Are you an artisan, a craftsperson, a maker? It's February. It's time to affirm your faith in your talent, prepare your tools, and get to work on your big dream. If you lived in the Old World in the land of the Norse, you'd be preparing your iron plow. You'd be honoring the Dwarves whose skill and knowledge are forged into your plow. You'd cleanse …

After 2 challenging years, I found hope attending the virtual conference of the Parliament of the World's Religions. Its 1893 conference is considered the beginning of the interfaith movement. The Oct 2021 conference offered 583 programs, panel discussions, religious ceremonies and spiritual observations. Presenters included Christians, Jews, Musli…

Think of your home as a living entity. A simple gratitude ritual can change your perspective on what your home really means. Your walls provide structure, shelter, and a sense of security. The floor supports you and keeps you grounded. Running water helps you get in touch with deep emotions. This episode contains a simple ritual to help you see and…

My husband and I have been married for 40 years. He has Alzheimer's Disease. Late stage. I'm his full-time caregiver. I'm fortunate to have a social worker on our medical team, and to be a member of an online dementia support group. Still, there are potholes in the emotional road we're traveling. This episode shares respected data, personal stories…

Imagine the story of your life. What happens to you after, "Once upon a time"? The ancient folktale of Fatima the Spinner is reimagined to support a woman's right to choose. Let it inspire your own story. The Power of Your Warp & Weft, a workshop designed by author and professional weaver Paula Chaffee Scardamalia, is included with her permission. …

What does a wedding arch have to do with a king’s scepter, a flag planted on the moon, and a Thomas Kincaid painting? Weddings are filled with symbolism. One that has been lost over the years is the original meaning of the ceremony arch. Hint: The meaning can be found in the night sky and the ancient belief, "As above, so below. "…

Yemaya, the Yoruba orisha, the Mother of All, is associated with cowrie shells, symbols of fertility, prosperity, and a woman's voice. This episode offers rituals using various shells, and a ceremonial ritual to discover your authentic self. Learn about the millions of Africans who died crossing the Atlantic Ocean in the horrors of The Middle Passa…

In the frigid waters of the Arctic Ocean, we find the Inuit goddess Sedna. There are several versions of her origin story, each one horrific. At the heart of each is the theme of betrayal. The rituals I created for Sedna are designed to help us reframe childhood beliefs, especially those beliefs that can keep us from thriving as adults. That's the …

Getting married at the beach? Mother Nature always leaves messages for us. Unfortunately, we don't always know how to read them. What messages can you find in seashells? The answers are important if you're having a beach wedding. Resources mentioned: Ocean Oracle: What Seashells Reveal about Our True Nature by Michelle Hanson Sea Magic: Connecting …

Renewing your wedding vows can be a powerful ceremony You'll remember the happiest times in your marriage. You'll also remember the most painful. This episode offers two vow renewal rituals. One of them, The Growing Flame, can easily be adapted for any personal vow you make to yourself.By Zita Christian

Did you fall in love in Paris? Or Podunk? Use that info to personalize your wedding ceremony. Use that same info to create a ritual for a birthday or retirement party. Use it for a student who is leaving home to study abroad. As often happens, this ritual was inspired by one of "my" couples, Thomas and Raffaele. They shared their first kiss in Rome…

Imagine that you're a parent and your child is leaving home for college, or for a job, or some other grand adventure. You've equipped your son or daughter with all the necessities and you're excited to see your child take those first big steps away from home. But something doesn't feel right. This is a milestone in your young adult's life and in yo…

The falcon is the consummate hunter. It teaches us how to make progress by blending speed and focus. The falcon wants you to see beyond your limits. The hawk's medicine is inward and deep. It wants you to see your life from a broad perspective and let go of unnecessary baggage. The hawk awakens us to the vision we have inside us. This is the 3rd in…

Imagine an owl. Did you feel a sense of apprehension or foreboding? No surprise. Owls have long been associated with death. Or, did you picture Harry Potter's owl, Hedwig? Beliefs about owls are contradictory because the owl is the symbol of death, and wisdom, and magic. At the heart of owl medicine is the ability to discern the truth. In this epis…

Central to all birds of prey is their association with death and the cycle of life. This episode is the first in a series of how birds of prey can inspire rituals for a variety of situations: funerals and memorials, projects that require focus or the ability to see the big picture, and life events that require courage. As Lesley Morrison writes in …

Discover your secret sound. Take a lesson from crows about adapting, from parrots about diplomacy, and from dolphins about communicating with other species. Build an altar to the element of air. Visit RitualRecipes.net for more details.By Zita Christian

To a writer, the blank screen can be exciting or daunting. Find helpful rituals with magic pens, stones, and draw on the special qualities of lions, ants, cardinals, and whales. This episode also looks back in history at cultural changes brought about centuries ago by the Black Death, the invention of the printing press, and why having books became…

