

The meat is separated into 3 parts, one third to the person who sacrifices, one third to eat all together with loved ones, one third to give to those who can not afford to buy meat. 

All these above are outer meanings of a sacrifice feast day, the real meaning is self-evaluation of your self. One day before the sacrifice feast is the day of Arafah. It is a great day, to self-evaluate. Could I sacrificed enough my sense self, so will it be a real feast for me, were I close enough to the divine? If not, still one can have compassion with her own, every moment we born again. 

Arafah day can also be a great day for setting intention and sacrifice feast day can be the first day after this intention. You can take this day, as an opportunity to know the divine, serve, and worship. A start of a new circle. 

At the end of the day, we are here as a passenger. This is a long way, a journey of love, loving ourselves via loving divine, and vice versa. 

Let us know in the comments if you celebrate Sacrifice Feast, what does it symbolize for you? 

Simplest Ritual in the World: Smiling

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Smiling is so easy, right? So smiling ritual as well

Yes, indeed. Smiling always comes my way as I am a ritual freak and having radars for all kinds of rituals in the world.

In this blog post, I will give you 3 simple and beautiful rituals with smiling. You can do it wherever and whenever you want. No excuses.

Here comes the list in chronological order that I have been told about the secrets of smiling.

1. Smiling while having a shower

blog post shower smile

When I was pregnant for my first kid for 12 weeks, we went on a trip to Indonesia with my husband.

Near Ubud, they told us that there was this incredible guy with healing abilities. So we took our motor and went to see him. He was a tall, old guy, with a white beard and white long dress.

He examined me first. He touched some parts of my body which really hurt. In the middle of the examination, I told him that I was pregnant. He said, hell yes that now it explained everything.

His prescription to me was simple: He said, do not worry, be happy, and for that, every morning while having a shower, I needed to gently caress my belly and smile. That is it.

I am a very disciplined person especially if the issue is rituals. I did it during all my pregnancies.

Last week, I began to do it again, with a slight adaption this time. Every morning while having a shower, I am smiling at myself.

2. Smile inward; remember smiling to yourself first

women smile inward

Several years ago, I attended some workshops/training/gatherings about Shamanic Wisdom by Ayşe Nilgün Arıt. There she explained a ritual, which I practiced from time to time and got great help from it.

Below are the details:

Sit your back straight and your feet touching completely the ground. Close your eyes. Wait until your mouth and lips are relaxed. Let your mouth have the shape of a smile. Now you will bring this smile inward.

Start with your eyes. Bring your attention to your eyes and imagine that this smile is going around your eyes, inward and outward. Smile energy is affecting all-around your eyes.

Now your chin and face. Imagine that the shining effect of your smile relaxes all your face including the chin, and causes scars to disappear on your face.

Then let the shine of your smile go to your neck and feel how the smile is just spreading in that area.

Next are your chest and lungs. Feel how your smile is affecting you. Then your smile is coming all around your heart, with each heartbeat the love energy of your smile is going to each and every cell of your body.

Go down to your belly, and smile to your belly, liver, and kidneys. Now focus on the root of the spine and the love energy of your smile is going up through your spine till your nape and from there to your head.

Lastly focus on your belly button, the connection point of the human beings to the web of cosmos. Smile at your belly button.

Do this smiling inward ritual, once you wake up and before going to sleep, even you can do various times during the day, especially when you need most this love energy of smile.

3. Smile while singing

In this blog post previously I explained about my singing journeys, where I publish every week a record of a song sung by me on the internet. You can see the details here.

Before singing and while singing there are many rituals that are supporting my singing journey and one is simple and wise advice from my singing teacher: smile, while singing, so your spirit will smile too.

I so. Not only I can feel the effect of it and I can also hear the difference from recordings as well. If you have never tried, I invite you to do so right now. Smile, while singing, so your spirit also does. And you will definitely feel the difference.

Smiling, the simplest and maybe the most beautiful ritual of the world

It is simple because we have a smile with us all the time. It is all about intention and the focus that we put our attention to.

Focusing on your smile is powerful, because when you smile, you simply let it go and you trust, irrelevant of the situation. You show it with an action.

It is much more powerful when you do not feel like smiling at all. Especially at these times, just smile, bring your attention and focus to your smile and see and feel the difference.

Smile to yourself. Make smiling your new ritual.

How to Prepare Saint John’s Wort Oil?

