The clutter in our mind tends to be of three kinds, obligations we must meet urgently; those that could wait but which buzz around, free-floating tension that can be related to event of the day, past events and worries about the future.
Some clearly cannot be permanently set aside, but it is important to clear the mind of clutter if it is to be centred and not constantly pulled in different directions. The following ritual is very good for creating the separate space necessary for creative and positive spiritual evolution.
Take symbols of the people around you that drain or dissipate your energies eg. negative faxes, print out of troublesome e-mails, nasty work memos, other people’s shopping lists you end up doing, requests from children’s schools for funds, anything that makes you angry or anxious.
Many of these matters will recur or have to be resolved, but for now you need to clear the space of clutter that actually leaves us feeling unable to sort dilemmas. Just as you did with your house, you should spend time on all the worries, however large or small and you can write or draw a representation of each one.
Place the symbols in a box without a lid, and bind the box with red wool, in nine red knots saying:
Bind and wind nine times through
Obligations overdue,
Worries needlessly renewed.
Cut through the knots saying:
Ties so binding,
Guilt unwinding,
Freedom finding.
Light finally a single big white candle and then from it a smaller candle to represent you, separate from all the demands, but still connected in love to those around you, saying:
Centred in myself alone,
Troubling thoughts now begone.
Blow out the candles and send light to the centre of your mind, to illuminate, focus and renew your unique self.
Now, without hesitation or anxiety, divide the box into those responsibilities you must deal with instantly and surround them with already budding greenery.
Leave in the box the matters you must take up at a future date but which you are worrying about now but will not be helpful. Surround this box with seedlings or small plants that will grow in the near future.
Finally take another dark box and put in here the really insoluble matters, those that might happen but which you can do little about and all the things that other people have demanded and which have been draining or unfruitful.
Add to these dead leaves and petals and put a lid on these. Bury this box – with the words, It is gone, it is done.
You should now have the space in your head to centre your thoughts. (Cassandra Eason)
