The Only Cure I Know

Ritual isn’t just symbolic. It’s not a vague spiritual idea or something reserved for a select elite. It’s a tool—as old as humanity itself—for navigating change, healing deep wounds, and making meaning when life feels too big, too raw, or too confusing to hold alone. (I use the words ritual and ceremony interchangeably.)

Ritual gives shape to the moments that matter. The ones that hurt. The ones that change us. The ones that ask us to let go, begin again, or cross into a new phase of becoming.

I once worked with a woman in her seventies whose life had been shaped by abandonment, trauma, and survival. A recent loss brought up grief that ran all the way back to her fragmenting childhood. She turned to ceremony.

“The only cure I know is a good ceremony.” -Leslie Marmon Silko

We spent a long night under a full moon. We created a space that was safe and intentional. We employed the elements and our senses—fire, water, plants, tasty treats, colorful fabrics. There were songs, silence, tears; there were moments of intense vulnerability, profound trust and real courage. At one point, she crossed a threshold—literally and symbolically—and allowed herself to be seen, not as someone broken, but as someone whole.

Later, she told me, “The sense of belonging eluded me my whole life until that ceremony. I’m amazed that my experience of being alone in this world has vanished.”

That’s what ritual can do.

It can, as Francis Weller writes, stitch the tears in that code of belonging so we can come back into a sense of participation and intimacy with the larger life.

Some of the rituals I’ve created and facilitated include:

Rituals that mark loss — divorce, separation, miscarriage, abortion, death, or the quiet grief of a fertility window closing

Rituals that honor life changes — menopause, fledgling children, midlife transitions, retirement, croning

Rituals for healing — after sexual assault, a difficult diagnosis, or medical trauma

Rituals that call in your gifts — claiming your voice, your purpose, your power

Rituals to celebrate — accomplishments, recoveries, creative breakthroughs, new beginnings

Rituals of release — cutting cords, letting go of patterns, breaking cycles, setting boundaries

Rituals of forgiveness — asking for it, offering it, finding your way back to integrity

Rituals of repair — when a past ceremony left you unseen, fragmented, or disrespected

There are so few spaces in this world where you can lay it all down. Where you can be witnessed, held, and offered back to yourself—not because you are broken and need to be fixed, but because you are deeply worthy. And ceremony is the most incredible expression of worthiness I know of. It won’t solve everything. But it will give you a life-affirming and generative way through.

Every ritual is different. We begin with clear intention, deep sincerity and a spirit of creative experimentation, and “catch” a ritual that meets you exactly where you are. There’s no script. No formula. No pressure to perform. Just the courage to show up and be witnessed, blessed, celebrated and supported.

This is what I love. This is what I do.
If you feel the pull, follow it.
I’ll be here when you’re ready.