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Would you like to learn about a miracle remedy?

It is totally home-made. I am talking about Saint John’s Wort oil. It is the most incredible oil I have seen and used in my life.

Why Saint John Wort’s Oil is a miracle remedy?

Because it is good for many things and once used it serve incredibly quick. I am using it especially for;

  • Burning issues. Once you apply to the burned area on your body, you will feel the relaxation suddenly and you will see the effect of it in minutes. No exaggeration.

  • I used it for two of my kids when they were babies for the nappy rash.

  • I have not seen anything similar for being effective when applying after a person got injured. If applied just after the injury, it prevents bruises. If applied after the bruises appeared, it provides the bruising effect to pass very quickly.

In my home, Saint John’s Wort Oil is our best friend

I am so glad that my kids love this magical remedy. Whenever they fell or burn themselves, while crying, they ask me to bring the oil as quickly as possible.

This means a lot to me symbolically. Thanks to this remedy, they have learned to ask help to plant kingdom, to take care of themselves, how to make remedy, and how simple it is.

It is a whole process for us, that my kids have been part since they were babies

  • When we find Saint John’s Wort plant in nature, we celebrate, we dance and sing. We express our gratitude and we communicate to the plant how beautiful it is.
  • We ask for permission from the plant if we can pick it up.
  • We pick it up, bring it to our home and serve it as our best guest.
  • We prepare it and put to a glass jar and add olive oil on it. We do all this process with our whole focus and intention of healing.
  • Leave under the sun until the plant gives its red color to the oil, meaning that the plant shares its magical power to the plant. We observe, wait with patience.
  • Once red, we welcome the magical remedy to our life.

 

What is your magical remedy? Do you prepare yourself? 

Summer Solstice Rituals and Symbols in Spain

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Rituals are the most valuable gifts that our ancestors gave us. Summer solstice rituals are special ones between all, which deserves attention. 

The other day a friend of mine gifted to me an online visualization meditation via a zoom gathering, in which he brought us to 2027. What I have experienced was beautiful.

I was living in a house very similar to a birdhouse on a tree. With each sunrise and sunset, I was singing a song from my heart, as a service to life. While I was walking, my feet were kissing the ground as Thich Nhat Hanh said. Then I was realizing that life has converted to a ritual for me.

What else we would have if we do not have rituals in our lives? Rituals open my heart, body, and soul. They make me feel the importance of life and invite me to live as life deserves it.

Our ancestors very well knew it, so they left us this great heritage of rituals and ceremonies.

This blog post is an invitation to live the ritual of our ancestors and to witness the excitement and light that these rituals bring to our lives. Specifically to the summer solstice, which is almost here.

Solstices are very important as they are one of the earliest astronomical observations in human history and they have been celebrated since ancient times.

What is a solstice?

In Latin, solstice means “sun standing still.”

It is time every summer when the sun reaches its highest point in our sky and each winter when it reaches its lowest point.

Why they are important?

We are part of mother nature; we are not separated and the realities of nature also work for us. It is easier for us to observe the changes in nature, such as seasons, movements of Sun and moon, and sea levels than observe similar kinds of changes inside each of us as human beings.

Otherwise, life can seem and felt as being amidst the chaos, whereas if we can focus the ever-changing cycles of life than we can begin to gain perspective and feel a part of this beautiful harmonic order with all its ups and downs.

So, these astronomical events; solstices correspond with each of our own rhythms, just be aware and recognize it and celebrate it with a ritual is the best thing we can do for ourselves, at this special time of the year.

What summer solstice symbolize?

Before we have talked in the blog about Beltane, spring equinox time, where the return of Mother Spirit celebrated. Now it is the return of Father Spirit when the Sun is on the top. The summer solstice is the symbol of enlightenment, unity, and wholeness so it’s a celebration of the sun and connection to nature.

Celebrations from around the world

The summer solstice is being celebrated all around the world since ancient cultures such as Spain (fiestas de San Joan), Portugal (fogueiras de São João), Norway (Jonsok), Denmark (Sankthans), Sweeden (Midsommar), Finland (Juhannus), Estonia (Jaanipäev) and United Kingdom (Midsummer).

After Christianity, some cultures mixed this celebration of Summer Solstice with the birth of Saint John, the Baptist which made these rituals even more symbolic than before.

