Chakras and Shotguns

E118: The Power of Ceremony feat. Kira Buckley

• Mik & Jenn • Episode 118

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In this episode we dive deep into the world of ceremony with spiritual ceremonialist Kira Buckley. Discover why ceremony is an essential part of human experience and how it can enrich your daily life. Learn practical tips on incorporating simple rituals and sacred practices into your routine, from morning meditations to evening gratitude rituals. Whether you're a seasoned spiritual seeker or just starting your journey, this episode offers valuable insights and inspiration to elevate your spiritual practice and create a more meaningful life. For more information on Kira, visit her website kirabuckley.com or follow her on Instagram @kirabuckley  

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Mik:

You are now listening to

Jenn:

Chakras and Shotguns. Welcome to Chakras and Shotguns, the podcast that guides you on your journey of spiritual development and personal preparedness. I'm Jenn. I'm a lawyer again, but I'm a tarot card reader, human design reader, lover of all things wellness.

Mik:

And I'm Mik, a marketer, energy healer, and prepper.

Jenn:

So ceremony. That's a word. I don't know. I don't even know if we think about it that often, but it's been an integral part of human civilization for thousands of years. So from big ceremonies to little ceremonies, it pops up all the time. Weddings, graduations, church, right? It's a part. of life where we can find comfort, where we can find strength, where we can find community. So today in today's episode, we took a deep dive into ceremony and like what that all means with a spiritual ceremonialist, Kira Buckley. We're so excited to have her back on the show and we answer questions like why is ceremony so important and how can we incorporate more ceremony into our everyday lives.

Mik:

Yes, but before we get into that, we do want to remind you guys to make sure that you sign up for our mailing list. We send out a lot of spiritual tips. We send out discounts on things. We'll let you know when we drop new merch. We'll let you know about new events that we're doing, both virtual and in person. So just make sure You're signed up on the mailing list so you can get everything chakras and shotguns related. I don't wanna do the bird me camera. I see. I was like, oh, you

Jenn:

got some stuff coming out.. My ring's too loud for the audio. Mik: So you can sign up for the in the show description or going to chakras and shotguns.com. Alright, let's get into the breath work meditation that we always do. I was going back and forth on, is this ceremony, this is more like a ritual. Yeah. Maybe the episode of ceremony. Okay. So we'll get into the ritual of breath work. For this one, I think I want you to sit up or you can stand. Um, and I want to get into the heart space. I think we can spend a lot of time in the lower chakras, but the heart can carry so much and it can really impact how expansive we're feeling and like what we're allowing ourselves to feel. So go ahead and place your hands face down somewhere on your heart space. Go ahead and flicker your eyes closed and let's start to find our breath. Take a deep inhale in through your nose, hold at the top and exhale completely out through your mouth. Let's do that again. Inhale through the nose, open your mouth, exhale. Let's do one more. One more, inhale through your nose. Can you find something you can let go when you open your mouth? Exhale completely. Go ahead and seal your lips closed and allow yourself to breathe normally. Bring your awareness to your shoulders. Are they rounded forward? Do you find yourself slouching? Notice if you're creating less space around your heart. So can you sit up? Can you shrug your shoulders up to your ears and then back and down your back? Can you find openness in your heart space? How does that feel for you? Allow yourself to visualize a green light filling up your entire chest cavity. Maybe it starts small. And you allow it to grow. Does it get more vibrant? If you can conjure up the feeling of love and acceptance for yourself, for your heart chakra, go ahead and do that now. Take a deep breath in through your nose and sigh the breath back out through your nose. Take another deep breath into your nose. Exhale back out through your nose. Maybe stretch your arms up and overhead, tilt your head back, acknowledging that you're here, that you're in this space, that you're open to love and open to receive love, and then bring your hands back into your heart. Look at your eyes open. Welcome back.

Mik:

That was great.

Jenn:

Thank you. Thank you as

Mik:

always.

