Gathering, or alone, ceremonies hold great power.
Ceremonies are one of the oldest ways we connect.
It doesn’t matter which culture, which era, which religion or beliefs, your gender, your preferences, or anything external. Ceremonies can be performed by a leader to bring you through a special moment.
A ceremony is a larger, more formal event that marks a specific occasion, transition, or communal moment. Ceremonies often contain multiple rituals within them.
Usually collective or public
Marks a beginning, ending, or rite of passage
Can be led by a facilitator or guide
Designed to create shared transformation or celebration
Examples:
A full moon ceremony
Weddings, funerals, initiations
A cacao or plant medicine ceremony
Graduation or initiation rites
Think of ceremonies as containers — structured experiences that hold a collective or symbolic purpose
Creating your own ceremony
There are many elements and steps you need to create your own ceremony
1. Opening the Space (Grounding & Protection)
Set the tone, shift the energy, and clearly mark the beginning—you want the Spirits to know you’re starting
Cleanse the space (smoke, sound, water, clean your feet, clean your hands, etc.)
Call in the directions, elements, or spirit allies (see this page to follow along)
Set energetic boundaries. Example: I only allow the highest beings in this space to come through* this is very important
Ground the group with breath, meditation, or sound (see this page for more examples)
Purpose: Create sacred space and a sense of safety.
2. Intention Setting
Guide your group inward to reflect on what they want to release, receive, or call in.
Invite journaling, sharing, or silent contemplation
Offer prompts: “What are you ready to let go of?” “What do you want to embody?”
Purpose: Anchor the ceremony in meaning and personal transformation.
3. Opening Invocation
Speak a prayer, blessing, or invocation aloud—this could be poetic or channeled in the moment.
Use your voice to shift the frequency
Speak to the energies you're invoking (goddess, ancestors, moon, heart, etc.)
Purpose: Call in higher guidance and spiritual support.
4. Main Ritual / Experience
This is the core of your ceremony—where transformation happens. There are different types for different energies you want to work with. Keep in mind the time of year, which zodiac the moon is in, and what you want the group to go through
Pick 1 or 2 that fit well together.
🐉Embodiment & Somatic Rituals
Ecstatic dance or free-form movement
Shaking practice (trauma release/expression)
Breathwork to release (learn this in depth here)
Mirror work (eye gazing with self)
Sacred sensuality or womb connection rituals
Walking meditation (in nature or a spiral)
Yin/restorative yoga or intuitive stretching
❤️🔥 Release & Purification
Great for full moons, endings, or deep letting go.
Fire ceremony: write and burn what you’re releasing (watch a ceremony example here)
Cord-cutting ritual: visualize or act out cutting energetic ties (this book is a great read)
Salt or herbal cleansing bath (group foot bath)
Scream circle (into a pillow, or out in nature)
Tear invocation (calling in emotional release with music or silence)
🪽 Connection & Devotion
For deepening relationship with the divine, the heart, or others.
Cacao or tea ceremony
Chanting / mantras (individual or group call-and-response)(you can use ones you find, or you can channel)
Prayer circle or altar offering (again pre-recorded prayers or channelled ones)
Touch rituals (with consent: hand-holding, heart-to-heart)
Heart-sharing circle with timed shares
🪶 Energetic & Mystical Journeys
More internal and spiritual — great for guided meditations or altered states.
Guided visualization/journeying (inner child, higher self, past life)
Breathwork journey (conscious connected breath)(again, learn more here)
Shamanic drumming journey
Light language or energy transmission
Plant spirit connection (mugwort, rose, blue lotus, etc.)
🧚🏻♀️ Creativity & Expression
Helps unlock expression, joy, or deep truth through art.
Art ritual: paint, draw, or sculpt emotions
Write a letter to your past/future self
Create a group mandala or earth altar
Voice activation: toning, singing, sounding
Sacred theater or roleplay (acting out parts of self or archetypes)
🗡️ Ancestral & Collective Healing
When the work extends beyond the personal into the lineage or wider web.
Ancestral honoring (altar, stories, objects)
Grief ritual (weeping bowl, mourning cloth, lamenting song)
Forgiveness ritual (letters, spoken word, water cleansing)
Drumming or rattling for the ancestors
Collective weaving (thread/cord tied between people or intentions)
Some other Ideas
Oracle or tarot journey (group pulls, storytelling)
Elemental walk (connect with fire, water, earth, air through stations)
Initiation ritual (marking a life change or rite of passage)
Sound bath or vibrational healing (learn more in depth here)
Purpose: Move energy, create release, open new pathways.
5. Expression / Integration
Let people process what came up during the main event.
Journaling, drawing, or oracle card pulling
Gentle movement, sharing circle (if safe), or silence
Reflection: “What shifted?” “What are you taking with you?”
Purpose: Ground and give meaning to the experience.
6. Closing the Space
Bring closure to the container you opened.
Thank the energies, elements, or guides
Close the directions or circle (I thank you ___ for coming, I now close the circle. I say it to every Spirit I called, and at the end I say: the circle is now closed x3 or more if I feel not grounded enough)
Offer gratitude and grounding (touch the earth, drink water, have some snacks, etc.)
Purpose: Restore energetic boundaries and honor the journey.
7. Integration Tool or Takeaway
Give participants something tangible to continue the work.
Journal prompts or audio meditation
Crystal, plant, or mantra
Follow-up support or community invite (I have a WhatsApp group for classes as well where students who come to my in person ones can share inside)
Purpose: Keep the transformation alive beyond the ceremony.
