What is ritual and why is it essential for healing and connection?
Since the beginning of time, human beings have used rituals to cope with their most powerful and terrifying experiences. Ritual, as symbolic movement or action, expresses themes of human experience through archetype, story and symbolism. When we can connect to something bigger than ourselves we are inspired by the human spirit to be closer to what we view as Divine.
Ritual is more than tradition—it’s an ancient technology of the soul. Across cultures and throughout time, rituals have been used to anchor the human experience in meaning, to soothe the nervous system during life’s thresholds, and to create sacred connection between the self, the collective, and the Divine.
Ritual invites us to participate in our own healing—not just mentally or emotionally, but energetically and spiritually. It aligns us with the sacred Other, the source of life-force energy that both defines us and reminds us that we are more than our wounds. In this communion, we remember our wholeness.
“This contact with sacredness, however it is imagined by an individual or culture, is ultimately a touchstone of our humanity; it is what makes us whole and grants us a sense of connection to community and the world.”
Sabina Magliocco, Ph.D.
At its heart, ritual is intentional action infused with symbolism. It channels archetypal story and sacred gesture to express the inexpressible—grief, joy, transition, and transformation. When we step into ritual space, we awaken our innate capacity for healing and regeneration. By weaving intention into our actions, we tap into an ancient intelligence that links the personal with the transcendent.
Yet, in modern life, we are ritually starved. Our culture prioritizes productivity over presence, and we are conditioned to overlook the sacred woven into the mundane. Disconnected from nature, body, and spirit, many feel trapped in loops of trauma, longing for deeper meaning and connection.
Ritual is a remedy for this cultural dis-ease. It offers a pause—a sacred interruption in our forward motion. It reintroduces reverence into everyday moments and reminds us of the divine dwelling within and around us.
Spiritual teacher and somatic pioneer Gabrielle Roth once mourned the loss of ritual in modern society and issued a call to restore the sacred to daily life. To do this, we must take the journey inward and reclaim the power of personal ritual. She observes:
“We no longer honor life’s whole sacred journey. Our rituals are empty; they mean nothing. They no longer empower us for the psychic tasks we need to undertake...That’s why we need to rediscover a creative contemporary shamanism suited to our turbulent, tenuous times.”
Gabrielle Roth
There is a calling to take the journey of finding the Divine into our own hands — to connect to something deeper and imbue a depth of meaning into our lives that transcends the present-day desire to continually move forward. We must call ourselves to the pauses of life.
Ritual doesn’t have to be grand or complex. Its magic lies in presence, intention, and the willingness to listen to what lies beneath the noise. In these quiet spaces, wisdom dwells and sacrament awaits to had.
We are hungry for meaning, for peace, for the beauty of connection. Ritual is the path that leads us home—again and again.
Pause.
Listen.
Remember.
Repeat.
with love,
Sabrina dokas
resources:
Al-Rawi, Rosina-Fawzia- “Grandmother’s Secrets: The Ancient Rituals and Healing Power of Belly Dancing”
Magliocco, Sabina Ph.D- “Introduction: Ritual Creativity, Emotions and the Body”
Roth, Gabrielle- “Maps to Ecstasy”
The Shamanic Dance Way of Kate Shela & Amber Ryan, www.the360emergence.com
