Rituals for Moving Out & In
What I mean by ritual…
I've been curious about the use of ritual in spirituality, healing, grieving, and all aspects of life over the past few years. Psychologist Dr. Jerry Ruhl defines ritual as powerful symbols that link aspects of our experience, or connect levels between the conscious and unconscious. The levels he describes within each of us are first the external aspects of our lives, which includes our day-to-day experiences and interactions. Then we move inside to our inner self where our thoughts abound. Beneath that, is the deeper experience that constitutes patterns in our lives that we may not even be aware of, almost as if an undercurrent driving our instincts and behavior. Finally, there is what he refers to as the greater, which he described as the depths of the universe nature, and our experience. He notes that access to it cannot be willed, but instead it is sacred and falls upon us. Therefore when Dr. Ruhl explains that the use of ritual can connect levels, he suggests that ritual can be used to access and witness our deeper experience and greater levels of our consciousness.
Ritual - powerful symbols that link aspects of our experience, or connect levels between the conscious and unconscious
- Dr. Jerry Ruhl
Dr. Ruhl added we may each have experienced “going through the motions” of rituals that we once held dear. He described those as symptoms, or rituals that have lost their meaning. Therefore the same actions to one person can be very meaningful and yet carried out by someone else, or even the same person at a different time, can feel hollow. It is often our experience with the ritual that ties it to our hearts. Not necessarily the action, but the consideration of it as sacred that fuels its meaning.
Sarah King, Quiana Larae, pictured at The Dreamer’s Retreat, 2018
The Assignment
Recently, my curiosity about ritual was sparked anew when I attended a talk from my friend Quiana Larae, a practitioner of rituals for healing and rest. As she shared about her experience creating and utilizing various rituals in daily practice, I was motivated to think through some ways to create some in my own life. Quiana taught that one way that ritual is often used is to mark transitions in our lives. When I heard her speak I was about to sell my house, move cities and into a new apartment, so this seemed like a great opportunity to experiment.
Ritual is often used is to mark transitions in our lives.
- Quiana Larae
Inspired by new pieces of wisdom from Quiana, I chose a few ways to mark the transition of one space and into another. Although I am by no means an expert, I decided to share the rtituals I chose with you in this post in case this sparks ideas for the use of ritual in your life. Whether you’re also making a move, welcoming a life change like a new baby, an ending of a relationship, or you desire to mark a new chapter at any point, I encourage you to seek out elements that can be meaningful to you.
A Ritual for Moving Out
As I was cleaning my house and getting ready to vacate, I decided to take a moment to write a thank you letter to my house. I lit a candle, laid on my empty bedroom floor, and wrote my feelings of gratitude. Over the five years that I lived there, this house sheltered me through some very pivotal moments in my life including a few serious storms, the first year and a half of a pandemic, relationship endings and beginnings, and career transitions, just to name a few.
In addition, I walked throughout the house lighting palo santo wood and letting the smoke release in the space. While I did this, I repeated, “Thank you. I release you.” I’m thankful for that time and the peace and freedom I felt in getting to both express my gratitude and say goodbye. Beforehand I had a massive headache from the stress of the move, cleaning, and trying to get so many last-minute things done. After practicing this ritual, I’m grateful that stress also released and I felt I was able to move through the rest of the day more peacefully.
If you are not familiar, learn more about Palo Santo here.
A Ritual for Moving In
After arriving in Miami, it was time to greet my new apartment. There are the steps I have done so far, and intend to do as a part of my ritual for moving in.
CLEANED! I always have cleaned spaces I’m moving into before moving in my furniture, but this time I incorporated it into my ritual and assigned it more meaning.
After I finished cleaning each room, I plugged in a diffuser filled with water, tea tree oil, and lemongrass oil to cleanse the air.
I once again burned palo santo and walked the space. This time I gave thanks for bringing me here, asked that old energies be cleared, and welcomed in abundance, peace, and joy into the space.
After I move my items into the space and can access my gardening tools, I’m planning on doing one final step. This idea is from Ivy Walls, founder of Ivy Leaf Farms in Houston. She suggests writing your intentions for something on a piece of paper, then burying it in soil alongside or under a plant. Then, when you water the soil, you are watering your vision and by drawing your attention and power to it. In this way, the soil can be a physical representation of your manifestation. I plan on writing my intentions for my life in this space as well as this season in Miami.
Next Steps
Friend, I hope this has been helpful to spark some ideas of your own. As I shared, I’m pretty new to this as well! I encourage you to learn from and support the work of those who have led these practices whether that is through the leaderships of indigenous peoples, elements and rituals from your own cultural or religious tradition, or by learning from others who have studied in-depth and made this a part of their daily practice like Quiana.