Custom Ceremonies
A Custom Ceremony Provides Celebration, Healing, Growth, or Inspiration
I create a variety of custom ceremonies for meaningful celebrations of life events. Ceremonies can be for things like weddings, engagements, coming of age for teens, celebration of life, etc. and can be just for you individually, or for a group of just about any size. It can also be done at an event or in your home.
I’ll consult with you to customize a ceremony for any of these occasions, or other life events you may want to celebrate in a meaningful and spiritual way.
Each ceremony is customized based on our discussion and my understanding of what’s important to you and what you’d like to get out of having it. Among other things, ceremonies also typically include things like smudging, making prayer flags or prayer ties, or other group activities, and generally involve all participants in a meaningful ceremonial process.
Please contact me here to discuss creating a custom ceremony.
Here’s information on some common ceremony activities
Smudging
Smudging is mainly about cleansing and purifying. It helps to remove negative energy from a room, object or person, and people typically notice an improvement in the feel of energy after using it.
Smudging is typically done with sage, either in the form of a smudge stick or leaves of sage in a shell, small plate, or other appropriate container. It’s lit on fire (the flames only last for a short time) and then the smoke from the smoldering sage is fanned with a feather to surround and permeate the room, person, or whatever object you may be smudging. Cedar and sweetgrass are also commonly used for smudging.
It’s usually done in a ceremonial fashion, declaring your intentions either verbally or internally as the sage takes away the negative energy. Smudging is a good thing to do when:
- You move into a new home
- You just want to relax and move to a calmer space
- You want to cleanse the energy from a particular place or object
- You feel anxious, depressed, or just need to re-center yourself
- Any other time you feel it will help
Prayer ties
Prayer ties are a traditional offering imbued with your specific intentions. Each tie contains a pinch of sacred tobacco, which is tied in cloth and used to convey your wishes, prayers, intentions, or appreciation. Making prayer ties is a meaningful way to prepare for a sweat lodge, ceremony, vision quest, or even just to offer your intentions to your Creator. They’re typically made when someone is ill, for honoring your ancestors or your elders, for youth ceremonies, to honor a friendship, for protection, or for a celebration of someone’s life. You can also make them for your own personal intentions.
Prayer ties come in all sizes, but are typically small bundles on a length of string. Larger bundles are sometimes called prayer flags. Both are often made with red cotton cloth (or other natural fibers), but they can be any color you want, depending on the circumstances or your personal desire. For instance, if you’re making them to honor someone’s life whose favorite color was yellow, then that would be an appropriate color to choose.
Once they’re done, the prayer ties can be offered in a fire, hung from the branches of a tree, placed in a stream, buried in the earth, or placed anywhere their energy and intentions can be carried away by either wind, water, or fire. You can also take them home and place them in a visible site so you can be reminded of the intentions every time you look at them. Prayer ties are a sacred item, so whatever you do with them always remember to treat your prayer ties with honor and respect.