The importance of Saint John the Baptist

Saint John is a prophet and was born six months before Jesus; therefore, the feast of John the Baptist is on 24 June, six months before Christmas. John the Baptist announced the good news of the arrival of Jesus and baptized him.

How summer solstice is celebrated in Spain?

The summer solstice is the birthday of Saint John; la fiesta de San Joan. It is a big ceremony which has been protected by celebrating, again and again, each year by taking care of details.

It is a beautiful, exciting, crazy, celebrative, Spanish way of entering to summer, which takes place on the 23rd of June at night.

Sant Joan has 3 symbols – fire, water, and herbs. Fire symbolizes purity, water symbolizes healing and herbs symbolize remedy.

Fire

Bonfire is in the heart of the celebrations of San Joan in Spain. The main reason behind the bonfires is to give more power to the sun, as from this day, it will begin to lose its power. The sun is the symbol of fertility and wealth, and so it must be given strength. The strength is provided by bonfires and fireworks lit throughout the city for Sant Joan.

Sant Joan is often described by Catalans as the ‘Nit del Foc’ – meaning the ‘Night of Fire’.

In Catalunya, they have a beautiful ritual: Flama del Canigó. As mentioned here

‘The fire of Flama del Canigó (Canigou Flame) is never extinguished. It keeps burning throughout the year at the Perpignan Castellet until 22 June, when it is carried to the mountain’s summit. At midnight the fire from the flame is shared out among those present. Straightaway they set off, splitting and spreading the fire to light the Sant Joan bonfires in hundreds of towns, villages, and cities.’

All around the city you would see temporary fireworks shops open up throughout the city, with queues down the street. This is a great symbol showing how Spanish people take this festival seriously.

Water

At midnight, at 12 o’clock, people have a bath in the waters of rivers, seas or fountains, because it is believed that the nature that night is blessed and having a bath, water would bring health and protect them from the illnesses.

Herbs

It is believed that during Sant Joan, the healing qualities of herbs are enhanced one hundred times. This is why they are specially picked on the night of Sant Joan.

As the Cantabrian legend says:

‘On the night of San Juan, mythological beings, the little horses of the devil (Caballucos del Diablu), appear around the bonfire with excessive anger. With their dragonfly wings, in search of four-leaf clovers, to snatch the luck from the others. If you manage to catch one of these beings, you will be lucky all your life, but when you die you will go straight to hell. 

The way to get rid of them is to find a four-leaf clover and many people look for the precious amulet in the morning and, as the saying goes: 

‘If you find the yerbuca (Hypericum perforatum), on the morning of San Juan, you will get rid of snakes and Caballucos the devil.’’

How you can celebrate?

This year because of the special situation of the pandemic, there will not be any bonfires in Spain. This does not mean that we can not celebrate. 

Wherever you are, you can celebrate this special day of the summer solstice. Here are some ways to celebrate:

  • You can reflect your last 3 months/6 months/9 months, write your accomplishments, and your lessons learned.
  • Light a fire, could be a bonfire or a small candle fire, is not important. The intention is the important one. You can burn your reflection to let it go and you can do this with the intention of purification.
  • You can set new intentions for summertime. Do not forget, summer is a celebration and harvest time. You can set your intentions with these in mind.
  • Celebrate with your loved ones. Tell the legends of the ancestors, sing, dance, eat good food, drink, and share.
  • Pick the herbs at night and if you are lucky maybe four-leaf clovers and Hypericum perforatum.
  • Enter the water at 12.00, midnight with your intention and awareness of the ritual. Let the water heal and protect you. 

  • The summer solstice at Stonehenge will stream live on Sunday morning, June 21, 05:07, on English Heritage’s social media accounts

What about you, what are your plans? How will you celebrate the Summer Solstice? Let us know in the comments. 

 

Welcome to a Ritual: Create Your Own Jewelry or Amulet

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Everything related to a Jewelry is a ritual for me

I love jewelry. They are my treasures, one of my sacred space where I feel the beauty of being a woman. It is such a pleasure to look for jewelry when I go to a new place, collect them and their stories, keep them all together and choose the one according to the moment. Every step is such a ritual.

blog-post-jewelry

Evil Eye Jewelry Kit and the home-made ritual behind it

I love this evil eye jewelry kit, because of many reasons. Let me explain.

I have created from my big love to evil eye beads. Inside a jewelry box, you have 14 chakra color circular beads, 10 triangular shape beads, and 3 ‘eye of the cow’ beads as they call it in the village of Turkey, where they produce and also 2 colorful threads.

