The Ritual Series: Session 4
The Practice of Ritual: A Conversation with Jessie Harrold
Sunday, August 2nd, 10:00–11:30am PST
The Practice of Ritual with Jessie Harrold
Understanding ritual is one thing ~ living it is another. The final session of the The Ritual Series is where everything comes together ~ the nature, science, and art of ritual meets the rhythms of everyday life.
Megan Sheldon is joined by Jessie Harrold, author of Mothershift: Reclaiming Motherhood as a Rite of Passage, for a grounded conversation about what it actually looks like to bring ritual into practice. Drawing on the final section of Ritual Without Religion and Jessie’s fifteen years of supporting women through rites of passage, this session is a practical, embodied, and deeply human exploration of ritual as a living practice.
What We'll Explore
This session covers how to begin a ritual practice ~ simply, sustainably, and without getting it perfect. We’ll also explore how to design and hold ceremonies for the transitions that modern life tends to leave unmarked, what it means to be witnessed through a rite of passage, and how to offer ritual to others. We’ll leave you with ways to deepen your relationship with ceremony over time, through community, embodiment, and connection with the land.
What To Expect
This live, hosted conversation will be grounded in real experience. Jessie brings both the neuroscience and the soul of rites of passage to this discussion, and Megan brings the full arc of Ritual Without Religion to a close. Together they make ritual feel not like an aspiration but like something you can begin today ~ in your own kitchen, in your own body, in your own life. Expect guided reflection, practical tools, and time for community questions.
Why It's Needed
We live in a culture that has largely lost its connection with rites of passage. The transitions that once gathered community around us ~ births, losses and thresholds of identity ~ now often happen in relative isolation, unmarked and unwitnessed. Yet, the human need to be seen and held through change has not diminished. This session is an invitation to reclaim the practice of ritual not as a grand gesture but as a daily act of care.
Megan Sheldon
Megan Sheldon (she/her) is a humanist celebrant, end-of-life doula, ritual designer, and founder of Be Ceremonial. For over a decade she has guided individuals, families, and communities through the moments that matter most, from births and weddings to grief, loss, and the invisible thresholds in between.
Her book Ritual Without Religion: A Humanist Guide to Creating Secular Ceremonies offers a path back to one of the most ancient of human practices for anyone who has felt the ceremony-shaped hole. She lives and works on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish Peoples in North Vancouver, BC.
Jessie Harrold
Jessie Harrold (she/her) is a doula, coach, and author who has spent years supporting women through rites of passage. She’s the author of Mothershift: Reclaiming Motherhood as a Rite of Passage, weaving together neuroscience with practical wisdom to offer a roadmap through one of life’s most transformative thresholds.
Jessie wrote the foreword to Ritual Without Religion, drawing on reflections from her forthcoming book Seachange: A Memoir of Mothering, Midlife and My Year of Daily Ocean Swims. She believes, as Megan does, that ritual is not a luxury; it is how we remember who we are and who we are becoming. You can learn more about Jessie here.
About The Series
Megan Sheldon’s new book, Ritual Without Religion, is structured around four dimensions of ceremony: The Nature of Ritual, The Science of Ritual, The Art of Ritual, and The Practice of Ritual. This series is designed to expand and deepen your experience of the book, taking each of its four sections and bringing them alive through the voices of some of the people who have most inspired my journey.
Whether you’ve read it cover to cover or are just arriving, these conversations are designed to bring the themes and ideas presented in the book to life, and to connect you with people who believe that life’s moments deserve to be marked with intention and care.
Virtual $30 per session | $100 for the full series
FAQs
Not at all. Each session stands on its own and is designed to be valuable whether or not you’ve read the book. That said, readers will find the series brings each section of the book vividly to life.
You’re welcome to join just the sessions that call to you. Single session tickets are $30, or you can register for the full series for $100 and save $20.
All Zoom sessions are recorded and will be made available within 24 hours. Please note that breakout sessions will not be recorded, so we encourage you to join live if you can.
Each gathering includes time in small groups with fellow participants, giving you a chance to reflect on what’s been shared, connect with others, and go a little deeper. These are some of the most meaningful moments of the series and won’t be captured in the recording. You can choose not to join the breakout session and instead have a 10min break on your own.
All sessions are hosted on Zoom. A link will be sent to you upon registration.
All sales are final as you will receive the recording even if you can’t join live. We encourage you to review the session dates and times carefully before registering.
We don’t offer scholarships for this series. Instead, we’ve worked hard to keep pricing as accessible as possible from the outset — and a portion of every registration goes directly to our guest speakers, honouring the expertise and generosity they bring to each session.
Yes, CAD pricing is available for our fellow Canadians. You’ll see it reflected at checkout as long as you are in Canada when purchasing the session (Stripe connects to your IP address).
We’d love to hear from you. You can reach me directly at megan@beceremonial.com and I will do my best to answer any questions you have.
