If you are missing ceremony in your life to regularly remember your connection to this Earth, the Sky, the stars, our fellow human and animal creatures and other spirit beings, one thing you can do is go to the Earth and offer something in the morning. This is what my people do to remind us to remember who we are and what our prayers are each day.
Choose a plant, food, stone, or something else that is precious to you and resonant with nature. Whether we are descendants of Turtle Island (a.k.a. America), Africa, Europe, Asia, Pacific Islands, or Australia, we all have ancestral elements that heal our bodies and help us connect with our ancestors….
Before you get your day going, look to the east where the sun rises.
Put your precious thing down in front of you and offer it to the Earth. Say what your intentions or prayers are for that day. Invite your ancestors to be with you. Invite the good spirits to walk with you, the spirits that want to help.
Honor who you are and honor the Earth and honor the spirits and the great Creator – or life forces or unknowable mysteries or God or gods or whatever it is that you believe makes the world more than meets the eye.
I think of this practice, and ceremony in general, as a kind of string that holds the beads of our life together. If you can do it every day, great, but even once a week or once a month will help you remember. I pray it helps you remember to give your best but also to receive – the sunlight, the birds, the fruit of joy, the fruit of life, the answers to your prayers, whatever they may be.
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Lyla June is an indigenous musician, scholar, and community organizer of Navajo, Cheyenne, and European descent.
— Lyla June in A Future We Can Love by Susan Bauer-Wu