The family that still does the production of evil eye beads

I loved evil eye beads since I was little kid and look at the coincidence that life has sent me just near the beautiful village where they are still producing evil eye beads. In Turkey, there are 2 villages and very few workshops left. The family that still does the production is very dear to me. I feel them as my family, my bigger sister, and my brothers. We had a really beautiful connection when I was living there.

Evil eyes; ancient wisdom as protectors of bad energies

Evil eye beads are believed to protect you from the bad energies of others. It does not necessarily need to be an evil person, we all have these evil energies inside us and without our intention, we can cause harm to each other. Evil eye beads are beautiful protectors for that, such a compassionate and beautiful tradition, don’t you think?

A box for a continuous ritual. A gift for the whole family.

This kit flourished from our own ritual at the home, of mine and my little kid, Luna. We had these beads in a box, and whenever we feel like, we were creating our own jewelry.

Sometimes, when the kids feel fear at night, I am helping them to create their own amulets. So important for them to experience the power of their intention, and this product is making that intention touchable and reminding all the time when one sees it.

A video showing our ritual

  • Starting with slowing down and asking ourselves what we want to create, which colors and shapes.
  • Then preparing it slowly as an expression of self-care and an excuse to slow down.
  • After enjoying the accompany of the jewelry or the amulet, then cleaning the energy
  • Preparing it for the next use.

This evil eye jewelry kit always reminded me of beautiful Tibetan mandala rituals

Creating something beautiful and letting the awareness of this creation fill you up with beauty. Once done just letting it go, as a great reminder that everything is borning, again and again, every moment.

Spanish Sunday Ritual: Preparing & Serving Paella With Love

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Our 2nd Ritual in Home Made Ritual Series

I am from Turkey and my husband is from Spain. Now we consider ourselves, from both countries. Our love for each other’s culture is coming from our love for each other. I loved him first and then thanks to him, I appreciated the details of his culture. Today I want to talk about a ritual to you: Spanish Sunday Ritual- preparing and serving paella with love.

The Country of Rituals and Symbols: Spain

Spain is an incredible country when the topic is about rituals and symbols. I always feel that people care about their rituals, they prioritize those rituals and do it with care, because those rituals are part of them.

In Spain, Sunday is a family mealtime, all together, a lunch to enjoy during hours; a time for sharing, laughter, stories, witnessing each other, and feeling united.

It is time where beautiful table cloths and cotton napkins take their places on the table, adding maybe some flowers to the middle; to show your love and care.

Each moment is always the best time ever to show our gratitude to life, to show our love in our actions.

Welcome to a Ritual

It is time to slow down and convert our routines to rituals and for that the intention is enough to start. Cooking paella is great for that. Putting your apron to open up the circle, preparing all those ingredients separately and getting ready, preparing your appetizer and music, inviting somebody to join you while cooking the food so that a nice conversation would accompany which would give a nice taste to the food. Once finished, serve with nice intentions to those beloved ones. Enjoy each moment of the meal.

It is time to convert our routines to beautiful rituals. Rituals are the gateway to a life full of gratitude and love. They are tools for us to live life as it deserves.

Happy rituals everybody!

Home-Made Rituals Series: Jewelry Ritual for Purification and Focus

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For a while, I wanted to write about my Ritual Jewelries then when I saw a friend’s Instagram story asking about ‘if any of us have invented something, if yes what?’ question, while I answering her saying ‘I am inventing rituals’, I thought yes, it is the correct time to start to talk about my ‘home-made rituals’ series.

I Am Ritual Freak And I Have Always Been This Way

I love creating my rituals, observing myself while practicing them, witnessing how I feel: and then when I feel it’s time for that ritual to let go, I just let it go. So, some rituals can be for 1 day, some for several days, some every day, some once per month, some once per year, some when I feel like the need and some for once.

I need rituals because I have a part of me that loves to envision and dream. Many times, I feel myself in between the door sill, where the realities just get blur and combine, where both realities live together. In that place, I feel admiration and I feel the urge to showing my reverence, so for my journey, my rituals have been one of my best friends.

Home-Made Ritual Series 1: Jewelry Ritual for Purification and Focus

Several years ago suddenly I began to see many quotes about ‘imagination’ so I considered it a sign from life and began to surf via the internet, I read some books such as Creative Visualization from Shakti Gawain, The Elements of Visualization from Ursula Markham and Time of Dream – Aborigines from Eser Coşkun. I have watched many documentaries and I re-focused on some of my shamanic work which was focusing on sharpen the ability of imagination.

