RoseAnne Desmarais created a Closing the Year Ceremony with her husband, drawing from our rituals to let go of 2022 and move into 2023 with intention, connection, and authenticity.
As long as I can remember, ritual has been an important element in my life. Ritual is the grounding that my soul searches for. It calms me and centres my focus in order to make sense of the world I’m experiencing. Yet, I often worry what others may think, and I feel like I sometimes need permission to be authentic and intentional.
I created a Closing the Year Ceremony because I didn’t want to carry anything that didn’t serve or feed my soul into the year ahead. I want to move forward into 2023 authentically, without the heavy burdens, and learn to let go! I created a ceremony for my husband and myself to reconnect and to make our relationship a priority.
Initially I felt like I had to get it “perfect” and it didn’t necessarily feel natural. I stumbled with the flow. What was especially helpful were the prompts that were provided, as when we were writing out our thoughts they helped us go deeper into ourselves.
We began by lighting a candle and taking a few breaths to centre ourselves and to become present in our sacred space and we offered an intention for the time we wanted to create together.
We then did the Taking Stock ritual and chose to release the weight of the past year by writing out what didn’t serve us on a piece of paper and then we burned the paper in our chiminea and watched the smoke (heaviness) float away.
We then invited each other to hold something that we had been carrying over the last year. The Holding Ritual provided the prompts we needed to dig deep. It was wonderful to hand off some of the heaviness I’ve been carrying for most of my life (even symbolically). Watching that paper burn provided a visual of letting go and allowed my mind to move ahead into 2023 releasing that particular burden.
The Holding Ritual brought forth so much for me and cracked open my heart (the tears kept flowing) and I found the courage to be more vulnerable with another person because I wasn’t alone taking a risk.
Our next ritual was the Story Visioning Ritual and we each took time to create our personal vision boards for 2023. We collected magazines and cut out pictures and words to manifest our incoming year. This board is a focal point to each of us and a daily reminder of the direction we want to be moving in.
Our last ritual was creating a Talisman. Over the last 17 years, I’ve collected rocks and shells when my husband and I went on holidays together. I offered out my collection and we both chose an object that we were drawn to. We spent the time infusing our rock with love, and stories that grounded us and then we took markers and wrote on them words that bubbled up inside us. The Talisman ritual was such a beautiful way to infuse how I was feeling into something tangible I could hold in my hand.
We closed out our ceremony with gratitude and renewed love and the intention of creating more rituals as a couple as we journey this new year. Together, we extinguished the candle and watched as the smoke lingered upwards, towards the vast universe of possibilities.
The ceremony brought a physical lightness in my body and I was left with a sense of peace and comfort. I appreciate the thoughtfulness of the rituals and how each one could be tailored to fit my situation. I learned that I get in my own way by worrying about how things will be perceived. Having the practical step-by-step suggested flow of each ritual allowed me the confidence to at least jump in where I was and to feel somehow protected that I was safe to take the plunge into the unknown.
This Closing the Year Ceremony was profoundly moving, and emotional for both my husband and myself. I’m looking forward to creating more rituals and ceremony with Be Ceremonial in 2023.
~ RoseAnne Desmarais
Learn more about the types of ceremonies we offer and create your own today! You can also gift the experience to someone you know, empowering them to choose the rituals that they connect with most.
