A small wedding on the beach is being planned, complete with the bride in a big dress being delivered in a golf cart. A couple of dozen adults and five children will have chairs on a big beach, at the water’s edge, with the question of how many non-wedding others there will be on the same beach left unanswered. The bride thought my suggestion of creating sacred space around her group was a good one. After the couple and I, the minister, are in place in front of friends and family, I will say to the group.
We are going to create a circle of intimacy around us now – sacred space for sacred work. This circle is separate from our regular experience of time and space. Within this circle this man and this woman will be transformed into a husband and a wife and we all will be changed forever by witnessing and participating in this ceremony. I now ask the children to create a circle of flower petals around us all. As the circle is closed, know that nothing and no one will disturb the sacred work that we have set for ourselves here today.
I have found that by setting an intention and creating a circle, such as this, around any sacred work, that profound shifts take place that would not otherwise happen if a separate holy space were not created in some way. What is as miraculous as the predictable shift in consciousness on the inside, I know that people on the outside will not bother us at all. It is as if another dimension has been opened and everyone stays where they belong.
After the ceremony, after the pronouncement, the kiss, and the introduction I will say:
Will the children now disturb the petals they so carefully laid before. We can now return to normal time and space, our sacred work being finished for now. Please step forward and congratulate our newest married couple. |
