Here, then, is another rule about the Soul: It is affected by symbol, ritual, and image. None of this has to be understood or registered intellectually; it is enough to experience the transition.
—Thomas Moore

“This is what rituals are for. We do spiritual ceremonies as human beings in order to create a safe resting place for our most complicated feelings of joy or trauma, so that we don't have to haul those feelings around with us forever, weighing us down. We all need such places of ritual safekeeping. And I do believe that if your culture or tradition doesn't have the specific ritual you are craving, then you are absolutely permitted to make up a ceremony of your own devising, fixing your own broken-down emotional systems with all the do-it-yourself resourcefulness of a generous plumber/poet.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert

Society has ceremonies for birth, marriage and death that we personalize to fit our beliefs and personalities. But what of the myriad other transitions: getting the first menstrual flow, divorce, the first day of school, entering retirement?

The soul understands ceremony. When we create meaningful ritual, no matter how simple, we invite our soul to step fully into what comes next. With ceremony we can help ourselves and our children and our many loved ones create pathways to easily move into their becoming. Be creative. Namaste.

Art by George Lawrence BULLEID