Many thanks to all the dear ones who gathered around me yesterday in an amazing healing ritual. The intention was to prepare me for surgery (a lumpectomy) next week, and to help my confused cancer cells come back into health and balance. 50 of us gathered on a sunny September afternoon, and shared prayer, singing, rattling, laughter, tears, and lots and lots of love.
I’m used to being the one leading this kind of ritual, and it was an incredible gift to be able to relax in to this container of love, and just receive. My crystals were passed around, and each person spoke to our connection and history together, and then voiced their prayers and vision for my health. The Bridge to Peace Threshold Choir taught the group a beautiful healing song, and as I lay in the middle of the circle, 50 people stood around me, and for a long time, sang their hearts out for my healing. The energy of the singing felt like it rearranged me at every level of my being.
At the end of the event, each person shared a word about how they felt. “Gratitude,” “Awe,” “Connection,” “Love,” and more. My favorite word was “Normal,” meaning that this kind of gathering should be as normal as having a birthday party, that coming together when someone in our community needs support is the most normal and natural thing for us to do. It’s part of the essence of being human.
I’m so incredibly grateful to those who facilitated the ritual, to those who attended, to those who couldn’t attend but were there in heart and spirit, and to the teachings and teachers in my life who’ve helped me understand how important and how powerful events like this are. What we did was simple on the outside, and profoundly rich and complex on the inside. I am deeply changed, and I know others are too.
As I’ve said before, I don’t recommend getting cancer, but if experiences like this are the side effects, it’s not all bad. In fact, coming together in ritual space, around a meaningful intention, when emotional and spiritual support is deeply needed and generously offered, may be what makes the hard parts of life bearable.