Not all of our members are able to take part in our public events, so we have created a simplified version you can do in your own living room or garden.
Indoor version
Decorate a small table or corner with the fruits of autumn – fruit, vegetables, leaves or candles in red and orange.
Find a bowl of water and use it as holy water. Dip your finger and lightly touch your forehead to mark a cleansing.
Light a candle or a couple of tealights and imagine that this is your sacred fire.
Sit down with a simple vegetable soup (or other food made from the produce of autumn). Use an ordinary bowl and spoon, not disposable ones.
Before you eat, place a small dish beside you with a little soup in it – this is your offering.
Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Say quietly or aloud: I give thanks for everything that has brought me here. I let go of what I no longer need.
If you wish, write down one thing you want to let go of on a small slip of paper. Crumple it up and place it in a bowl or cup. Later you can burn it safely in the fireplace or over a candle (under supervision), or tear it into small pieces and throw it away.
Sit in silence or beat gently on a drum or rattle, or use the recording below to enter a short journey/reflection.
When you are finished, pour the small dish of soup into a flowerpot or onto the ground as a symbolic offering.
Finish by slowly blowing out the candle with a thought of gratitude.
Norse drum journeys by Shamanic Association of Norway
Outdoor version
Find a quiet place in the garden, in the forest or at a safe fire site.
Decorate a small area or a leaf/stone altar with natural materials (leaves, twigs, fruit, ribbon).
Dig a small hole in the ground for a symbolic offering.
Light a small fire or, if that is not possible, a large candle.
Bring a bowl of soup made from vegetables, and pour a little into a separate small dish for the offering itself.
Hold a small object (a wood chip, piece of bark or a stone) in your hand. As you sit by the fire, think about what you want to let go of. Place the object gently in the fire, or in the hole if a fire is not possible.
Set the small dish of soup by the hole as an offering.
Close your eyes, listen to the sounds of nature, or simply beat on a drum (or use a recording). Let your thoughts turn to what you want to give thanks for, and what you want to carry with you into the winter.
End the ceremony by covering over the hole or letting the fire burn down, and say quietly: Thank you for the gifts of life. I release what is complete.
