Spiritual Picnic
In this ceremony, we use only the basic ceremonial ideas. This is done in private, in nature, and in a comfortable location. This is the primary type of ceremony that I like to create.
This ceremony is named the spiritual picnic, because it does not include many traditional elements, nor is there dancing, music, or special costume etc. The idea behind the simplicity of this scenario is to arrange a small comfortable area in which to take the medicine, and to quietly meditate and invite the Great Spirits to communicate with the group. If people are chatting, laughing, carrying on, dancing, chanting, singing, this is completely disruptive to this process. If you are not ready to sit still, be quiet, open your mind and listen, then the Spirits will find no reason to come and sit among you and speak to you.
In this ceremony, there is no shaman, and no one plays that role. Although there may be a facilitator who advises the other participants about why things are done as they are and what to expect, the ceremony is given over to the spirits entirely once initiated and the participants sit and listen. Usually there is a security role (4 or more participants), where one agreed upon person will assist any member who is having issues, and make sure no one leaves the circle once the ceremony has commenced. All members must agree to this prior to taking the medicine. If anyone does not agree then exclude them from your ceremony. If the experience was not profound enough, then not enough medicine was used, or someone in the ceremony is not ready for the full experience. The ceremony can only come up as high as the lowest participant. Ideally, one would have a group of similar minded people to be involved with, where everyone knows the rules and respects each others roles, and this group would eventually experience many ceremonies together as a class.
Types of medicine:
Items to have on hand:
- Large picnic blanket
- candle (bees wax is preferable, paraffin wax is toxic)
- incense (copal, white sage, sweet grass – other incenses may smell nice, but are quite often synthetic)
- two lighters
- some bring kindling for a small fire (small hatchet)
- some bring the Mother Spirit flowers
- 1 liter of water per person (to stop the medicine in case of emergency)
- something to eat (to stop the medicine in case of emergency)
- poncho in case of bad weather (perhaps also a water-proof tent)
- garbage bags (to clean the area before and after)
- band-aids
- toilet paper
All electronics off. Prepare the area and go over the ground and pick up any trash, broken glass etc. Be very careful during this part not to cut yourself. It is ill advised to go into any ceremony where any blood is involved for any reason. Im not going to tell you why, but if you ignore my warning, I am sure you will find out the hard way. This is the reason for the band-aids and toilet paper, in case of accidents with the glass or cutting of the wood. Once the area has been cleaned, move swiftly to conserve the time you have for being in the experience. Lay out the blanket, and arrange any offering you may have brought. Offerings are not required, the only thing the spirit really wants from you is a sincere intention, and your undivided attention.
Once the candle or fire has been lit, the ceremony is under way. Form a circle of participants, and do not move the circle until the medicine has subsided to a near normal state. It is considered very disrespectful to stand up and walk out on the spirits that are summoned by the medicines, even if you cannot see them, they are there, and they don’t like it when you move the circle after the ceremony is under way. If for some unforeseen reason, you must move the circle due to weather or privacy issues, ask permission. It was the spirits who told us this during one of our ceremonies directly, the fire spoke as we got up to move our group due to rain. The fire told us it doesn’t matter even if we have our ceremony in our hotel room, as long as it is private, and we are comfortable and safe, as long as we do not need to leave the area once the spirits have arrived. They do not like it when people take these medicines, and go about in public.
The duration of this ceremony will depend upon which medicine you use, and if you are interrupted or not. I have experienced ceremonies which go on for some hours. During such ceremonies, the spirits arrive and speak with us. The form this will take depends upon the participants. For people who are just beginning, they may have an encounter with nature spirits. These are the inspiration behind such creatures as pixies, elves, gnomes, smurfs, and trolls, and the inspiration behind such movies as Narnia, Peter Pan, Harry Potter, and The Lord of the Rings. In the beginning stages, the spirits work through these creatures to teach you that the truth is stranger than fiction, and that these worlds do exist, and you should pay close attention, because others have been here before you and have left many stories and works in literature and cinema that will assist you with discovering the truth of nature.
When the effects of the medicine have subsided, and you are done your ceremony, say a small thank you to acknowledge your guides, and their participation. When you have done this, you may blow out the candle, and this will conclude your ceremony. It is important to leave nothing behind. On many occasions, you will find that you, and everyone else realizes that you don’t actually need all these things you are carrying. One person in our group suggested we gather up all of these things we don’t really need, such as incense burner, tea pot, etc, etc, and create a nice shrine, rather than carry it back down the mountain. I heard a voice in my head humorously ask, “and then what? The next person will leave what they don’t need, and the next and so on until a new religion has been born? If you would just take what you brought with you off of my mountain, we could avoid all of the wars and confusion that would ensue from this shrine of things you decided you don’t want”
