In times of stress or uncertainty, there’s nothing better than finding a way to infuse more magic into our daily lives. Rituals are a beautiful and simple way to make our actions sacred. A great ritual can help us renew our faith in hope.
When we focus too much on our outside circumstances, sometimes we think we are powerless. It can be easy to feel a sense of hopelessness. We have to remember that there is a greater good that we can always tune into.
All too often, we want hope to just come to us – but we have to claim our relationship to hope, peace, and goodness in the world. We have to ask to be a conduit for it.
Spiritual rituals can help us claim that sense of hope and peace. They are a spiritual tool that helps us remember there is beauty and joy in the world, and that we get to help bring those things forward by making our actions sacred.
Try one (or several) of these sacred rituals to bring more MAGIC into your life. You might even choose to include one of these rituals into your regular spiritual practice by doing it daily, weekly, or with the New Moon or Full Moon. Over time, you’ll notice how much more connected and at peace you feel by taking the time to connect with Spirit through ritual.
5 Rituals to Bring More Magic Into Your Life
1. The Sweetening Jar Ritual
The sweetening jar ritual can be used in any part of your life where you want to infuse more sweetness. It could be your relationship, your career, your family, or anything you want. This ritual comes from the African American Hoodoo and is practiced throughout the Caribbean in many different African diasporic spiritual practices. It was shared with me on a recent episode of my podcast, Inside the Wooniverse by Abiola Abrams.
You begin with a jar – it could be a mason jar, spaghetti sauce jar, or whatever you have. Then you begin filling it with all things sweet: local honey, brown sugar, chocolate, cookies, cinnamon.
Then you fill the jar with intentions or petitions around the topic you’re bringing sweetness to. These can be simple little pieces of paper full of your gratitudes, wishes, and desires. Little prayers. Things you’re calling in.
You can choose how long you want the ritual to last – it could be just one day, or it could be 5 or more. If you have an altar, set it on the altar. Or do this on a New Moon and set your jar out in the moonlight to be charged by that energy. You can even keep it simple and just set the jar on your kitchen counter. Feel free to follow your intuition!
Once the time period you’ve set for your ritual is up, dispose of the jar and its contents in a way that’s environmentally friendly and feels in integrity to you. This might mean washing it down your garbage disposal and recycling the jar, or putting the items into a compost. As you release the contents, soak in your gratitude for the sweetness in that area of your life.
2. Salt Scrub Ritual
When you’re craving more hope, peace, and spiritual grounding in your life, remember the importance of involving your body in sacred rituals. Your body truly is your temple. It’s the vessel with which you connect with the Divine and experience all of the beauties of life.
A simple salt scrub ritual is a great way to honor your physical body and bring some intention and sacredness into your day. You may even choose to make this a weekly self-care ritual to begin the new week or turn it into a New or Full Moon ritual you do every month for a sense of cleansing and renewal.
Begin by drawing yourself a warm bath and make the salt scrub mix below. This simple recipe of mine is a wonderful, aromatic scrub that has all the benefits to help empaths remain calmer and less stressed. As you scrub your body, your hands, and your feet, allow yourself to fully relax.
3. Ritual for Taking the Power Out of Old Hurts
In our journey of seeking peace and spiritual alignment, it’s essential to be able to let go of the past and release old hurts that hold us.
For this ritual, you’ll need to begin by finding a talisman (an object created to hold or embody a belief) to represent the old hurt, pattern, or dynamic you want to take the power out of. It can also embody an ideal you want to reinforce such as success, love, or authenticity. The object can be a stone you find, a drawing you create, something you find in a magazine, or any object that can be representative for you.
Once you have your talisman and you know what it represents, place it in a bowl and sprinkle it with salt to signify purification. Next, put the bowl in the freezer, signifying decay and preservation. Imagine you’re freezing the energy associated with what the talisman represents. Now, leave your talisman in the freezer until the next Full moon when you’ll remove the talisman and complete the ritual by releasing the energies of your talisman.
Take your talisman out of the freezer, bring it outside, and say the following affirmation prayer:
To release the energies of your talisman, you can choose one of the following methods – whichever feels best to you.
- Fire: Burn the talisman and discard the ashes.
- Water: Submerge the talisman in a bowl of salt water and then discard.
- Earth: Bury the talisman in the ground.
- Air: Smash the talisman into pieces and then discard them.
Finally, say the following phase out loud to complete your ritual: I thank you for all that I have become. I release you, for I no longer need you on my journey.
4. Cord-Cutting Ritual
Are there old energies, hurts, memories, or relationships that have a hold on you? A cord-cutting ritual is a great way to free yourself from these influences and reclaim your sense of freedom, sovereignty, and inner peace.
You can do a simple cord-cutting ritual by thinking of something you haven’t been able to shake, like an old relationship or hurt you haven’t been able to let go of. Begin by creating a sacred space to do your ritual in. Light candles, burn sage, and create a space that feels inviting.
Next, take 20 minutes or so to journal about the energy you want to release. Just let yourself write freely about your feelings – why it’s been holding you and why you’re ready to let go. Write with the intention of releasing and moving forward with a fresh slate. Then finish your ritual with a meditation, or perhaps a cleansing bath.
If old resentments and pain have a stronghold on you and are keeping you from living with a sense of peace and hope, you’ll love my more in-depth cord-cutting ritual for reclaiming your energy. It even includes a free cord-cutting guided meditation!
