Moving On Rituals: 4 Ways

If you’re reading this, you’ve likely done some kind of ritual for moving on from something. Today, we are going to look at 4 rituals, one with each element, and how to make them circus-y.

Fire

I’m sure everyone has seen a ritual like this. Write the thing that is holding you back on a piece of paper and light it on fire. To make it circus-y, use that piece of paper to start the fire pit for a fire jam. This can be done as a “solo” experience with just you and a safety, or as a larger group. Fuel your prop prior to burning the paper with the thing you are trying to overcome, and light your prop off the flame produced. Flow until your fuel burns out.

Water

This one I struggle to make circus-y because my thought is mermaiding, which requires a lot of water. However, you could also get a kiddie pool and fill it with water and do some kind of water-based photo shoot or water-based dance practice. For the moving on ceremony, I recommend writing on something like wafer paper that will dissolve in the water and do your dance/take your photos until you feel it is right to stop. The water can then be used for watering plants or something similar because we like to reduce, reuse, recycle.

Earth

To keep this environmentally friendly (because I like having a planet to live on), if you choose to do a ceremony with earth, I urge you to write on fallen leaves with a bio-degradable ink. Write down the thing holding you back/thing you want to get over and bury it in the earth. To make it circus-y, do some tumbling, dance, hand balancing, or other ground-based discipline over the spot where you buried the leaves.

Air

This is another one where I recommend using fallen leaves and biodegradable ink (for the planet). Write the thing you are trying to overcome/that is holding you back on those fallen leaves, and climb your apparatus as high as you are comfortable, get into a comfortable lock of some kind and rip those leaves to shreds then toss them into the wind. Make the whole ritual part of your sequence, and noodle until you feel it’s time to stop.

The basis of this—writing down something that holds you back/that you want to over come, then destroying the writing by use of one of the four elements is a common overcoming ritual. The above are just a few ideas on how to make an overcoming ritual circus-y.