Jenn:

If you so this is I'm gonna share it was on a Plant medicine journey a few days ago. Mm hmm. And there was some stuff going on in my heart and When I tell you I let out two of the biggest burps.

Mik:

Mm

Jenn:

hmm like that. I have maybe ever let out And it was like one on one side and one on the other Hmm And I was like, I wonder if there was like a blockage there. And even as I was doing this, I never really feel the need to burp when I'm doing the breath break. But as we were doing this, I felt like a little something, but like, think about that energy of like opening up your heart. It's coming up to your throat.

Mik:

Yeah.

Jenn:

And so, you know, if you're feeling a little gassy, I'm sorry, but removing energy here.

Mik:

Exactly. I was going to add a little context just so people don't think you are just being gassy for no reason. Like folks who may not have had like any. Body work or energetic work, like that is a common thing to happen. Where if you're moving kind of energy blocks in the body, it may come out as gas. So, yeah, just wanted to add that context for folks who might

Jenn:

be like, why she talking about burping? I know, cause I don't really eat a lot before I do a plant medicine journey. So it wasn't like I was full, you know, and I was like, what was that? He was like, BLEH, it was, it was a lot. Okay.

Mik:

I don't know if we needed the Dramatization, but you know, I

Jenn:

do demonstrate

Mik:

But we appreciate a

Jenn:

live reenactment

Mik:

All right, I feel like i'm in a lifetime movie now reenactments and everything, um Anyway So let's talk about our wonderful guest that we're having today Kira buckley is back for a third time, right? I believe yeah Yeah Kirill wears many hats. Not only has she served as a mentor for me and my journey in shamanism and kind of just in general the spiritual path, uh, she also is a Holistic health practitioner. She is an herbalist, a writer, a motivational speaker. She's an acupuncturist. And as Jen mentioned earlier, she is a spiritual ceremonialist. So she regularly hosts retreats internationally. and domestically. Uh, and she holds several events, uh, throughout LA during different parts of the year, although she is relocating soon. Um, but she'll be back in LA periodically to do some of those events. So,

Jenn:

and I'm going to her next retreat and I'm excited.

Mik:

Just checking that out later this year. Um, so with no further ado, we welcome back to the show, Ms. Kira Buckley. Thank you so much for joining us again on Shockers and Shotguns. We, we love having you on. We've mentioned you in previous episodes, taught some of the, the wisdom that you've kind of given us on different topics. So happy to just have you firsthand back on the podcast.

Kira:

I'm happy to be here. I love it here. We should do this more often, but thank

Jenn:

you. I have a couple of topics in mind.

Mik:

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. So today we are talking about ceremonies and we know that you are a spiritual ceremonialist. Uh, and so I wanted you to kind of start by just talking about At the most basic level, what do you consider to be a ceremony?

Kira:

So I would say, um, our usual references of ceremony, like marriages, um, or going to a funeral, celebration of life, uh, graduations, are Uh, what we call low hanging fruit. They're the more easeful experiences to like acquaint yourself with the ceremonial life. And where I come in is bringing us back to the origin, um, in the essence of like the rite of passage and what it means to be alive and experience life and all of these transitions. So at the core ceremony holds that energy of just celebrating the different transitions that happen for us throughout life.

Mik:

I think of the word ritual as well in the context of ceremony. Are those different concepts? Are the same things? Is it just semantics? Or are there Separation.

Kira:

It is different and to separate so you will put your ritual inside the ceremony. So let's say ceremony is your container that holds your regimen, your ritual. Um, when you think about the elements that make up a ceremony, you have some, uh, drumming and some chanting and some singing. There's a certain protocols, right? That go in. With ceremony, even if you're looking at a wedding program, there is a order of service, there's an invocation, there's an opening. So ritual is what we just insert inside of the ceremony. And one of the key elements to having a ceremony is making sure that there is some type of ritual that brings you back to why we're here. Why are we? What is the ritual, which is a practice that is going to deepen my devotion and my love for celebrating this thing or this event?

