Rituals and ceremonies are performed for many reasons, birth, death, coming of age, marriage, full moons, new moons, equinoxes, solstices, as preparation for a journey, before healings, and to celebrate important events. Rituals serve as a focus for what you wish to accomplish and as a reminder of our connection to the web of power.
Rituals and ceremonies tend to use rattles as well as drums. Drums are used to help the shaman journey to and from the world of the spirits. Rattles tend to bring the spirits to a place. Rattles are also used for directing energy much in the same way wiccans use wands. Rattles are traditionally made from dried gourds filled with small stones and attached to a stick. However anything that rattles nicely can by used in a pinch although one made from natural objects always tend to have the nicest feel. Do whatever feels right for you.
The following are links to information about some rituals and ceremonies. They are by no means word for word accounts of how to do them. Instead they were written to serve as a guide for people to learn from and develop their own rituals out of. It is your life. It is your path. Live it for yourself.
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