Celebrate Your Life: Infuse It with Joy and Spirit
Heather Ash Amara

Celebrating the many transitions in your life, from difficult to ecstatic, weaves a thread of spirit into everything you do. It also encourages you to be in the present moment with your full, conscious attention. The act of celebrating keeps you attuned to the gifts of all aspects of life, from birth, to death, to rebirth. Your celebrations can mark not only the expected holidays, but also the mundane, the unexpected, and the challenging. continue reading »

Honoring the Cycles of Life
Heather Ash Amara

Ceremonies and rituals mark change points in our life. When we bring consciousness to transition, we allow the sacred to enter, and create space for reflection and renewal. In our busy world, stopping and honoring the transitional points in our lives and in the world around us is crucial. Each time we pause to ceremonially note a change within or without, we step between the worlds, a magical timeless place where all is possible. We slip out of our normal reality, and can access vital spiritual resources and guidance to bring back with us to enrich our life. continue reading »

How to Create a Ritual or Ceremony
Heather Ash Amara

Here are a few simple guidelines to create a ritual, all of which can be modified. Whether you are creating a ceremony or ritual for yourself or for a thousand people, these guidelines help create a grounded flow. Be flexible, fluid, and bendable. Ritual is art, not science. continue reading »

Walking with the Angel of Death
Heather Ash Amara

Here in the desert the moon curls around itself, playing in the shadows of the sandstone rocks. I hear the wind smoothing the jutting points of the solidified sand walls, caressing the rounded corners. Sagebrush and pinon mix their scent with the stars. Here each sandy footfall leaves an imprint to catch moonbeams. I grasp hold of a crag of sandstone, familiar roughness pushing into my palm, and pull my weight up to the ledge hidden behind. I have come here to die. As I stare into the night I see the veil between the worlds beckoning me with its thin fingers. There is no fear in this place, only gratitude. I finally see my life as the prayer it is. I bless each person in my life, all teachers. I curl the moon around me and fall asleep. continue reading »