Some of our favorite rituals are native american. We use a candle & smudge with the light by holding our cupped hands close to the flame & place hands on head as symbolic of enlightenment. We also have a time in winter (storytelling cave time) where we pass a talking stick & all tell a story.Also the air/aura purification ritual of burning sage. We also ohm. o is the deepest/vibrating core, h the tongue/brain, m the lips/manifestation. We dance/yoga to celebrate, and to ground our energies. We celebrate christmas but always with a little live tree or just evergreen branches. We make some kind of food to give away every year, like this year is jalapeno jelly & champagne mustard. I have a little nativity scene that i made out of felt people that gets mixed in with rudolph the red nosed reindeer & the abominable snowman. One year we did a still life nativity scene at a park in the community-that was neat. we had donkeys & everything! We also decorate one of the trees in the yard with apple slices & pine cones smeared with peanut butter & rolled in bird seed and strings of cranberries & popcorn. x-mas dinner is always an Italian dish called al'amatriciana mostaccioli It is a marinara sauce that we serve with pasta, bread, salad. It is traditional in Italy.
We have made our own rituals based on the pagan/christian influences with our own twist. We try to incorporate something unique to us every few years. We like to do food drops on doorsteps of those in need, carolling, going to see concerts of Handel's Messiah. we also stay in our p.j.'s all day x-mas day! And that is only christmas! Every labor day we camp. Every easter we hide eggs. New years-drum. summer, swim. It is possible to give meaning to even the mundane when we are mindful.
As far as menstrual rites, I think there is a really cool poem to read for new women in the poetry & writing section. I like the moonblood markings idea!