With all these coming information, as usual -those who know me would understand very well, I was amazed, passionate, curious and energetic and I decided to experiment to observe this big power of visual imagination and guess what, I have created a ritual.

The Steps I Took for Jewelry Ritual for Purification and Focus

  1. First, I had chosen a bracelet of mine as a ritual bracelet.
  2. Every morning once I wake up, I was sparing a time to put that jewelry on me with a ritual. It was a simple, quick, easy, and meaningful ritual for me. While putting that bracelet, I was passing through the intention of the day.
  3. I did this ‘ritual jewelry experiment’ for 4 months and during this time I decided some specific intentions to keep in my heart. So, my intentions were:
  4. Observing my thoughts-my phrases and my actions and try to be aware of what I think, say and behave and if I catch my negativity if possible bringing it to positive, if not possible at that time, at least being aware of it and kind of pin it at space & time.
  5. Loose kilos. I had 20 more kilos after my 2nd pregnancy, which was going nowhere and making me feel fat-slow-not in my body, ugly and not me.
  6. These 2 intentions were somehow related because I wanted to work with myself about feeling ‘beautiful and ugly, not just as a result of gaining 20 kilos; which was already there before the kilos and sometimes was acting as a source of some envy attacks. So I wanted to bring special attention to my thoughts-words and actions about my self-worth.
  7. In Pinterest, I had created a secret board-visible just to me- related to my intentions about losing weight and feeling self-worth and self-love, which was full of pictures of other women, clothes, quotes, and pictures.
  8. During the day when I was realizing my ritual jewelry, I was bringing my attention to here and now, and a quick check of my intentions.
  9. We had a large window with a great view of nature. Looking from there every afternoon, I was doing my joyful imagination, while breastfeeding. It was like me time; I was dreaming another reality of me which sounds nice to me; with my new body, feeling self-worth.
  10. During the night, before sleeping while I was getting the ritual jewelry off, remembering my intentions.
  11. Before sleeping, I was passing through all those moments of joy and feeling gratitude and sleep with this feeling. This ritual is continuing to be with me every night since then, the last 3 years.

 

Then basically miracle happened. I lost 20 kilos in 4 months. It was not just losing weight; it was the shine on me which has changed. People in the street were even stopping me to ask if I do something special, I am not kidding.

Of course, I did a lot of sports, I took care of my eating habits and all that. The rituals gave me incredible strength, power, resistance, and focus ability. I was believing that I was able to achieve my objectives, already. I was feeling that it is already on the way.

Information will power, strength combining with visual imagination made me see that miracles are not that hard to accomplish. Who knows maybe I am writing this post to myself, maybe it is a nice time for some purification and focus?

I am excited to start my “home-made rituals’ series. What is the homemade ritual that you are using right now, or you have used and loved it in the past?

Ramadan Rituals and Symbols

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Ramadan is a holy month starting with a crescent moon and continues till the next. Now we are in the period of a Ramadan. This year my intention is understanding Ramadan rituals and symbols for me.

Ramadan is a month full of rituals and symbols

In Sufi tradition, God is called Lover. God is believed to live in our hearts. My invitation to you is imagining all these rituals of Ramadan, a special way to meet with your Lover. It is a special date for your Lover so for you.

Can I give 1 month every year from my life, for a deep journey inside me? 1 month of slowing down and being mindful, of showing my gratitude, rituals, celebrations, feeling the sacredness, ceremonies, witnessing, prayers, purification, feeling, and being.

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Fasting Ritual

During Ramadan fasting, one becomes slow, slowness makes the witnessing ability sharper. This gives us the possibility to witness life in another way for us. It is a journey; it is an experience. You do not eat nor drink, from the time of the dawn till sunset. It starts when you see the crescent and continues until the next crescent, for 1 month.

Can you imagine stopping for the whole day, to witness the beauty around you? Can I stop from the time that Sun comes up till Sun goes down so that I can witness all the beauty more deeply? I can hear the birds, I can see the movement of the leaves, I can realize the shine inside the eye of my little ones, I can cook with prayers, I can feel the touch of the water on my body so that I can convert every moment to a ritual and live the life as a ceremony.