5. Magical Ritual Bath for Spiritual Renewal
Sometimes there’s nothing better than submerging your body into cleansing water for a spiritual, physical, and emotional reset.
When you’re craving a sense of renewal to help you reconnect to yourself and to Spirit, I highly recommend creating a magical ritual bath.
Your ritual can be simple. The most important thing is your intention. Set up your sacred space with candles, nice lighting, and anything that will help you be fully present for your ritual.
Draw your bath with the intention to use your time soaking to release anything that needs releasing and use the recipe below to create cleansing waters:
- 5 drops of lavender oil for calm
- 2 drops of ylang ylang for love
- 5 drops of Eucalyptus to “keep the air clear”
- 2 cups of pink himalayan salt
To add even more depth and magic to your bath ritual, you can add on a practice shared with me by Abiola Abrams in my recent episode of my podcast, INSIDE THE WOONIVERSE.
Abiola shared with us that all spiritual backgrounds have water in their rituals. We are made of water, so setting our intentions in water is potent and powerful.
Water whispering is the practice of having a spiritual bath, and actually whispering your intentions of whatever it is you’re creating, manifesting, or desiring into the water. This is a sweet way to connect even more deeply with yourself and your intentions as you cleanse and renew yourself in your bath.
Making Time for Sacred Rituals
Rituals can support us in so many aspects of our lives, we just have to set aside the time and intention to add these magical moments into our schedules. When we make our actions sacred, we claim our relationship to hope, love, and peace – regardless of our outer circumstances or what is happening in the world around us.
What Rituals Do You Practice?
Is there a ritual that helps you stay grounded in times of stress? Or, do you plan to try out one of the rituals listed above? Leave a comment and let me know! I love to read your comments.
I don’t have a ritual & was shunned them away. I think of the religious rituals & I never was enthralled with the “church”. Now I am ready & feel a need for a ritual that speaks to me. Thank you for the many suggestions here. I don’t have a bath but I can use the essential oils & salt in the shower. I do have an overhead shower head so I imagine being under a waterfall & having any negative binds being washed away & then whispering into the water my intentions.
Thank I cannot get my phone to listen to your podcast. Am I to download the app .
And I would like am appointment with you for a reading .about my parents and Grandmother who had pass on.
Thank you so much for this today!
love that you made this your own, Kathryn! let me know how it goes! 💞💞💞
you got it, Joanne! what was your favorite ritual out of the 5? 💞
hi, Johnie! you can listen to the podcast through Spotify or Apple Podcast! you can also listen to the podcast by clicking this! also, unfortunately, I don’t do private readings anymore. much love to you! 💖
Thank you Colette, I have been meaning to go the Jar ritual in particular since your interview with Abiola Abraham. And now, I will make time to try some of the other suggestions. Appreciate these suggestions. Regards.
I am using Epsom salt bath recipe:
2 8 Oz of Epsom salt bath( its magnesium sulphate to release mm trnsion),100 g of baking soda( create more alkaline water to remove more acidity out of body),
25 drops of tee tree oil( anti-inflammatory,antifungal,antibacterial,). It possible to get additional 5 drops of levandar oil. Total time 20-40 min in the warm bath. Good to use after massage ,sport activities, stress reduction.
I will try one of these rituals. Do you have to use Himilayan salt?
I’ve used Epsom salts before. I’ll let you know how it goes. I like the idea of the sweetness jar. Also I have really been enjoying your podcasts. That Colin was a hoot! I sent his book Queer Cosmos to my son. He’s having a hard time right now with his partner. I have signed up to attend your conference with Denise Linn. Looking forward to it. Thanks for everything you do Colette. You’ve really helped me on my spiritual journey.💓
Thank you 😊 I love doing bath rituals would like to try the ones I haven’t before that’s here. In Brazil we use the salt with water pouring down shoulders to cleans renew energies then afterwards pouring warm water with flower petals in the pitcher from shoulders down over body which sweetens our energies🙏💝
Oh yeah lol I forgot to tell you that number 5 is a favorite and would like to try yours. Thanks again!
Hi Colette, I loved reading all these gorgeous rituals. I am currently suffering a lot of pain my darling granddaughter (who is autistic) is going through a challenging time and for some reason, we cannot work out why she is closing off from me and not wanting me to be near her and being rather cruel. I adore her and love her so much that it is breaking my heart. Can you please suggest a ritual or something that I can clear this energy? I thank you in advance. Much love Michelina
Thanks for the recipes. It’s been several years since I’ve had my rituals. It’s obviously time to reinstate all those parts of my life that stayed packed in my relocating.!
the only ritual is to clear yourself, since none of us can genuinely change anyone else. Surrendering to what is and staying present to a return and reconciliation. The Serenity Prayer – God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Perhaps speak to a therapist skilled in understanding autism.
Epsom salts is fine. Happy you connected with Colin. I adore him and he has so much wisdom to impart not just to the queer community but for all of us.
perfect! have you gotten the chance to try out the The Sweetening Jar Ritual? how did it go! I’m SO excited to hear back from you! 💞
that’s so interesting! I’m glad that you shared that with us, Jeanne! how do you call that ritual? 💖
that’s perfect! let me know what you think of it once you tested it out! 💖