Honoring Endings: A Ritual
Dearest readers,
As we’re nearing the Equinox, I wanted to pause in my ancestral healing series to honor this change of seasons that illuminates our perception of Time.
One thing my guides have taught me is that Time is the ongoing cycle between beginning and end. But beginnings and endings can overlap and become indistinguishable. Beginnings are often endings, and endings are often beginnings.
So the Universe has given us constructs, or frameworks, to have the perception of duration. The seasons of the year is one such framework, or the lunar cycle. Another one we utilize frequently is the cycle of input, metabolize, and output/eliminate. This cycle is most obvious in digestion, but, really, we utilize it in some way for just about every experience we have.
We input an experience, then we metabolize it by making meaning of it, or learning from it, or otherwise nourishing ourselves from it. But then we have a tendency to jump right into the next input part of the cycle. We tend to rush through the eliminating part. Realistically, for most of us anyway, pooping is less fun than eating. Creating is generally more enjoyable than saying goodbye.
Endings are hard.
But when we rush towards the next input we risk having a backlog of unfinished business in our lives. By taking the time to honor the end, by allowing--at least for a moment--those spaces to go unfilled with the next input, we can come to completion with the cycle.
In this way, we can move into the new thing--the next input--from a place of wholeness.
And, in my opinion, coming from wholeness is a great way to begin anything.
In this spirit, I’m offering below one of my favorite rituals for honoring endings. Please feel welcome to use this to help relate with any ending you might be experiencing (including the end of Summer or Winter).
Blessings and love to all of you! 💖💖
P.S. We have still room for you in my year-long ancestral healing class beginning October 1. Simply upgrade to paid subscriber and you’re in! For more info, visit this post:
Jenna,
I am enchanted by your tying the seasons and 'endings' with the cyclical nature of metabolism. It fulfills the image of an arc, that before a next breath/meal/mouthful, there must needs be an exhale/elimination/swallow.
This is so good. It reminds me of “The Action Cycle” in psychology. You always end with celebration and rest. I love that. Something we desperately need in our society.