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Sahur Ritual

All spiritual books I have read, mentioned all the time, connecting with the One at the time of the dawn. I have been lazy to experience it on my own. Sahur is the name of the meal during dawn time, eaten before Fasting. The idea here is not the meal itself. The idea is to start the ritual, with your intention. Sahur is the starting point of the ritual of fasting. Stepping to that sacred space, slowing down, clarifying your intention, feeling the One, and then just letting go. Without your intention, you can not fast. What else can be the meaning of sahur at that time of silence of the dawn? Maybe my Lover wants me to witness something inside me, waiting silently just before the dawn? Maybe there are some secrets of the Life that I can witness just at the silence of the dawn? Whatever it is, I am here to witness.

İftar Ritual

This is the time just after Sunset when you can close down your daily ritual of fasting. Ritual is a mark in space and time for yourself to bring your attention to the sacredness of the moment. The starting point of this ritual Fasting is sahur and closing of this ritual is the iftar. It is a ceremony, a celebration, with your family, with your friends, relatives, neighbors, with your loved ones. I always remember how I was waiting on the balcony when I was a kid. Everybody was waiting. We were waiting to hear the sound of the cannon altogether, as they were throwing it. Once the cannon was thrown, then the Ezan was singing and the lights of the mosques were on, all bright and shining. We were running inside saying that ‘cannons were thrown, cannons were thrown’, so announcing to the whole family that it was time to eat. The most important job of giving the news for the closing of the ritual was ours, the kids.

During the day you prepare the food to eat. You appreciate the food, you cook the food with prayers. While eating, you appreciate the food, you really feel the gratitude that you are eating. It is a joyful ceremony. It is the purest ceremony of celebrating the simple way of living life; eating all together as a family with gratitude in your heart. Being humble, being in gratitude, being in Love. 

Abdest (Purification ritual with water before prayer) Ritual

Imagine you slow down, stop, and touch the water, and with this water touch gently different places in your body. Your hands, mouth, nose, ears, head, elbows, arms, legs, and feet. You do this 5 times in a day to show self-care. Abdest is a purification ritual before daily prayer and daily prayer is a ritual to meet the One. It is like a ritual, inside a ritual. Prayer ritual should be so important that we need another ritual just before that. In Sufi tradition, one is called the Lover. So, you take care of your self before meeting the Lover, you are getting ready for it.

Daily Prayer (Namaz) Ritual

Finally, you meet with your Lover. You can do it 5 times a day. It is a ritual full of symbols. Morning, noon, afternoon, evening, and night prayers. Each is part of a calculation almost showing the perfect and infallible order of life. You have the time of each prayer according to the movement of the world and the Sun, and each time you have different numbers of movements and prayers defined as well.

It makes it possible to create a scared space and time to just be. To meet my inner self, then when I go again to the outer world, my inner and outer intentions and actions can align, then maybe, I do not have to struggle in this dual world that much.

In my last blog post, I have explained how daily prayers in Islam have inspired me to prioritize my daily rituals in my everyday life. I have always been interested in spiritual life and I was practicing different rituals as well, but then I realized that I was not giving permission to myself to separate some time every day for these practices. I was seeing it as extra. Then when I have realized it, I gave myself permission to do so. Thinking that daily prayers of Islam are 5 times in a day was encouraging me. It is funny, because in today’s world maybe we need more time of spirituality but it is harder to give permission to ourselves even a bit of those time that they were giving our ancestors.

Reading the Quran Ritual

Ramadan is the holy month, as it is the time when the Quran came. Quran is a holy book, containing all the secrets about the truth. One can see each time another reality reading it, as each time one is a different person. During fasting, reading the Quran can be more powerful because of the sacredness of the month as well as all the other rituals supporting the person. Is it possible to see the Quran as a book written by my Lover for me?

What are your Ramadan rituals? What they mean for you? Share with me in the comments.

 

Hıdırellez Ceremony, Its Rituals, and Symbols

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Khidr and Elijah

5th night and 6th of May is celebrated as Hıdırellez in Anatolia, Middle East, Middle Asia and Balkans with many lovely and cheerful rituals. Its name is coming from Hızır (Khidr) and İlyas (Elijah). It is believed that tonight Khidr and Elijah will meet in the world.

Confusion or signaling unity?

Interestingly for some Khidr is the protector of earth and Elijah is the protector of the water and for others, Khidr and Elijah are the same characters, one in Islamic tradition and the other in Jewish tradition, respectively. Even for some others, Khidr is the protector of the seas.

