Sage, a Feather, and a Stone

As a mother of 4 grown children, I try with some success not to worry about them when they have problems.  I am fortunate to have children that call me and share their lives, including their hopes and fears with me on a regular basis.  I feel honored to be included in their lives this way, but it can be difficult to be supportive and positive at all times.   Today was one of those days where I needed to "do something" with my anxiety about a particular outcome one of my sons was facing. 

Having been raised a Catholic, I had plenty of ritual in my life over the years.  But at a certain point, it started to feel contrived, and I needed to move on to something that held more meaning for me.  It was the start of my spiritual journey and over several decades, I read about many different spiritual concepts.  One in particular came into my life 10 years ago, because of some lovely friends that practiced a Native American Spirituality.  We shared many wonderful full moon ceremonies, and I even attended a Native American Sundance.  It was an extremely moving experience.  Partly because of these people, I moved to the remote mountains of New Hampshire after a divorce and built a log cabin on the side of a mountain.  I spent a glorious 2 years roaming the forests, painting and enjoying the solitude. 

When I moved back, my Native American friends had all dispersed to different parts of the country.  I felt compelled to continue my spiritual quest and left my Native American period behind me. 

I have saved several precious gifts from my friends during that time.  A beautiful sacred feather, a healing stone that I found at The Sundance Ceremony, my abalone shell for burning sage, along with a small pouch of dried sage, among other lovely mementos.  

Recently I felt compelled to unpack these items, and today felt like the perfect day to hold my own little ceremony.  There is really no special way that a ceremony needs to be performed, so I just did what felt right.  It felt healing to sit by the lake, burn a little sweet smelling sage, wafting some of it out into the universe with a prayer for my son and his journey.  My smooth healing stone rested in my lap. 

This simple little "homemade" ceremony helped disperse my anxieties and enabled me to spend my day in peace.  I just received a phone call that all is well in my son's world. 

Did my ceremony make a difference for him?  I really don't know.  It did sooth my frazzled energy, so that I wasn't sending "worried vibes" his way.  Since I believe we are all connected, then perhaps sage, a feather and a stone did make a difference.