Ritual: Dissolution of Symbolism
Yesterday before I left for work my brother said he had a question. I knew it was going to be an interesting one, everyone has their "tell" when they're being cautious about their word choices. He said he stumbled across his wedding ring and wanted to know if I knew any rituals that would cleanse it.
At first I said I wouldn't need a ritual, that I would just Reiki it all day at the salon between clients. However when I started the energy through the ring there was that white noise I feel when I'm not doing something right. Apparently a ritual was going to be necessary. I placed the ring in a bag of rose petals that I serendipitously left in my work bag and let it soak up that energy while I was working.
I managed to find some alone time at work to start writing up a ritual. I had no idea what I was doing, and with the limited resources of Google I couldn't find any precedent as to how you remove all negative memories from a ring. So I had to think about why the ring had bad mojo. Of course the divorce has played it's part, but having just gotten done writing up a review of my sobriety oath I felt a different train of thought. My brother had really been blind-sighted by how fast the marriage started to fray after rehab. He came out perfectly clean and ready to take on the world, but his wife didn't want to let him get over it. As soon as they separated we found out - via facebook of course - that she already had been talking to another guy. For me, that was the main source of all the anger: the vows had been broken and my brother was on the receiving end of all the negativity.
So I knew we first had to call Helios and address the situation of this broken oath. We had to make it very clear that we were not dissolving the oath, because it had already been broken. We were there to formally declare the oath had been broken and that we were reversing the flow of the negativity. Tourmaline and Quartz would do the job well - tourmaline alone will turn any bad energy directed at you into good energy, but when paired with quartz it will not only strengthen you but direct the bad energy BACK at the the person who sent it. Thankfully I just acquired a smokey quartz skull with tourmaline veins as a gift from a friend.
Also we were going to need some major purification going on. I have a small selenite tower with the tip just tall enough for the ring to rest on, but I needed something more. My brother needed to have an active part in the purification process, I was only there to facilitate. So, taking from Druidy 101 (chuckle) I had him prepare a bowl of salt, a bowl of water, and a stick of incense. I will say that recently incense has started to actually purify things for me. I never used to feel much with it, but I'm glad it's starting to "work" for me now.
Other than that, we had a pyrite stone for helios, an offering of Schlivo (Serbian brandy made from plums - very strong) for Helios, and other various crystals for grounding. The ritual was very brief, but effective.
[pass ring through incense and place around pyrite stone. place offering to helios on table]
"Helios! We have come today to announce the end of a sacred oath. Broken not by those gathered here, we aim the recourse where it is due!"
[send energy to quartz and tourmaline skull to activate its reflective properties - done by me]
"Helios! We are not the oath breakers, this sacred oath has been torn short by another. We gather here today to remove the miasma from this man and his symbol of the oath. Sever the frays of the oath from this ring, and purify it's image from all reflections!"
[place ring on selenite and hold hand over ring]
"This ring was oathed as a sign of union, but today we dissolve this image. Originally sworn in the presence of the God of Ambraham, the Prophet Jesus Christ, and Mary Magdalene the Holy Spirit. Holy Trinity of Jerusalem we remove your ties to this ring for it no longer bears the symbol of a union!"
[pass ring through salt]
"Purified by the earth that brought these metals into the world, we purify the physical form of the ring"
[pass ring through water]
"Purified by the waters of life, we remove the reflective emotional energies from this ring"
[pass ring through incense]
"Purified by the creative forces of the sky above, we remove all spiritual bonds in this ring to make room for new energy! Purified by land, sea, and sky, this ring moves forward and becomes part of the cycle of life. May this ring forever bear the symbol that life is a constant cycle of death and rebirth, of old becoming new, and the releasing of the past to make room for blessings of the future. ESTO!"
After that I had him meditate with the skull while I poured out the water and salt. I sang "We are a circle" a few times, and when I was done we started drumming on the table and sang the song three more times. We talked about a lot of personal stuff and he said he really feels the ring vibrate with a different kind of energy and that it doesn't remind him of the divorce and bad memories. Will this last? I don't know, this ritual was pretty much pulled out of thin air. But what I do know is that he feels better for right now and is ready to move on with his life. That, to me, is what magic and ritual are all about.