On 5th of May night, every year, Khidr and Elijah coming together on the earth which fills people’s hearts with love and joy, so they celebrate. It is so similar to the belief of Beltane, as I have written here; as the meeting of Goddess and the Green Man. For some, it is believed that Khidr and the green man are the same characters.

Khidr and Elijah are 2 of the immortals beside Idris and Jesus. Both Khidr and Elijah are believed they have drunken from the fountain of youth and they are the servants of God.

Khidr and Saint George

Khidr is a very important figure for Alevi people In Turkey. They believe Khidr is helping those who are in need, appearing with his white horse just as Saint George as I have written before here, for some it is believed that Khidr and Saint George are the same characters.

For Alevi people, Khidr is always living with them, not just one day of the year. Khidr is in their hearts and in their lives, reminding them of the support of God limitless from the time and space.

Khidr and Moses

Khidr is always illustrated in green color, the color of the heart chakra, and unconditional love. It is believed that wherever he was sitting, the color was changing to green.

All the stories around Khidr are so valuable and deserve to meditate on it to go deeper into its meanings. My favorite is the meeting of Khidr with Moses, as Moses wants to learn about the ‘knowledge’ of Khidr which has been given by God.

They both meet at the junction of the two seas, Khidr accepts Moses to follow him, whereas he warns him saying that all these actions are coming from God and cannot be understood all the time by the human mind, so Moses needs to keep his patience and not intervene otherwise, he cannot continue to be with Khidr.

They start their journey and pass together through many situations, seemingly unjust or inappropriate actions Khidr takes (sinking a ship, killing a young man, repaying inhospitality by repairing a wall), which as a result Moses cannot keep his promise and intervene many times during the journey, so Khidr says to Moses that the journey together comes to an end as he does not keep his promise and explains the circumstances unknown to Moses that made each of the actions just and/or appropriate.

Khidr’s guidance

In Sufi tradition, there is a belief that one needs a guide in the search for the Truth as the way is long and easy to get lost and for those who do not have a guide, Khidr is appearing to some people as a guide in their journey of love and searching the Truth.

Khidr is already guiding us with all these stories in this journey of knowing your own self, as we call life:

  • Life is a circle with its winters and summers, with grief and joy, there is a place for each again and again.
  • Khidr can reach me all the time if only I am humble enough to ask.
  • Life gives me what I need not what I ask, even though sometimes it is hard for me to understand with my mind.
  • If I become the servant of God with unconditional love, then maybe I can drink from the fountain of youth.

On the night of the 5th of May, it is the time of celebration as well as a new start. Spring is coming to the outer world, so to the inner world.

If you are the admirer of life than you will have this feeling of reverence to life. Today is the time to show that reverence resulted from wonder.

What you can do in Hıdırellez as a ritual?

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Here is my list to you from my own land, Turkey, how people are still celebrating this ceremony full of rituals:

  • Till the 5th of May, you can get prepared by cleaning your house and just keep the stuff in your home that they really need and that gives you joy, all those other stuff you can get rid of. It is time to make a change between winter and summer clothes.
  • You can hang fresh flowers and branches to your home door to greet Khidr and Elijah.
  • You can make a bonfire and dance around with your loved ones and jump above it for your wishes to come true.
  • Dance, sing, enjoy some nice food around the fire. If you can not make a bonfire, then with a candle, you can invite the protection and the purification of the fire element.
  • Tonight, purify yourself also with the water element, have a shower, bath, and meditate.
  • Feel what does it mean spring for your inside, what wants to blossom? Write down or draw or make a model of your wishes.
  • If you have rose in your garden, you can hang your wishes on the rose branches tonight for Khidr and Elijah finding it when they walk around in your garden tonight. Better if it is a solvable paper, so dews in the morning can just make it mix with nature. In the morning get those hanged on the rose branches and bury to soil or you can wake up early in the morning and throw your wishes to water if you are close to the sea.
  • You can collect morning dews to ferment your milk to have the first yogurt of the year.

Pray, celebrate, feel joy and love, look inside, look outside, feel gratitude and prepare a nice place in your life for Khidr to fill it, so that one becomes the servant of God while wondering around, one can become in love.

Happy Hıdırellez everybody.

Tell me in the comments if you celebrate it. If so, which are your rituals?