Ritual for Healing

Here is a 'ritual for planetary healing' that I found in The Art of Ritual. I thought it was beautiful, and might inspire those of us who are creating rituals of our own. While this particular ritual is designed to seek healing on the grand scale of the whole planet, I think it could easily be adapted for emotional or spiritual trauma or loss at a personal or familial level.


This book always does rituals in four parts--state why you're doing it (intention), the setup (preparation), the actual process of the ritual (manifestation), and then the closure/follow-up (grounding).

Intention: to restore the earth, the environment, and all living things to a state of health (or balance).
Preparation: A few of us gather weekly at noon, the time of the most light. We sit quietly in a circle, focusing on our breath, allowing distractions to be released while exhaling and strength and centeredness to enter when inhaling.
Manifestation: The leader for the week lights a white candle in the center of our circle and states our intention: that we gather to promote healing on and of our planet earth, for the good of all. We stand and join hands, and the leader guides us through a meditation in which we each become filled with light, acknowledging our individual wounds and imbalances, then imagining ourselves well and whole. We let the light expand from us and fill and embrace our circle, and we speak the names of those people we know who need healing, imagining them in the center of the light circle, seeing them move toward balance. We pray in this way for world leaders, global areas of strife or injustice, pollution--each time imagining the way things are now and then the way they can be. After this, we life up our arms and send this globe of healing energy out into the universe, asking that it be used where it might best be of service. We close by giving thanks to Spirit and hugs to one another.
Grounding: The sense of peace and healing from the ritual is carried home with each of the participants. We can call on it throughout the week to help those qualities become part of our daily activities.
The ritual often leaves us feeling in love with the world, and definite similarities exist between healing and love. They are not things we can create, but things that happen to us and through us, states that we are blessed to experience. Love and healing are energies that exist, awaiting access, and when the proper avenues are created for them, these energies pour through and grace us with their expression. Ritual can be such an avenue.