REIKI
THE MEDICINE WHEEL
The Medicine Wheel, sometimes known as the Sacred Hoop, has been used by generations of various tribes for health and healing. It embodies the four directions (East, South, West, and North), as well as Father Sky, Mother Earth, and Spirit Tree, all of which symbolize dimensions of health and the cycles of life.
Each of the Four Directions is typically represented by a distinctive colour, such as black, red, yellow, and white. The Directions can also represent stages of life, seasons of the year, aspects of life, elements of nature, animals and ceremonial plants.
To work with the medicine wheel is to work with the rhythms of our existence, the cycles of Mother Earth and all aspects of life. As we honour the natural cyclical nature of all life, we learn to move with the natural evolution of our own lives and the whole of humanity.
LITHA - SUMMER SOLSTICE CEREMONY
The Summer Solstice is a time to reflect on your personal transformation and the meaning of the season of light and growth. This is the time of the year when there is the most light available to us. In terms of consciousness, it is when we are the most present to ourselves and who we know ourselves to be as the Sun represents the light of all life and consciousness. Seeds are planted in the Earth as well as the seeds of our souls. It’s a time of renewal and abundance, of love and expansion, as the summer sun unfolds the leaves on the trees, so do our souls open to receive the light of source to illuminate that which is within each of us.
The solstice signifies the time when Mother Earth is at her fullest, she is her most fertile and abundant. We celebrate our strength through joining together, pollinating our awareness and sharing. And through creating ceremony, we celebrate and acknowledge the life force energy within us, to then give back some of the energy and blessings we are always receiving. Mother Earth is constantly providing for us, allowing us to grow and thrive, we take this time to remember the gift of being alive and the many blessings we receive.
During this 2 hour ceremony we sit together In circle, we share the stories of our ancestors and their traditions. We celebrate all that we are, and set our intention for the transformation and growth we are welcoming in, as we enter a new cycle. We come home to ourselves and take a journey inwards to remember, to call back all parts of ourselves. To see where we need more self-love, care and attention. As this season embodies the archetypal energies of the Mother, we are asked to look at where we are not Mothering ourselves.
MABON - AUTUMN EQUINOX CEREMONY
The Autumn equinox is when the harvest is winding down. Mabon is the mid-harvest festival and as the season once again changes we honour the second harvest, this is where there is a balance between light and dark and an equal serving of day and night. Whilst we celebrate the gifts of earth, we also celebrate the deterioration and decay of the colourful and vibrant abundance, experienced during the summer months.
With the warmth behind us, we now face cooler months ahead. As we move into the yin side of the year, which also represents the feminine. This is a time for deep introspection and integration of all that has manifested during the lighter months.
This is a time to celebrate balance and reflection and also welcomes the aspects or parts of our consciousness, that we may not always feel comforting or appealing, but what we must always be willing to acknowledge and see. As we learn to shed parts of ourselves through understanding, we create more space for ourselves to express and expand into.
During this 2 hour ceremony we sit together in circle, we share the stories of our ancestors and their traditions. We celebrate the growth and abundance we’ve created for ourselves during the summer months. We reflect on where we need to integrate what we’ve learnt during the previous cycle, the parts of ourselves that we are ready to shed, to call in more expansion. We help ourselves to transition into the stillness, the deep portal of rest and reflection that is upon us. We get clear on where we need to create more space and balance within our own lives, to welcome the equal parts of ourselves that are not just light but dark as well.
SAMHAIN - HALLOWEEN CEREMONY
At Samhain we honour, celebrate and welcome the descent into, and return of, the dark - the beginning of the New Year, acknowledging that all beginnings emerge from darkness. Meaning "Summer's End" this is a celebration of the end of the harvest and the start of the coldest half of the year. For many Samhain is also the beginning of the spiritual new year.
Samhain's long association with death and the Dead reflects Nature's rhythms. In many places, Samhain coincides with the end of the growing season. Vegetation dies back with killing frosts, and therefore, literally, death is in the air. This contributes to the ancient notion that at Samhain, the veil is thin between the world of the living and the realm of the Dead and this facilitates contact and communication.
During this 2 hour ceremony we sit in circle to honour and call upon the divine in one or more sacred forms, to help us remember our connection to all life, our ancestors and lineage. The archetypal energy for this ceremony is the Crone which many closely associate with the witch and wise woman. As we come together we remember the innate power that’s held within each of us and re-connect with the deepest part of our intuition and knowing.
YULE - WINTER SOLSTICE CEREMONY
Sensual, playful, lustful, values pleasure and exploration, holds much importance on sexual relationship. She holds the relationship to our bodies, our relationship to love. Self-love, love of family, love of children, love of other, love and connection to all things in our life. Our deepest truths around relationship, connection and intimacy to another. She is a true exploration of the heart, not just to give love but also receive love. She opens us up to a way of being that’s more embodied, that softens, that flows and moves intuitively. We start to make love to the whole of our world. In such a linear and logical world to embody this archetype is crucial to our health and well-being. She takes us from the mental realm into our bodies, our wombs and our hearts. She knows connection, passion, intimacy and how to be in relationship to herself and others.