The Power of Ritual: Turning Everyday Activities into Soulful Practices

by Casper ter Kuile

So many of us have stories like this. We have moments in which we feel a bridge has appeared between us and something beyond. That bridge can come along when we explore a homemade ritual that we, now and then, revisit but never talk about. Those moments feel mysterious because we can’t rationalize what’s happened. Though they feel special, sacred even, afterward we feel embarrassed and uncomfortable. “What the hell was I doing? I don’t even believe in that stuff! Massaging my aura?! Let’s never tell anyone about that. Ever.” It can be disconcerting. We’re not in control when we give ourselves over to an experience like this. We’ve handed over our power, we’ve fully let go, and later we come back to ourselves with what Brené Brown calls a vulnerability hangover. I’ve learned to understand moments like this as prayer. I’ve always been suspicious of that word, but I’ve discovered that prayer practices are beautiful, powerful, and perhaps even necessary for us to feel deeply connected to what is beyond us.