At the time of the full Harvest moon and a few days before the Autumn Equinox, whilst the energies of Lammas still swirled in the air, I stood on a beach near my home and held ceremony.
A solitary raven flew overhead and cronked in an inquisitive song at me.
This was an auspicious moment.
The intention for this ceremony had been brewing for a few weeks, and I’d like to say I had planned the timings but it was all coincidental and the main factor was a nice, sunny morning calling me to the beach and announcing that “now” was the time.
As I stood between tides and times, between sea and land and between earth and sky, I also stood at a transition point in my OneSpirit journey – halfway through my training as an Interfaith Minister. This ceremony was to mark that pivot point – giving thanks for all I had harvested over year 1 and declaring myself ready to cross the threshold into year 2.
It was a time of reflection and gratitude for the amazing, nourishing, soulful journey I had taken so far as part of Aspen class, the lessons I had learnt and skills developed as well as a reflection on the whole of my life’s journey that had brought me to this point.Â
It’s fitting that one of the major, personal gifts of year 1 that I expressed gratitude for, has been a developing love and gift for creating, crafting and holding ceremony, for others as part of my ministry but also purely for myself.
Ceremony in small ways as a means of recognising and marking the “Sacred ordinary” of my everyday life such as preparing a meal or lighting the fire.
Ceremony as a way of celebrating and honouring milestones in life such as moving from year 1 into year 2 and ceremony as part of the celebration of the turning seasons of our sacred Earth.
Another gift from year 1 has been my deepening relationship with the Earth, but in a particular way – this bit of Earth, this beach by my home. She is an integral part of my ministry and has held me through so much over this past year. She has witnessed and been the site of a lot of my ceremonies, she has heard my prayers, my laughter and my tears. She is the place of pilgrimage, of meditation and contemplation, being both my temple and the face of The Divine.
So, as I sit here sipping my cacao, shaking my ceremonial rattle and whispering prayers to the wind, I wonder what raven thinks!
Andrew Jones: Andrew lives on the ruggedly beautiful, northwest coast of Scotland with his partner Rich and their crazy cocker spaniel, Jynx. Together they run a coffee shop on the Isle of Skye. Andrew has had a varied career path encompassing training as a vet, a Biology teacher, a mindfulness teacher and now a minister! He is a lover of nature, poetry, beauty and finding The Sacred in all things. His soul heroes include Mary Oliver, Hafez, Mirabai Starr and that singing raven. You can find him on instagram here: @joneswildsoul.
