Has your heart been heavy, holding the record of past sorrows, disappointments or dashed hopes? The Spirits of Water & Willow stand ready to help you release the heaviness in your heart. Of course, healing of deep dynamics does not happen all at once, but this ceremony can help you lighten your heart & step toward a brighter future.

Fill a bowl with clear, cool water. Sit comfortably with the bowl in your lap. Honor the Spirit of Water rippling in the bowl. Prepare to welcome the Spirit of Willow. Sense Sister Willow’s leaves dancing above your Crown as her sweeping branches enfold you. Throughout the ages, Willow has reached into the human heart & called forth the deep flow of emotion. Invite her to share her heart-healing medicine with you.

Willow eases her healing roots gently into your heart, stirring the stagnant energies that pool in its depths, emotions that have burdened your heart for too long. She is not afraid. She shares this fearlessness with you. It is time to release. Lift the bowl & hold it beneath your heart chakra. Breathe in, deeply welcoming Willow. Breathe out, sensing the heaviness in your heart begin to rise in a muddy stream. As you continue to breathe, sense this stream flowing out of your heart into the bowl.

“More room out than in,” Willow whispers. “This is the pain that was. It is no longer yours. No need to keep it. Let it go with love.” Continue to breathe & sense the stream flowing into the bowl. Breathe & allow your heart to be deeply cleansed. Willow is with you. Continue until you sense the flow clear & quiet.

Carry your bowl outside & face West. Reflect upon the contents of your bowl. “This was your past,” Willow reminds you. “It need not be your future.” Lift your bowl & allow its contents to pour out onto the Earth. Ask the Spirit of Water to carry these energies into the past. Sense the lightening in your heart. Thank the Spirits of Water & Willow. Celebrate!

by Ananaia Rose O'Leary