With Yule and Christmas here in the UK being just a few days away, energies are running high! It is a busy time of the year and very often, we feel that we don’t get a moment to breathe. There is so much to do and not always a lot of time to do it, which can lead to feeling stressful, inadequate and quite frankly, disorganised.
So, for this ritual, we thought we’d focus on bringing some gratitude into our lives, even in challenging times. Being aware of the things that are important to you, the things that make you smile, no matter how small they may seem. The nice thing about this ritual is that it can be worked at any time of the year, no matter where you are in the world.
You will need:
A glass jar with a screw lid
Items to decorate your jar with – that can be stickers, paint, glass pens, dried flowers or anything else that you can think of. Go with your intuition – make it as simple or as detailed as you would like.
Glue needed for sticking.
Strips of paper
Pens for writing.
Tealight - optional
You may also want to add crystals, flowers or herbs to your intent for gratitude.
Suggestions for crystals:
Amethyst – releasing worry
Rose Quartz – love and harmony
Sunstone/Carnelian - happiness and warmth
Suggestions for herbs or flowers:
Rose Petals – love,
Bay – healing
Chamomile – relieve stress
Lavender – restfulness
We will connect to our sacred space, our energies linked and entwined. Spend a moment to focus on our friendships and community here... And when you are ready, make yourself comfortable and take 3 deep breaths in... and release slowly out...
Standing or sitting, with both hands on your heart and say, "From my heart”, stretching both hands into the air, say "To the sky”.
Putting both hands on or facing down to the earth, as close to it as you can get, say "To the land”.
Putting both hands on your heart, say "To my heart”.
Leaving both hands on your heart, say "From my heart”, reaching out your right hand, "To all points on the compass".
Reach out your left hand and place your right hand on your heart and say, "To all directions”.
Putting both hands on your heart, say "To my heart”
They are the barren fields, the abundant fields,
The moors, forests and mountains
The rocks and stones, chalky cliffs and soft sands
They are the lands beneath our feet
Spirits of the Lands, we invite you to our ritual. Lend us your energies, your stability, wisdom and grounding. Landvaettir – we welcome you!
We are now going to make our gratitude jar.
Take your jar in both hands, close your eyes for a moment and think of one thing that you feel gratitude for. It may be your family, friendships, your job, home, warmth or anything else.
Keep that in mind when you are decorating your jar. If you’d like to draw or paint words on your jar, you can do that too! When you have decorated your jar how you wish, let us know. You may want to finish your decorating after the ritual if you don’t have enough time now.
Take your slip of paper and write your gratitude word on your paper, fold it in half and hold it in your hands as you did for the jar. Focus on that word and when you feel ready, put the slip into the jar. This can be added to each day or when you feel that there is something else that you would like to add. It’s almost a way of feeding your jar, adding positive energy to it.
There are many variations on a gratitude jar – you may wish to just add a tealight candle to the inside, light it and focus on the flame, think of what you are thankful for.
You can also start a gratitude journal, decorating a simple notebook and adding your words to the pages.
Either of these things can be sat on your altar for as long as you need them to. You may find your jar fills quickly or it might take a bit longer. When things are feeling a bit ‘off’ - open your jar and read some of the things that you have written.
We’d love to see your decorated jars so please post them on our facebook page or on our forum in the comments on the ritual thread. Or add them to your online forum journals if you are a student
Time to feast and drink! What is your favourite food and drink?
We will now disconnect our sacred space
Landvaettir – Spirits of the Lands! Thank you for lending us your energies at our ritual today. We bid you farewell!
Standing or sitting, with both hands on your heart and say, “From my heart, stretching both hands into the air, say “To the sky”.
Putting both hands on or facing down to the earth, as close as you can get, say “To the Land”.
Putting both hands on your heart, say “To my heart”.
Leaving both hands on your heart, say “From my heart”, reaching out your right hand, say “From all points of the compass”.
Reach out your left hand and place your right hand on your heart and say, “From all directions”.
Both hands on your heart, say “To my heart, thank you”.
Replay of our online ritual can be found here