Mik:

So, First Sunday is a ceremony. Ceremony in Munion is a ritual.

Kira:

Exactly. Very good. You know, I love examples. Make it tangible.

Jenn:

When you were first explaining ceremony, the word that my head was crossing of like, even like graduation, like crossing the stage of like, or entering into, into some like phase of life. And I'm, I'm putting this together all on the fly. And like, there are certain things that come up in, in, in hoodoo and voodoo and other spiritual practices about like, Uncrossing roads and like removing roadblocks and, and, and how does, what is the importance of crossing in ceremony of like that?

Mik:

I'll add one more fraternities and sororities. When you become a member of a fraternity, you cross over. Into the fraternity. So,

Kira:

so I love this question because now we're going more into the ancestral or like the indigenous origin of ceremony. Um, the crossing comes from the term, right? So when you go to the origin of ceremony, our ancestors, the indigenous way is that you're entering into a right of passage. R. I. T. E. And that right constitutes that I am crossing from one way of life into another, from one season into another, from summer into a fall. And so the crossing signifies, again, the graduation is the physical manifestation of transmutation. We cross things to transmute energy and to change the state, right? Which is the origin of transmutation. There's this alchemical process that's happening. And to bring it more physical and tangible, the graduate that is crossing the stage is coming from. The student and that has put in all the work and taken all these classes to now being this learned, uh, as my grandmother would say, this learned individual into society that can hold, uh, his or her position in the pathway of what they study. So you take that, right, as above, so below, and apply it to everything. The crossing, and the ancestors, I would say, in my point of origin, like, the indigenous African ancestry of ceremony, the rite of passage was given so that you Uh, make reverence to crossing and transmuting energy every step of the way along your growing, along your spiritual, um, knowing, along your community, right? There's a passage that, that is involved in, in coming from, uh, adolescence into a young man or a young woman or into motherhood. And so all of these are, uh, crossing overs, uh, transmutes.

Mik:

There's so much to think and think about and unpack, right?

Jenn:

Yeah, yeah. And also, this is not me beating up on myself about how flippant we can be about the ceremony of certain things. I remember I was going to skip my college graduation. I was like, I don't need to do that. And my mom was like, you're doing it. I was like, I didn't, I was like, I don't care about that. But it was this, It's a ceremony. It's a ceremony. And even, even of the, the fact of like celebrating, but like when you break it down into those elements of like, this is where you are, this is where you're going and you're moving into this, it feels a lot more solemn and you have a lot more reverence for, for what that is. Yeah.

Mik:

I think that leads me to my next question. Like, why do you see, or what do you think is the importance of Us as humans participating in ceremony.

Kira:

Oh, this is juicy. I like this. Uh, humanity and ceremonies in itself. And it seems almost like humans being in humans doing, uh, contradicting the way we contradict ourselves just in our daily living, but the necessity of ceremony brings us back to, uh, what it means to be a human being. Not just doing, but what it means to be a human being. And there's this sense of, uh, connection. That's just at the very core, the sense of connection, not just with the thing that I'm graduating from or with the event that I'm celebrating, but now I'm bringing in perhaps community, even if you're in ceremony by yourself. Perhaps nature, right? So at the very basics, the, the opportunity for us to, I'm going to use Jen's word, bring reverence and sacredness back to my life, my way of being, my way of living, um, I'm bringing in these elements of nature. of, uh, the directions, north, south, east, and west. So now I'm pulling in more elements in the ceremony, air, earth, water, and fire. Now my community, my elders as well, which is something that we've lost, which I think will come up later in this conversation, but something that we've lost in our reverence of ceremony is It's going back into an Africa, we say the Sankofa way. So facing forward and looking back. So the opportunity for humanity to be in ceremony is a reminder for why we're living. Why, why do you breathe as opposed to everything for granted and just, you know, going on and things become mundane and, and to take the, the, or let me say to bring the, the sacredness back into Sarah to ceremony that your way of living can be ceremonial and it doesn't necessarily have to be grand, but everything can be sacred. You can bring reverence and make going to relieve yourself in the restroom in the mornings and meditate in the afternoons and pray before you go to bed. That's a ceremonial way of living that you are honoring the essence of why you live, not just exist, but why am I present at this time in this earth right now. And I think that's pivotal for. humanity to have connection, to have community, to have, uh, some type of, uh, reverence of nature. And that reminds me, um, I'm not just alive to work and to buy things, to take care. Of little people. Uh, so the ceremony brings me back into, uh, the, the spice and the joy of life. And it's fun. It's, it's joy involved in that too.

Mik:

I definitely want to come back to those moments that can be ceremonial, but I want to make sure we kind of talk a little bit more about the elements of a ceremony. So we talked about rituals as being, as being one, uh, I imagine like some type of intention or intention setting is also a part of it. What other elements are there in a ceremony?

Kira:

So I would say there's a core, uh, if we would package a ceremony and I was given a ceremony box, which I had before, right? There is, there are these elements that are pivotal for, um, building this, of sacredness. So there's some type of spiritual connection, doesn't matter what you believe in, what you honor, who you talk to above and around you, there's some connection to spirit. So bringing in a deity, um, an entity, uh, your ancestral connections as well, your angels that walk with you, um, there's a ritual practice. That is involved. There is the sacred space, which is, I would say, uh, a core, uh, a very core, uh, element that is needed for every ceremony is that you open the space, but you name the space. So now we're going into like land rights, which is also another loss, uh, element of ceremony. And, um, which we see now as ceremonies have become more popular and, uh, plant ceremonies and, uh, You know, spiritual cleansing ceremonies. And one thing I pay attention to is where it's happening, where it's taking place. So if we leave the country and we go to another land, honoring that land, who not just who owns land, we're not talking about who bought it, but the indigenous people that put work and blood. And sweat into that. So land rights are very important, honoring your spiritual deities are important, having some type of ritual practice that brings you back into why we're here. So you have some chanting, some music, some drumming, things like that. And then you have what I said earlier, It's some a la carte experiences, right, where we get to bring in community, um, having an elder present or honoring your elders, um, is really important because you're paying homage to not just who came and what came before you, but in that space. The eldest or the elder in the room holds the energy not to give us permission, but just to honor the ancestral connection. And so that's the importance of our elders, um, having a purpose and intention, um, and then really honoring the living and the nonliving. In that space. And so I would say all of these are key elements, um, for any kind of ceremony. Again, whether you with the group or by yourself, uh, meditating or, uh, Jen, celebrating your own graduation. If it's from like a yoga teacher training program that you light a candle for yourself and you set an intention and you burn a little Palo Santo and you acknowledge is the acknowledgement goes a long way again to why we would open ourselves to.

Jenn:

So a couple of things came up while you were talking about that. One would think, well, in this season, it's, it's politics season in America. And one would think, how is politics going to come up in a conversation about ceremony? But I felt like when you were talking about indigenous people and how they practice ceremony and intention setting, it kept. The true nature and the purpose of that community, top of mind, top of heart, right? This is who we are. This is what we do. This is, you know, this is, this is what we stand for to a certain extent. And I feel like you can have your own thoughts about American patriotism. I know I do. But I do feel like there were certain elements growing up. Of ritual and ceremony that we saw that we had as a country that I felt like made people be more patriotic and them kind of falling apart. I think it's kind of shaking the table and it's making us question who are we and what do we stand for? And like, so we've, we've, we've lost that. And we've kind of, that's kind of gone away.

Kira:

I graze lightly in this. While I'm, I'm no stranger to politics, it is also not something that we insert daily into our lives because of the work that we do. However, uh, we're not naive to it. And, uh, I would say in, in this day and age, it feels more of a block than, um, a tool of resonance. So I'm in a session and I'm clearing the way to prepare for ceremony. And one of the blockages or things that came up was this anxiety around the season that we're in, and, and the, and I, I just shared this, um, with the client, but, you know, There used to be a right or a protocol, um, in African ancestry where they would do spirit calling ceremonies. And it would be around the, what we call election time, but in, I would say in that era, it would just be the cultural context of shifting leaders. And when anytime your leaders were shifting, um, Whatever season you will call in the spirits and the gods and goddesses that season But also you they will bring in the leaders who were going up for election or re election or who were putting themselves in the hat to be put in a position And they would pray over them and they will call in their ancestors and and they will call in the gods and nature but they will Do these spirit calling ceremonies to relieve anxiety, for one, but to integrate the leaders into communities so that we are working together and not in a fear based, um, space of, um, maybe feeling a little bit resistant to the leaders that are coming in. And so this is, I would say, one of the lost practices in what happens when society, culture, America, has gotten away from, uh, everything that we do is a ceremony and a rite of passage. And surely, electing a new, President or state official into office is also ceremonial. And that's not something that we need to, we have to shy away from, or it doesn't have to be led through, um, anxiety. But I think the position now that a lot of spirit leaders, thought leaders are taken is. Formulating these small groups and these ceremonial spaces where we can address the fear and the anxiety together, and then drive that energy into calling on whoever it is that we trust, Mother Earth, Gaia, to continue to do what she does to take care of us and our new leaders.

Jenn:

Hmm. That's beautiful. Yeah. My second thought came back. One of my favorite things that Kira said in ceremony, in session with her, and she says this all the time, time, and it's such a mantra for me is move at half speed. And sometimes it's, you know, we're coming out of a meditation, she was like, don't get up too quick, you know, move at half speed. But sometimes it's also just a reminder to be present and how we're just go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go. I got a vaccine and I'll, I'll move that quickly through a plant ceremony until the plant tell me to slow down. Um, or I'm just, you know, just moving too quickly and this conversation around around Sarah is very mindful of that, that you don't just move into the next thing, you don't just. slot in the next president, jump into a job, you, you slow down, you celebrate your present, you're mindful, you take your time with it. And I think the impatience that we can have, or even with like incorporating rituals, we're like, I don't have time for that. I gotta, I gotta do that. And like, just taking the time to. To start your day, how are you going to start your day? My mindfully going to move about your day. How are you going to be present around that? Like it's really, really powerful. It can be very daunting, but making yourself slow down is. It's fascinating to me. It's something I need to do.

Mik:

Absolutely. I think that gets to the question of, if we are so busy and we don't make room for, for ceremony, what type of effects can that have on us as, as, as people?

Kira:

I'm glad this question has come up so much resonance around, uh, and this is where we forsake, I would say ceremony. And underestimating the power of what ceremony does for the somatic, for the body, for regulating the nervous system. Exactly what you just said, Jen, for these quick movements, right? Without even knowing we live in a culture of urgency. Um, so if you wake up every day into a society of fight or flight, you don't know that. You're breathing like someone's chasing you all the time just because of the frequency that you live in. And so then you bring in ceremony to purposely and intentionally help you, invite you. It's never by force. It's always an invitation. Ceremonies always come by invitation, right? To help you, to invite you, to suggest to you, to just pivot you a little bit into, uh, a pace that's slower than your normal pace, which is why I say move at half speed, whatever your normal speed is. Is definitely contradicting to the medicine, but ceremony has come to offer you. So not having ceremony, not, or let me say the absence of it in, and really not acknowledging, uh, the sacredness and the reverence of it brings, uh, these missing components in our life. One, a connection to nature, a connection to community, uh, forsaken gathering. There's something, um, That is a loss. Art, especially in some of the BIPOC and African communities is a storyteller degree up right? The having ceremonies and gatherings just to tell stories, listen to the elders, right? So there's an absence of connection in ancestral lens. And then you have these bio mechanisms that are very, very, um, essential and ceremony allows. The pivot of breath. And attention, intention and attention, and just a small pivot in the way that you're breathing or just acknowledging that breath is trapped in your body and then come into ceremony to allow everything to slow down so everything comes up to the surface now. So the presence and the trust and the opportunity to create more spaces of acknowledging, acknowledging what I'm feeling. Acknowledging what I'm not feeling, acknowledging my, my partner, my neighbor, right, as people serve as mirrors for us. I would say another, um, perhaps downfall, um, having an absence of ceremony would be the no awareness of these pivotal shifts. Um, which is, in my opinion, can create a sad existence that you have no awareness at all. We're just living. And there are people on this earth that are here just to live. They're not even thinking about spiritually evolving. That's not why they're here. And that's fine. Um, Um, and I think also that creates a space of contrast for us. There are people that are here just to make us aware of what life would be like if I never acknowledged these pivotal shifts in my life. Here's your example. You get to see it. But the benefit of having a ceremonial list. or access to ceremony brings me back to this notion of how precious life is and how sacred it is and how powerful of a being I am that I can transmute energy and I can, uh, not be a slave to time, but like really trust the alignment of my life because I'm so deeply connected to ceremony and I was just telling my partner earlier And she asked me this question, I feel like I'm adding a question now in, but she asked me this question, um, as I was sharing some of my, my notes with her and she said, What brought you to ceremony in the first place? Was it before or with me that you really came into the ceremony? You know, the role of ceremonial is, and I said to her, which I, I love the fact that she brought me back to this place, but I said to my partner, partnership brought me back to this audacity of Sarah, so that I was able to put ceremony in the front and then my business, my partnership, even my role in motherhood behind that. But it is in the front. And as long as I honor ceremony, as I would a governing, uh, entity and source energy above and around me, but ceremony is always at the forefront of everything that I do so that everything else behind it or underneath it is anchored because Only is holding it, but I long for the day and I think we're there, you know, we it's a time It's not necessarily just a trend or a hashtag, but I feel like we're there humanity returning back to the grace and The sacredness of Sarah.

Mik:

Hmm. I love that. I love that. I think we've we've mentioned the word ceremonial is A few times, uh, and assumption that people know what that means, but I wanted to give you an opportunity to define what that is just so folks are very clear here as you know what that is.

Kira:

Ceremonialist. I would say, um, if I could put Mik on the spot for a moment, because I was not necessarily calling myself a ceremonialist. I'll give you the cliff note version as i've come into being born into a lineage of priests and priestesses Being a seventh generation preacher's kid myself So there are a lot of things that just felt innate and I didn't think of this protocol way of living um Was was a ceremonialist and then Mik comes in and so gratefully blesses my my website and my marketing Skills and all of that and that word came back to me So, at the core, if you take Ceremony and Ceremonialist, you know, the Ceremonialist stands as the facilitator and the gateway into your ceremony. Um, nothing happens, uh, by force or by way of our intention alone, but it is just with the permission and the grace and the invitation of the group or, um, the person that comes in. Commissions me and said and asked me to help them to guide them to facilitate, um, a life transition for them. And so this is what I do. I act as a guide and a facilitator, um, bringing people through. Uh, beautiful transitions in life and sometimes complex, sometimes just peaceful and joy filled. Rather, that's the tween that is coming into her body. Um, whether that is the soon to be mother coming into the position of sacred motherhood, the father as well. Um, whether that is, uh, weddings. Um, I didn't. First wedding ceremony this year as well. I've done transitions of life and funerals as well. Um, but as a ceremonialist, we just stand as a, as I say, as gatekeepers standing at the door. of you crossing over. So you have help and you have a witness and you have a guide to acknowledge, because that's another important element of ceremony is that there are witnesses around you, which is what community is to celebrate with you, to clap for you, but also they, we stand as acknowledgement and to confirm here's your, you, Right your confirmation that yes, you have done the work. We see you we acknowledge you and we're with you while you are crossing over So at ceremonies list, that's that's what I do. But I I say I can interchange that Uh with the word doula spiritual birth doula. Um, but ceremonialist, I'm still finding my way into easing into that, that way of way of living.

Mik:

I want to take a moment and just give you some flowers. So I talked about This in the shamanism episode that we did a while back, but, uh, on my journey learning about my lineage and learning about how I'm connected, uh, ancestrally to African medicine, people, shamans, and, um, you know, I came to you and you held a ceremonial space for me to go through the rites of passage to. fully understand what that connection was about. Um, and where I want to give you flowers in particular is that you did it in a way that was very just graceful, I'd say. Like, I think part of me wanted to be kind of spoon fed a lot of the answers. Like there's this, this analytical part of me that was like, I need all of the details, but what you did was you gave this the container, the space and, and basically pushed me to explore for myself and define it, define it on my own. Um, with a level of autonomy that in the long run would have a lot more meaning to me, right? Cause it's, it's a journey that I explored. I wasn't. Everything, right?

Kira:

That's so beautiful. Can I, can we share the flowers? I believe I do. I receive it, but I, I share the flowers with you. And this is something I just talked about too, with one of my elders, uh, as I was in Oaxaca. And she said to me, if you find yourself going through a certification, I into understanding the rites of passage or of life or shamanism or ceremony. If you think that it's coming by way of a certificate, you have been led wrong. And it just solidified some some things in me, although she wasn't the first to walk me through the lens and the path of priesthood and ceremonialist, but just her confirming that along my walk in this moment in time that a lot of us do want our, our hands held. I would love that now. And some of the initiations that I'm experiencing, but the journey is the medicine and knowing that I could give you all my notes and a full curriculum and book as to what to expect, what to do, but the way that you are able to craft, which is a ceremony in itself, your identity, your medicine, your gifts, your magic, the way you're able to curate that is the ceremonial or let me say the ceremonial journey, uh, That you have been able to partake in. I'm just glad to have been a, a mile marker along the way.

Mik:

For sure. I appreciate it. That's awesome. Um, Kira, again, thank you for, for that, that guidance that you gave me. Um, I want to kind of talk a little bit more going back, going back to what we are earlier with like these everyday ceremonies. The question is, how can we incorporate ceremonies, uh, into our lives, whether that's by ourselves or within our families or even within a larger community group where we come to a ceremony or a ceremonialist and experience a larger ceremony. How does that look like for everyday people who want more ceremony?

Kira:

Yes, everyday ceremonies, um, something as subtle as nature walks. I heard Jen talking about forest bathing on one of your podcasts. That's a ceremony of, you know, coming, taking the Eastern, uh, discipline and lens of what it means to walk through the forest and allow nature to absorb. Whatever is happening in my auric field is a ceremony. Taking my time is a ceremony. Um, before my feet hit the floor and I rise in my bed, just taking the first 11 minutes of my day, I'm intentional with the time. Numbers in the time, right, but it could be 3 minutes, 11 minutes, you pick your number, that feels good to you. But before your feet touch the floor, that you bring in the sacred ceremony into not just your room, your bed, and your body. Before you come into the world of movement. Um, and so, there's so many imitations that, Humanity, uh, is given to create ceremony. Um, nature keeps coming up, so I'm gonna keep coming back, um, to nature. But, you know, we have our standard birthdays. And, you know, we have the celebrations of life. I would love to see, you know, the ancestral spirit calling ceremonies come back. Where we're not just wailing and calling deities and gods and goddesses because we're afraid of something. But, you know, in the past cultural context, Autumn Equinox would have been celebrated with a communal ceremony in honoring the transition from summer to fall. So I would say allowing yourself to be open to slower transitions. It's bringing yourself to a place of accepting acknowledgement because sometimes, you know, for those that don't want to acknowledge or, or I would say, take the graduation, I don't need a certificate. I don't need all those accolades. I don't want all of that attention, right? Allowing yourself to receive, allowing yourself to receive from outside of you. and giving yourself the grace and the compassion and the personal acknowledgement saying that I'm proud. I'm happy that not just that it's over, but Oh, I'm, I'm glad I actually went through that season. These are small moments of ceremony where you just pause and you take a moment to acknowledge something you've done where you are now and the blessings and the intention that you are setting for where you're headed. And if you just build that core around every event in your life, then you too are a ceremonialist.

Mik:

I love that. I think I was taken to this imagery of, you know, Monday through Friday when we're waking up to get our kids ready for school, it can feel like this, like, you know, like we're walking in mud routine. It's repetitive. It's just like, uh, but if you kind of reframe it to like, this is a ceremony that we're participating in as a family every morning, uh, and it kind of set an intention and like, Just take, take it from a sense of that ceremony point of view, right? There are certain rituals that we do. We brush our teeth. We, you know, we say affirmations together in the mirror. Uh, we make lunch, right? Like, those, those are little rituals. And if you turn it around from being a chore into a ceremonial, you know, that's filled with rituals, um, it, it changes the feel and the tone, I think, of, you of those mornings. So,

Kira:

yeah. Keyword you said was taking the chore away from it. So, if I take the angst, if you just remove angst from a lot of our daily activities, take the anxiousness away, take the pressure, and take the angst away, then everything that you do feels more spacious. Spaceness has been my word for 2024 at the beginning of the year. I said, I want to create more space and everything I do between clients, between phone calls, between getting up, going from one room to the next, because it's a transition. Anytime I get ready to shift my body from one position to the next, if you know what happens as we are becoming wiser, you move too fast, you start to feel some things, right? Creating more spaciousness is an invitation to like seeing ceremony as a way of life, as opposed to, Oh, it's another thing that I have to do.

Jenn:

I love that. I know. Cause there have been days where I was like, I'm just so tired of, especially when I was working in an office, I was like, I just don't feel like getting dressed. And I remember I worked with a woman who she got up very early and she would, you know, she's like, Oh, I get up super early. I was like, it takes you that long to get ready. She was like, no, I just take my time. And I was like, I need every minute of sleep. I'm waking up until the last minute and then I'm getting ready. And I'm, I was like, ah, she's just like, and she would come in dressed to the nines and would just kind of flow. And, you know, and I, I don't think she was thinking about it in any type of spiritual context. Yeah. But just like thinking about it

Mik:

that the vibe, that energy, like Yeah. Just like, yeah.

Kira:

You're describing the way she flowed, the way she graced, you see the, the words that you're using.

Jenn:

Where I was coming in like Viola Davis with my bag and how to get away with murder, just clomping in. Here I am. This was amazing, Kira. Thank you so much.

Mik:

Yeah. Can you tell everyone again where they can find you? If they, they haven't heard you on the podcast before, let them know where you are on social media, um, on the, on the web.

Kira:

Yes, for any of you that are, uh, I won't say in need, in desire of, uh, assistance, teaching, curriculum, ceremonial, facilitating, any of those things, um, a doula of all sorts. You don't have to be having a baby for me to be your doula. Um, you can find me at KiraBuckley. com. Kara Buckley on Instagram as well. Um, info at Hey, healer. com and that's Hey, with two Ys. H E Y Y H E A L E R. com. Um, and on all of those forms, you'll find right. Ways that I service groups and individuals on up to corporate. Well, and create these invitations and spaces for ceremony, um, as a way of healing and living. And being in joy.

Mik:

All right. Thanks again. Cure as always. We love having you on the show.

Jenn:

Thank you. Oh, love you. All right. That's the show Kira, as always. Thank you for being on the show. We love you so much. You are amazing. Friendly reminder to check out our mailing list. You I'm serious. You don't, I'm. You don't want to miss what we have cooking up for you guys. Okay. I'm very very excited So use the link in the show description or visit shockers and shotguns calm

Mik:

and finally guys as always if you're loving the show Please subscribe and give us five stars wherever you watch or listen

Jenn:

namaste