Latest posts by Zita Christian
Read my latest blog articles
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Yemaya, Part 1: Shell Rituals Inspired by the Yoruba Orisha
Science shows that all human life began in Africa. So it’s no surprise that on the west coast of Nigeria we find the orisha Yemaya, Goddess of the Seven Seas, known as the “Mother of All.” Yemaya is often shown with conch shells. She fills them with her comforting voice. She is also shown with…
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Lammas, the First Harvest Festival: Pay Debts? Forgive Debts?
In the Old World of my Celtic ancestors, August marked the beginning of the harvest season. Country fairs called people from the fields where they grew crops and from the open lands where they grazed herds. August heralded a time to acknowledge hard work and enjoy its rewards. Lughnasadh, Lammas, and the Highland Games The…
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Ritual: Maiden, Mother, Crone
Every Maiden isn’t young. Every Mother doesn’t have a child. Every Crone isn’t old. Ritual for a Group Several years ago, I created a ritual for hundreds of women writers who’d come from all over the world for a week-long conference held on a college campus. The ritual was to honor their stories, those…
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Ritual: Winter Solstice Messages from the Trees
It’s mid-December. The trees are bare, the ground frozen. Daylight disappears around 4 pm. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice marks the longest night of the year. Festivities celebrate the promise that the Sun, with its life-giving warmth, is making its way back to us. With the season of snow, sleet and ice is…
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Rite of Passage: Wife to Widow
The rituals I share on this website and the items you’ll find in my shop were all created with magic in mind. Some were created from the magic of love. Let me explain. For seven years, I devoted myself to caring for my husband. He had Alzheimer’s. Our journey came with the heartbreak you…
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Ritual: Oathing Stones
DARE YE VOW ON AN OATHING STONE? Hearken back now to a time long ago when the land was always viewed as the home of the ancestors. Everyone knew that the spirits of loved ones who had died now guided and protected those still walking the earth. Everyone understood that physical survival in this world…
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Rites of Passage: Funerals
Whatever your spiritual beliefs, death creates a threshold between the world of the living and the world of the dead. When we think of a funeral as a rite of passage, we’re referring not to the deceased but to those left behind. For the survivors, life is irrevocably changed by the death of someone significant,…
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Rites of Passage: Weddings
By its nature, a rite of passage is a ceremony intentionally practiced and witnessed by a group whose members affirm that the person who completed the actions of the rite has been irrevocably changed. Thinking about the elements of today’s weddings and funerals, I can see why writer Ronald L. Grimes says ritual may have…