Did your grandmother's house have a parlor that was used to care for the dead? Mine did. When the time comes, which do you want: a funeral home or a home funeral? Burial or cremation? Fancy casket or cardboard box? Ashes in an urn or scattered someplace special? Who have you talked to about what you want? No one? I'm not surprised. Death hasn't bee…

Most couples don't get married expecting to get divorced. But when a marriage is dissolved, can ritual help the couple move on? Rocky Road is a marriage maintenance ritual. Untying the Knot is a funeral ritual for the death of a marriage. As heretical as it might sound, I don't believe that all marriages are meant to last. I believe we're meant to …

Over 11 million dogs and cats die in the United States every year. Because of the close bond people have with their pets, the people are often referred to as "pet parents." So, what do we do when a beloved pet dies? How do we celebrate the life that gave unconditional love? The first pet cemetery in the U.S. was created in 1970. The burials were he…

She's a woman of "a certain age." Our culture thinks those words are better than saying "she's old." Well, I'm a woman of a certain age. I'm certain of who I am, certain of what I want, and certain of what I have to offer the world. I'm 72 and I'm a Crone. I claimed that title in a ritual called "Croning." A croning can never be like a surprise bir…

At 9 years old, I didn't care that my mother wasn't funny like Lucille Ball, or that she didn't wear circle skirts and twirl around the house like Loretta Young, or that she was no longer pretty like Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke. I wanted my mother to be brave, like Annie Oakley. Not long after Rosa Parks sat on that bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in the wh…

Do you believe in fairies? I do, but not in the way you might expect. My childhood ideas have changed. Now I think of fairies as thought forms of good energy -- helpful spirits, invisible, accessible. Hear about Ho Hsien Ku, "the immortal woman," one of the 8 fairies in the Chinese legend. Learn how to invite the fairies into your world, how to con…

Long ago, when sailors navigated by the stars, when seabirds carried the spirits of sailors lost at sea, and when everyone knew that the bust of a naked woman on the bow of a ship would calm rough waters, a sailor would carry a cord with three knots. Bound in each was the wind itself. Inspired by the ancient lore of knots, I created the ritual "Lov…

The power of this ritual comes from exploring the past, getting to know your ancestors and what they might have survived -- plagues, natural disasters, persecutions, wars, genocide. Whether or not you know who is on your family tree, they existed. You're the living proof. What do they have to tell you about facing fear, seeing the truth, finding co…

Why was the death toll in the Spanish Flu of 1918 so high? Why were the details not shared with the public? Why were Black doctors and nurses so key to the survival rates of Americans not serving in WWI? Zita Christian interviews retired Connecticut state senator and history professor Mary Ann Handley about the Spanish Flu of 1918. The interview or…

All over the world, the presence of a key indicates there's something to protect. When you love someone, you trust them with a metaphorical key to your heart. Based on this understanding, I created a ritual called "The Key to My Heart." As part of a wedding ceremony, this ritual acknowledges how the couple was influenced by their parents and grandp…

Every Maiden isn't young. Every Mother doesn't have a child. Every Crone isn't old. What distinguishes the three is not age, but energy. Let me show you how the three faces of the Goddess can be used in a group ritual for your Moon Circle, or as a ritual you can do by yourself. If you don't have white quartz crystals for the Maiden, red garnets for…

Long before organized religion, people found meaning in the stars. People saw the night sky as a canopy with four corners watched over by four bright stars: Aldebaran, Regulus, Antares, and Fomalhaut. In time, those watchers became royal stars, and those stars became archangels: Michael, Raphael, Uriel, and Gabriel. Ancient beliefs can show how we'…

Trees shape the mythology of cultures all over the world. Trees show us where the fairies live. Just as the forest is the place where untried heroes are transformed, we, too, can be both lost and found among the trees. That's because trees have messages for us, if we'll just listen. I offered 14 of those messages to those who attended this year's W…

The Game of Thrones Season 1 relationship between Khal Drogo and Daenerys Targaryen reveals the Venus-Mars energy in the wedding ritual of Circling. The ritual can also be used in a vow renewal celebration. Once you understand the power of the Moon, the Circling ritual isn't as patriarchal as it might seem.…

When life feels anything but abundant, sometimes the smallest gesture can transform that feeling. That's a lesson I learned from my daughter when she was a teenager working at a candy counter. She wasn't the only employee selling gourmet jelly beans that day. I watched as customers politely declined to purchase from the other woman and, instead, wa…

A pregnant bride in her early thirties didn't want to carry a bouquet and asked me if she had to. I assured her there were no requirements that she carry flowers. I also explained why she might want to reconsider her decision.By Zita Christian

In August of 2008, I was one of six women gathered on Cape Cod, laptops in tow, to work on a manuscript begun by our friend Liz Aleshire. At the time, Liz was in the cardiac ICU unit of Hartford Hospital. Liz was a multipublished author. This latest book was to be a tribute to her son who had died 12 years earlier of bone cancer. He was 16 at the t…

