Grandfather Joseph Rael teaches us that ceremony begins as soon as you say “Yes” to it.  And I really become aware of that about a week or so before our gatherings occur, which they do on the first Saturday of every month.  I start to slow down.  I start to pay attention to what’s going on inside me, what’s going on in my environment.  I start to take a little more notice of what I eat, what I drink, how I move through my day.

And then, as time draws closer, especially on this last day, it really begins to wind up.  And the simple chores that we have to do, like putting an extra leaf in the table or taking out the plates and the silverware, getting the crockpot ready for the potluck after the ceremony, raking out the firepit, making sure that we have enough chairs…all those things that go into it, they tend to become more like prayers…

If you’d like to see more, please check out the latest episode of my podcast, “Putting it on the wind,” on YouTube: