Earlier this year, a dear friend of mine died. Sarah was like an older sister to me. I am grateful that I was able to spend extra time with her in the last few months of her life.
Sarah owned a beautiful retreat space on 160 acres. Over time, she and her husband put in many hiking trails, a meditation pagoda, a labyrinth and a medicine wheel. Workshops were held in the barn and sweat lodges were held on the land. During the 35 years that she lived there, Sarah put her heart and soul into her home and opened it up to countless people.
When she told me that Soul Space was on the market, I asked her if she wanted to do a Ceremony of Completion for it; to give thanks for all that happened there. She perked up and said yes immediately. I invited a handful of friends to come and share their gratitude for Sarah, for her land, and for what she created over the years. We surrounded her on the medicine wheel and told Sarah how much she meant to us, how much she helped us, and all that we received as a result of knowing her and of being part of the Soul Space community. A lot of stories were shared and many hearts opened. Sarah took it all in.
A few days later, Sarah told me that doing the ceremony brought a great deal of closure to her, which enabled her to let the property go more easily. I was grateful to hear that this occurred for her.
Since the family service to celebrate Sarah’s life was a few states away, most of her local friends were not able to attend. I felt called to hold another ceremony and invited people to sit in circle, like we did numerous times at Soul Space. We met on a piece of property that she used to own. The new owners were gracious and let us gather there.
We shared stories of how each of us met Sarah. We shared the wisdom we acquired from her and other memories we had. Those gathered knew Sarah from different times and different settings so we learned more about her and her life from the stories we shared. It was a beautiful and emotional experience. As we shared a meal by the fire, people told me how good it felt to share in the way we did. A number of people said that the ceremony brought them closure that they hadn’t felt before.
I have found that when people come together for a sacred purpose and intention is merged with open hearts, deep healing occurs.