Love,
Anthony
At first I said I wouldn't need a ritual, that I would just Reiki it all day at the salon between clients. However when I started the energy through the ring there was that white noise I feel when I'm not doing something right. Apparently a ritual was going to be necessary. I placed the ring in a bag of rose petals that I serendipitously left in my work bag and let it soak up that energy while I was working.
I managed to find some alone time at work to start writing up a ritual. I had no idea what I was doing, and with the limited resources of Google I couldn't find any precedent as to how you remove all negative memories from a ring. So I had to think about why the ring had bad mojo. Of course the divorce has played it's part, but having just gotten done writing up a review of my sobriety oath I felt a different train of thought. My brother had really been blind-sighted by how fast the marriage started to fray after rehab. He came out perfectly clean and ready to take on the world, but his wife didn't want to let him get over it. As soon as they separated we found out - via facebook of course - that she already had been talking to another guy. For me, that was the main source of all the anger: the vows had been broken and my brother was on the receiving end of all the negativity.
So I knew we first had to call Helios and address the situation of this broken oath. We had to make it very clear that we were not dissolving the oath, because it had already been broken. We were there to formally declare the oath had been broken and that we were reversing the flow of the negativity. Tourmaline and Quartz would do the job well - tourmaline alone will turn any bad energy directed at you into good energy, but when paired with quartz it will not only strengthen you but direct the bad energy BACK at the the person who sent it. Thankfully I just acquired a smokey quartz skull with tourmaline veins as a gift from a friend.
Also we were going to need some major purification going on. I have a small selenite tower with the tip just tall enough for the ring to rest on, but I needed something more. My brother needed to have an active part in the purification process, I was only there to facilitate. So, taking from Druidy 101 (chuckle) I had him prepare a bowl of salt, a bowl of water, and a stick of incense. I will say that recently incense has started to actually purify things for me. I never used to feel much with it, but I'm glad it's starting to "work" for me now.
Other than that, we had a pyrite stone for helios, an offering of Schlivo (Serbian brandy made from plums - very strong) for Helios, and other various crystals for grounding. The ritual was very brief, but effective.
[pass ring through incense and place around pyrite stone. place offering to helios on table]
"Helios! We have come today to announce the end of a sacred oath. Broken not by those gathered here, we aim the recourse where it is due!"
[send energy to quartz and tourmaline skull to activate its reflective properties - done by me]
"Helios! We are not the oath breakers, this sacred oath has been torn short by another. We gather here today to remove the miasma from this man and his symbol of the oath. Sever the frays of the oath from this ring, and purify it's image from all reflections!"
[place ring on selenite and hold hand over ring]
"This ring was oathed as a sign of union, but today we dissolve this image. Originally sworn in the presence of the God of Ambraham, the Prophet Jesus Christ, and Mary Magdalene the Holy Spirit. Holy Trinity of Jerusalem we remove your ties to this ring for it no longer bears the symbol of a union!"
[pass ring through salt]
"Purified by the earth that brought these metals into the world, we purify the physical form of the ring"
[pass ring through water]
"Purified by the waters of life, we remove the reflective emotional energies from this ring"
[pass ring through incense]
"Purified by the creative forces of the sky above, we remove all spiritual bonds in this ring to make room for new energy! Purified by land, sea, and sky, this ring moves forward and becomes part of the cycle of life. May this ring forever bear the symbol that life is a constant cycle of death and rebirth, of old becoming new, and the releasing of the past to make room for blessings of the future. ESTO!"
After that I had him meditate with the skull while I poured out the water and salt. I sang "We are a circle" a few times, and when I was done we started drumming on the table and sang the song three more times. We talked about a lot of personal stuff and he said he really feels the ring vibrate with a different kind of energy and that it doesn't remind him of the divorce and bad memories. Will this last? I don't know, this ritual was pretty much pulled out of thin air. But what I do know is that he feels better for right now and is ready to move on with his life. That, to me, is what magic and ritual are all about.
Love,
Anthony