🌀An Example: Full Moon Ceremony
Cleanse space, call in directions (read more about that here)
Group breathwork & grounding
Set intentions for release
Write what you’re letting go & burn it
Cacao or heart-opening meditation
Journaling + sharing
Thank spirit, close the space
Gift a mantra for the moon cycle
You can watch/join this full moon ceremony to see different elements at work
The ancient history of ceremony
Since the dawn of time, humans have gathered in circle, around fire, beneath stars and sacred trees—to honour life, death, love, loss, the Earth, and the divine.
Ceremony is not new. It’s not a trend. It is the oldest technology we have for transformation, healing, and belonging.
I’ve taken the liberty to search for different ancient cultures and their ceremonial beliefs so you could a) perhaps get ideas and b) connect back to the ancients.
This website also breaks it down the basics really easily.
Africa – Rites of Passage, Ancestral Connection
In many Indigenous African traditions, ceremony marks the sacred transitions of life: birth, puberty, marriage, death.
Tribes like the Yoruba, Dagara, and Zulu use drumming, dance, chanting, and elements (water, ash, herbs) to invoke spirits, ancestors, and natural forces.
Ancestral veneration is central: the dead are not gone. They are part of the community, honoured through food offerings, fire, and story. Which also makes a lot of sense for those of you who can see, hear and feel spirits of your ancestors or others.
The Dagara people of Burkina Faso believe ceremony brings the spiritual and physical worlds into harmony.
“In African cosmology, when we forget ceremony, we forget who we are.”
Indigenous North & South America – Earth-Based Ceremony (my favourite)
Native peoples across the Americas have deep ceremonial traditions rooted in earth connection, vision, and reciprocity.
The Lakota hold sweat lodge (Inipi) and vision quests (Hanbleceya) to cleanse, purify, and receive guidance.
The Q’ero people of the Andes (Peru) offer despacho ceremonies — intricate offerings to Pachamama (Mother Earth), made from flowers, seeds, sugar, and prayers.
In the Amazon, plant medicine ceremonies (like with ayahuasca) are led by trained shamans to commune with spirits, heal the soul, and restore balance. (ps—you should not be going to do ayahuasca 12 times a year, don’t let the peer pressure fool you)
These ceremonies remind us that we are nature—not separate from it.
Celtic & European Traditions – Seasonal Ceremonies & Goddess Worship
Ancient Celtic peoples honoured the wheel of the year, seasonal festivals marking the rhythm of the Earth.
Samhain, Beltane, Imbolc, Lughnasadh: fire festivals honoring death, rebirth, fertility, harvest
Goddess-based ceremonies were common—Brigid, Danu, Cerridwen—connected to the land, water, and the sacred womb
Stone circles like Stonehenge were aligned to solstices—used for ritual gatherings and astronomical ceremonies (perhaps even portals, and you can see theoreticals and my very weird theories there)
“The land itself was the altar. Ceremony was how we stayed in right relationship with the unseen world.”
Ancient India – Mantra, Devotion, and Cosmic Ceremony
In Vedic and Hindu traditions, ceremony is a path to the divine — not through doctrine, but through devotion (bhakti)and ritual (puja).
Yajna (fire ceremonies) offer ghee, flowers, and herbs to Agni (fire) as a bridge between human and divine realms
Navaratri, Holi, and Diwali are seasonal ceremonies celebrating the Divine Feminine, light, and renewal
Sacred sound — mantra, chanting, singing — is a core part of the ceremony, activating divine presence in form and voice
The body is seen as sacred. The breath, the offering. Yogi’s also believe that we are born with a certain amount of breaths not time: the slower we breathe, the longer we live. If you want to learn more about controlling your breath, you can do so with one of our collabs.
Ancient Egypt – Temple Ritual & Sacred Feminine Initiation (my other fav)
The Egyptians had a highly advanced ceremonial system—temple rites connected to gods and goddesses like Isis, Hathor, Thoth, and Osiris.
Initiates would undergo long periods of spiritual training and purification before partaking in temple ceremonies
Womb and heart-centered rituals were part of priestess traditions, invoking resurrection, divine union, and the cycles of life
Ceremonial practices included sound healing (sistrums), anointing oils, and offerings of food, gold, flowers, and incense
“Ceremony was the bridge between the human and divine—the temple of the body and the cosmos.”
Polynesia, Hawaii, & Oceania – Ceremony as Community Healing
Ceremonial practice in these cultures is deeply woven into land, lineage, and song.
In Hawai’i, Ho’oponopono is a forgiveness and reconciliation ritual done within families or communities to restore harmony
Hula is not just dance — it is sacred storytelling, often performed during ceremonial rites
Offerings of flowers, chant, and food are made to the land and sea, acknowledging spirit in all things
These ceremonies teach that healing is not individual, it’s relational.
Why does ceremony matter now?
I think the answer is quite obvious but, when we hold ceremony, we’re tapping into something ancient. We’re reawakening that thing inside our bones that remembers.
We are part of a long, unbroken lineage of people who have used ritual, rhythm, and reverence to:
Honor what’s sacred
Navigate change
Heal wounds
Celebrate life
Connect to something greater
We don’t need to replicate these cultures or do exactly what they did in the past(the stars have shifted anyway so we need to learn what to do now) but we can learn from their spirit, their intention, their depth. And from that place, create ceremony that feels alive, respectful, and real for our time.