Are you a lover of the sacred spaces, a pilgrim of the inner sanctuaries, a wisdom keeper of the magic of the everyday? Do you ever feel pulled toward witchy worlds and ritual roars, and at the same time feel a little cynical and a whole lot skeptical about all things mystical? Are you sometimes jaded and unimpressed with the occult, while loving that feeling of being immersed in ceremonies and rituals, practicing herbalism, reading tarot, and studying astrology?
Feeling conflicted, entertaining contradictions, and engaging in dichotomy instead of trying to resolve it, is not the easy route to take, but it can lead us to a deep well of inner resources. Things don’t always add up or make sense or align, and the soil of paradox can be super fertile, nourishing growth with composting complexities.
There was a distinct moment for me when I released the pressure to choose between the jaded, cynical self and the full on witch. I was on a walk with my dad in Tel-Aviv. My oldest daughter, Kesem, was home with my mom. My son, Shefa was a baby and he was in the carrier. And I was telling my dad about the moon rituals I was putting together, sharing thoughts about the archetypes of the zodiac, and trying to make sense of how I love it even though I don’t believe in it.
We walked under big, beautiful trees. Tel-Aviv is shaded with giant, gorgeous Ficus trees giving refuge on hot Summer days. Not native trees in origin. And yet an integral part of the urban landscape now. I sipped on coffee. We can spin the meaning of indigenous in different directions. Trees. People. Animals. The story of life is a story of location and migration. Nature and culture both.
When it comes to that land, the conversation of indigenousness is multilayered and full of bends, turns, and nuance. The holy and sacred sentiment for humans and traditions on that soil makes the story tangled, twisted, and troubled. But I digress.
“Do you actually believe in astrology?” My dad asked. I paused. And then I said; “No. But I love the stories! I love the relationship with the archetypes and the seasons, and the connection that we can make to ourselves and to each other through these concepts. I don’t need to believe in it for it to be meaningful for me.”
That moment was profound.
Questioning is healthy. Tension and contradiction have a charge to them. And that charge can be a creative spark that keeps things alive.
I do sacred work. I lead ceremonies. I guide transformation. I’m a witch, a priestess. I invoke goddesses. And I am secular. An atheist. I don’t have a faith based relationship with things.
Israel, where I was born and raised, the land that is so holy for many, has made me anti-religion. The conflict, the hatred, and the fight over who is indigenous and who has the right, and who is right and who is wrong… I’ve seen with my own eyes the danger and toxicity of fundamentalism, which festers within all faiths. I’ve experienced within my own flesh, living in that environment, the rigidity of mind that rages through the righteousness of religion.
So why am I so pulled toward sacred teachings and magical work and ritual and ceremony?
When I allow myself to embrace the tension, to hold the paradox with respect, and to dance with the ambiguity, to say “yes, and…” the pressure falls off. No need for an answer. I am free to live in MAGIC. But it’s never without doubt, skepticism, and a little edge.
Perhaps that is what makes it so interesting, fresh, and alive for me. I show up to the work with a question, not looking for an answer. I look for doors to open in ceremony, not for something to provide me with a solution or a clear outcome.
Being a ceremony facilitator who does not interact with the work through belief might be unconventional.
I’ve been leading seasonal Somatic Ceremonies for way over a decade now. I call it Somatic Ceremony because we use the body as the main magical tool, and work with the elements through embodied practices, through movement, breathwork, mudras (hand gestures), and mantras. This work is transformative and creative and it unleashes our wildness while also helping us cultivate ways to refine ourselves, redefine who we are, and collaborate thoughtfully and considerately with other forces (people, plants, planets, spirits, ideas, archetypes, art pieces, or anything you can think of)
The psychology of ceremony, of divination, of alchemy is powerful. That conversation with my dad helped me clarify for myself that I don’t need to be clear. Oxymorons are everywhere. We don’t need to have a faith based relationship with anything. But we can have a meaningful exploration, a deepening of understanding of ourselves, of each other, and of the greater world through archetypes and ritual.
The word Shraddha in Sanskrit translates as “Faith.” When you break the word down it literally means; “where you place your heart.”
