House Blessings
You’ve just moved into a new home and though you’ve arranged the furniture and filled the closets, it still doesn’t feel like yours. Or you’ve lived in your home for a while, but the circumstances around you have changed – people have come into your life or left, perhaps. Or maybe you just feel like a different person than the one who moved in some time ago.
Taking time to create a ritual to bless your house is a chance to bring a joyous, sacred spirit into the space that you call home. House blessings can be as simple as walking through each room with prayerful intentions or as involved as a party with friends, family and food, poetry, music, and dancing. Whatever you choose, a ritual crafted especially for you provides a unique way to set your intention for the kind of home you wish to create.
House blessings often involve clearing out old energy and inviting in new energy. We may use incense, candles, the elements of earth, fire, water and air. We may bless pets or special pieces of furniture or symbols that hold a particular meaning for you. If you are creating a new business in your home or starting a new relationship there, I will work with you ensure that the blessing can encompass all that the home will hold.
Your home is the place you will spend a majority of your time: a place of rest and nourishment, a respite from the world. A house blessing is a beautiful way to add meaning to your personal sanctuary.
Baby Blessings
What could be more joyous than gathering to give thanks for new life?
Almost every religious tradition and culture has its particular ways of blessing and naming new babies. But sometimes the tradition you grew up with is not what you desire for your own child. Maybe you are part of an interfaith couple and want to plan something that reflects both traditions. Or maybe your own beliefs are not easily categorized, but you long to bring together your diverse group of friends and family to celebrate this amazing new creation.
Let me help you craft a service drawing on your particular values and including the communities that will support you in raising your child with those values.
Pet Blessings
The choice to bring a non-human companion into your home requires big responsibilities, new understandings and lots of love and attention. This is a sacred task. Why not mark it as such? Special blessings for a new pet can invite each family member to make commitments and can be a time of gratitude for the gifts this new animal will bring into your lives.
Pet blessings may also come as you find you need to give up a pet to a new home or as your life circumstances change or your pet’s health changes. In the churches I served, I instituted services of animal blessings and have deep respect for our animal companions and the roles they play in our lives. I am a life-long pet owner, from fish and birds, to small furries and large furries. I currently share my home with two dogs and a cat, and I volunteer with my son at the Asheville Humane Society.
