A Ritual of Gratitude
This is a ritual you can do alone to express your gratitude for nature and align yourself with its elements. This ritual is best outdoors, but can also be done inside. Through ceremony, you’ll mindfully thank the four elements, their relationship with the sun, and you’ll celebrate their influence over your life.
The words of the ceremony have been adapted from Llewellyn’s Sabbat Essentials book of Mabon. Humans have celebrated the transition of Fall by expressing gratitude for the harvest for thousands of years. As you speak these words you may notice how deeply they resonate, how genuine and simple the truth you are evoking.
While other harvest rituals take place in groups and gatherings, this one is intended to be done alone. A moment of individual connection with the forces that create the possibility of one’s life here on Earth is a powerful one. Like this season’s facial ritual, this activity will leave you relaxed, grounded and calm. You’ll attune with the slowing of the Earth and turning inward of the season, toward your living roots, alive and glowing warmly in the dark cozy days of Fall.
Ritual of Offerings for The Elements
Things you’ll need:
a bottle of liquid (water, wine, cider or beer)
pieces of nature from your surroundings (acorns, leaves, seeds)
a tray
smudge stick or sage leaves
a lighter
Wear something comfortable, like a t-shirt, jeans and a flannel.
Prepare your tray with your pieces of nature, liquid and smudge tools.
Bring the tray outside and set in a location where you’ll be able to walk around it in a circle with ease, with two feet space more than you think you’ll need.
Light the smudge stick or sage and walk around your tray in a clockwise circle waving the smoke and telling the smoke to protect you and cleanse the air and land of all energies that might conflict with your intention. Walk the smoke in a line across your circle from north to south and again in a line from east to west. Imagine the space getting brighter as you go. Smudge yourself from head to toe.
Pour some liquid over the leaves or bundle to end the burning and prevent a fire, setting it down to dry safely.
Sit down on the ground. Feel the air on your skin, the sky overhead. Notice your mood without judgement. Think of the changes you have witnessed from the previous Fall to this one and breathe deeply until you’re relaxed.
Walk your circle and repeat this phrase: “In the name of Autumn’s Change, I name this circle a sacred time and space. Within this protection, I will now give my thanks, for ground that I walk upon, the winds that blow around me, the fire that I need to live, and the water that I drink.” Speaking out loud might feel silly, but when we hear ourselves we shift our energy and speaking to nature out loud can be very powerful.
Prepare to take the liquid to the four corners of your circle to pour some as an offering to each element. Stand in the middle of the circle holding your bottle of liquid. Take a swig of your liquid to show its a safe offering. Pour an offering into the center of the circle (it does not matter how much you pour, its your sincerity that counts the most). Say “In gratitude and in love, I thank you.” Pour another offering in the center.
Go to the northernmost point of the circle. Say “For the north, where the dark lives the longest, I pour this in gratitude for the food that springs from the dark soil.” Pour an offering.
Go to the easternmost point of the circle. Say “For the east, where the sunrise brings the winds of the day, I pour this in gratitude for the movements of pollen.” Pour an offering.
Go to the southernmost point of the circle. Say “For the south, where the middle of the day springs all growth, I pour this in gratitude for the nourishment of sunlight.” Pour an offering.
Go to the westernmost point of the circle. Say “For the west, where in the twilight the green drinks deepest, I pour this in gratitude for the wet that swells seed and bud.” Pour an offering.
Return to the center and pour another offering. Say “Here’s to the Earth and the natural forces. I give thanks for good harvest and thanks for all good.”
Take a few moments to meditate, sitting or standing. Imagine a seed in the earth of your circle swelling beneath in the soil until a shoot of green bursts forth from the ground. See the green expand into a plant. Make note of the plant you see and set the intention to learn about it over the winter. Visualize the plant brightening, flowering and going to seed until it is brown and falls returning into to the earth, its seed blown by the wind to new ground. Note where the seed sprouted up in your circle. This quadrant of the circle is where the work of your next harvest lies.
When ready to say farewell, speak out loud your goodbyes to the elements. Walk counterclockwise with your arm extended and say “Water flows back to the west. Southern fires flicker then rest. Eastern breezes cool the storm. North rests now in quiet calm. The light now fades, here is now more night than it is day. In gratitude I make my way with harvest at hand into winter’s sway.”
Clean up the space and head back inside. Prepare a hearty harvest meal to represent the harvest and celebrate the abundance of nature!