For years, "Grandmother Mechi" Garza had been channeling a spirit entity named Lothar. In her dreams, he dictated 12 volumes of information and a type of healing called "Kolamni." He said the knowledge would save our world from the destruction of his world, Atlantis. He told her to tell her story to Zita. At the time, Mechi and I didn't know each o…

It was 2005. I was in New Hampshire, in the woods, with a small group of men and women who had come to study astrology and Goddess spirituality. One of the men, Dan Graham, commented on the red sweater I was wearing. He was totally blind. That simple comment opened a discussion about how he could see color vibrations and how he could hear the subtl…

The dark half of the year is fertile ground for fears. In this year's Samhain ritual, I incorporated a map of fears, a community fire, animal spirit guides, and the energies of the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Mentioned in the episode is the oracle deck "The Illustrated Bestiary" by Maia Toll, a beautiful, powerful, and poetic tool.…

Can't have everyone you want in your wedding party? Don't give those special people boring tasks! Give them a meaningful role in your ceremony. How? With a creative wedding ritual. Here are 3 of my "gift-giving" rituals. One involves bamboo and is based on the couple's love of Giant Pandas. One uses lifelike, laser-cut moths. One was inspired by th…

The ritual described in this episode honors the harmony between the Sun and Moon. Too much heat, crops burn. Too much rain, crops drown. Like crops, our personal wellbeing depends on our ability to balance work and rest. Seeing the cycle of light and dark play out between the Winter and Summer Solstices can help us harness our own energy and live a…

The Celtic festival of Beltane, celebrated on or about May 1, is associated with fertility, flowers, fairies, the Hawthorn tree. From the Hawthorn, we get the story of Bloddeuwedd, a woman created from nine plants and trees by two magicians who wanted to make the perfect bride for a young man. All went well for a while, until Bloddeuwedd met anothe…

Spring is here! It's time to break the bonds of winter. How? This episode offers safe and simple rituals for groups and individuals, adults and children, to celebrate spring: Break chains. Plant symbolic seeds. Plant metaphysical seeds. Wake up the trees! As one season begins, another season ends. In the excitement of welcoming the new, don't forge…

Combine acts of kindness and generosity with safe and simple rituals designed to open the heart to give and receive love. Each of us has something to give. That may be time, or money, or things, or energy. How much we have will vary. What's important is to recognize that these gifts have an endless return on investment. Whether you volunteer at a n…

Unity candles and sand ceremonies are lovely but couples do have other options. On this episode, you'll find ways to personalize the meaning of the traditional rituals and discover new rituals inspired by the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water. Any ritual can fall flat without context. For example, the fire of a Unity Candle can symbolize…

The Celtic fire festival of Imbolc is celebrated in early February. It honors Brigid, patron Goddess of blacksmiths, brewers, and bards, also referred to as smithcrafters, healers and poets. For an individual, follow a simple ritual using a red or white candle and something to symbolize Brigid -- a cast iron skillet, a mortar and pestle, or journal…

A Rite of Passage ritual has three steps: Separation, Transformation, and Incorporation. Seeing those steps in a wedding deepens the meaning to the elements of the ceremony. Those same rite of passage steps can also be seen in the process a contestant goes through to win the television reality show, The Voice. Zita shares personal stories about the…

What does the Winter Solstice have to do with gifts and candles, pigs and wine, freedom and fear, New Year’s resolutions, handfastings and the infinity symbol? A lot! Helpful links: For the associated blog post with photos - http://moonriverrituals.com/blog For "Light is Returning" on the CD "The Winter's Night" by MotherTongue - http://www.earthsp…

I learned a valuable lesson the day a skunk crossed my path. It was about animal totems and the magical medicine they offer. Seeing animals as spirit guides is at the heart of a public ritual I created for Samhain, the Celtic festival that marks the death of summer. The mysteries of Samhain are at the heart of the holiday we call Halloween. The rit…

How to use the physical and metaphysical properties of butterflies to create rituals for wedding ceremonies, funeral services, and memorial celebrations of life. Did you know that in some Native American traditions, a butterfly is thought to be a living piece of a rainbow? That's just one of several nuggets from folklore and cultures around the wor…

If you want do DO something to help heal the world, consider making a pot of healing soup. You won't find the ingredients in your pantry. You'll find them in your heart. In this episode, I share a harvest ritual I created to empower each of us to be part of the solution, not the problem. The ritual involves receiving ingredients we need to heal our…

The Celtic harvest season honors the sacrifice of the Corn King, a/k/a John Barleycorn. Time to celebrate community and settle debts, and compete in the Highland Games. Ask yourself: What debt will you pay? What debt will you forgive? Mentioned in the podcast: 2018 Highland Games in Scotland, CT Meg's Inspirations, an inspirational and spiritual bo…