What are you interested in? What are you dedicated to? What do you feel passionate about? What do you desire? What are you invested in? What do you feel strongly about? Where does your attention go?
Where you place your heart, your mind, your attention, your intention, matters. Not only in terms of what you get in return for your dedication and care, but what you experience through your own generosity.
I am thinking of the way that Sophie Strand describes Dionysus in her book The Flowering Wand, as someone not in quest of the Holy Grail, but rather holding it, and it is overflowing with wine, with ecstasy, with bliss.
Ritual is a space where making an offering to something greater than ourselves (and you can call it whatever you wanna call it; The Universe, nature, the cosmos, god, goddess, your mother, whatever) is necessary.
Ceremony is an opportunity to call in what we want, and also to share what we already have. It’s a liminal moment that allows us to reflect, to release, to receive, and to renew ourselves and our relationship with life. It celebrates a desire, an intention, a quality, and enlivens it. Ceremony enchants our vision of the world and reminds us of the magic we can access with every breath. It re-energizes your cells and ushers you into a process of carving new pathways.
If we look at human history and at what we can gather from prehistoric times, we can see that it’s relatively recently that humans lost their connection with the natural world, and with ritual as a way to honor and collaborate with the forces of nature. Humans viewed the world as animate for the majority of their existence. Ceremony was (and still is for many indigenous tribes) an inseparable part of society’s function, and an integral part of maintaining reciprocal relationships with the environment. (check out The Emerald podcast to explore this in depth)
There are things that we know now that we couldn’t know before. And there are great gifts to modern understandings of certain concepts. But we’ve also lost a lot of knowledge, and disconnected from the wisdom that breathes through creatures that understand that they are a part of an ecosystem, not in control of it.
Rituals can help us re-establish reciprocity, integrate more pieces, enchant reality, and weave together ancient and new, sacred and secular sentiments, nature and culture.
Ceremonial work can mean different things to different people at different times. But it is almost always an invitation to initiate transformation. It’s the beginning of something, which means something needs to end. It’s a doorway.
At this juncture in the season, I can feel the potent pulse of an ending and the threshold of a new beginning. The throb of death and rebirth is palpable as we come close to the Winter Solstice.
The light is fading here in the Northern Hemisphere. Darkness wraps itself around the land. Many species prepare for hibernation. There’s a pause, a softness, and a call to rest and reset the energy.
This time of year begs for ceremony.
For years I tried to resist the consumerist rituals of the season in the modern day and age, as well as the busy busy busy go go go go push push push culture, that is so prominent during this time of year. But I have two kids, and the consumerist busy mom thing caught up with me. Sigh.
How I find solace is by establishing a more Wintery rhythm on the Solstice, turning in with the messages of nature, moving my body in ways that help my spirit create something of value through reflection, contemplation, and meditation. And I try to keep that soft listening for as long as possible. Eventually life in the modern world throws me back into that river of activities and chores. But there are renewed connections to important pieces that help sail down the river. Until a new ceremony is needed.
Join me for some powerful Winter ceremonial work. I have three options for you. Do them all or pick one.
IN PERSON in LA – Winter Solstice Somatic Ceremony
We will gather on the beach on the actual Winter Solstice – Saturday December 21st – at 2pm and create a sacred space to process the year that is ending, and plant seeds of visions and dreams for the year to come.
ONLINE Winter Solstice Somatic Ceremony
This is an in depth collection of embodied rituals, teachings, stories, archetypes, symbols, and opportunities to dive deep on your own in the comfort of your own home, and to call the season into your body and into your life.
More details and sign up here.
ONLINE 12 day course – Journey into Winter and enchant the New Year
This 12 day journey is created to support you as you walk through this powerful portal between this year and the next. These rituals, practices, stories, and prompts will help you process the year that is ending in a meaningful way, and begin the new one with warmth, self compassion, an open mind/heart, and a soulful recognition of your life as art.
For more details and to sign up go here.
I am so excited to share with you. And I hope that these sacred containers support you during this powerful, potent portal of the season and beyond.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.
With love,
Hagar