Ritual at the Conference: A Graceful Conclusion

It was at the May Teachers’ Accreditation in New Jersey that I first met Meara Joy Norice. Our energies seemed to have blended from the moment I met Meara at the airport. During the week we spoke about the upcoming Denver Conference and shared our individual desires to do some rituals with candles – Meara with the idea of “Rededication” as teachers, myself with a movement to ritualize TCC. What resulted was experienced Saturday night at the Teachers’ Conference. Meara served as Master of Ceremonies during the Talent Show which was fun and light. She created a beautiful flower Mandala with a center candle and four others to mark the four directions, inviting those who were teaching for 10 years or more to form a circle around the mandala. Two other circles were formed around the inner circle, with everyone holding a candle. As Justin lit his candle and passed it (the light) to the next person, each was invited to Rededicate within her/his heart to the values and principles of TCC during their own practice and teaching. After the last candle was lit, music played and the Ritual Movement began as the group of 125 persons moved slowly in the glow of candle light. Returning to the stillness once again, the candles were extinguished one by one with the hope that the desires expressed in the Rededication would burn brightly within, radiating light and warmth from each teacher in our oneness with Cosmic Rhythm.