The Burning Bowl

RITUAL TAPS ‘DIVINE INTELLIGENCE’ FOR CHANGE

A member of Unity of Fayetteville takes part in the annual burning bowl ceremony Sunday morning at the Fayetteville church. For the ceremony, worshipers were given a piece of paper to write down something negative they want to release from their lives and then burned the paper during the ceremony.
A member of Unity of Fayetteville takes part in the annual burning bowl ceremony Sunday morning at the Fayetteville church. For the ceremony, worshipers were given a piece of paper to write down something negative they want to release from their lives and then burned the paper during the ceremony.

For millennia, people have used the power of fi re as a symbol for transformation.Members of Unity of Fayetteville tapped into that archetypal energy in a burning bowl ceremony last weekend.

The church has hosted the ritual on the Sunday before New Year’s Day for years, said Annette Olsen,incoming spiritual leader. She said the burning bowl ceremony is a tradition of many Unity churches.

A small fire in a metal bowl at the front of the sanctuary is the center of the ceremony.

Participants are guided into a meditative state and asked toreflect on what they want to release from their lives. Often this takes the form of a pattern of behavior or belief, Olsen said.

“We’re setting a conscious intention. We’re allowing that part of us to come up and speak to what no longer serves us.”

People are given time to write their reflections as meditative music plays in the background. The church uses a special kind of paper that burns without producing fl yaway ash, Olsen said.

As people are ready, they walk to the front of the church and drop their missives into the fl ames. The action serves as a visceral reminder of the letting go that can happen at any time, Olsen said.

“It’s a symbol of what can happen each moment in awareness. When done with intention, it can be a very meaningful process.”

The ritual taps into a “divine intelligence” that knows more than the personality-based self, Olsen said.

“When we come together, individually or collectively, with the state of oneness,there’s this energy. It allows the ‘wisdom of the ages’ to come up and be involved.” ANGEL CARDS OFFER GUIDANCE

At Unity of Fayetteville, the ritual has a second part. Participants pick an “angel card” from a separate bowl once they have burned their intentions for change. The tiny cards feature an array of angels and words such as “peace,” “courage,” “transformation” and “hope.”

The purpose is to replace what has just been released with a positive attribute or goal for the coming year, Olsen said.

“When you let go of something, there is an opportunity to follow it up with what is your highest good. ... We can move into new patterns and new behaviors that better serve our lives and relationships and work.”

The words, chosen at random, often seem right on target for what the person has just released, Olsen said. Her intentions this year are to let go of a tendency toward judgment, particularly against herself, she said. The card she drew was “acceptance.”

“The card always, in my experience, affirms what it isyou want to move into,” she said. All the words are positive, but they sometimes ask people to stretch beyond their comfort zones. Olsen remembers the chagrin she felt when she drew the word “discipline.”

Church member Christi Daniels said she has been taking part in the ritual for the past 11 years. It’s a satisfying experience for her, much like clearing out a closet, she said.

“I love the feeling of lightness when I let go of things.”

Daniels keeps her angel card on her bedside table as a daily reminder of what she’s moving into, she said. Her card for thisyear is “faith.”

“The word is always really timely,” she said. “There’s something about pulling that card and having that word be the first thing you see. It’s subliminal. It’s working on me every day.”

Daniels hosted a bowl burning at her home last month. She invited guests to create a collaborative poster setting intentions for their lives and the world. After they burned it, they drew individual mandalas.

“It’s a symbolic ritual. It helps us outwardly say, and take steps, for something going on inside - making it real.”

Religion, Pages 6 on 01/05/2013

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