Ceremony is medicine.
For us, ceremony is medicine, and ceremony is any activity carried out with heartfelt attention and intention. We respect that an activity which speaks deeply to one person may not speak as deeply to others; and that is exactly why diversity in the way we play and pray is the key to expanding your capacity for understanding, acceptance and connection, with yourself, and others.
Every being alive today is unique. Even identical twins have individual traits and we all grow up with our own identity, desires, and preferences. We also, all grow up with different influences, from different environments with both positive, negative, and everything in between, experiences. All these influences have significant impact on our identity and our ability to play and pray our own way.
Can you identify an activity you love doing with all your mind, heart and body?
Feel how it fills you with energy just thinking about it.
Or, maybe there is an activity you once loved with your all, however, something happened, and you lost your connection to it, and your ability to express freely through that activity?
Feel the difference in the energy that comes up from thinking on this.
So many of us, when we are young, would boldly and unapologetically dance and sing, draw and tell stories, run, climb, build and act from pure imagination. Only to have the judgement of others, or a negative experience, plant the seeds of self-doubt and pretty quickly we start to sing and dance less, and for some never again. If asked about it, or presented with an opportunity to express, we reply that,
“I can’t/don’t do that”, or, “I’m not good enough”.
Crow Circus has a mission – we want everyone to remember that feeling of wonder, of magic, of full body fark yeah, when you discover, re-discover, embrace and share the things that sing to you. The gifts you have always had, waiting to be set free.
The activity, no matter what it may be, is, in and of itself , just that—an act. It is the inner energy you bring, those feelings, that serves as the sparks, lighting the tinder of the mundane and transforming any act into a sacred event.
The more we deepen our awareness of these sacred moments, and our own unique personal feeling of what it is to be in flow—in ceremony—then our every day play becomes prayer and our prayers become playful. However this may be for you.
Yes, some things will always be your mojo, your go-to, your fark yeah! Those activities that fill us up, seemingly requiring no conscious effort on our part; relish the awareness you have of this and bring these gifts through whenever you can.
Now, also consider deeply…
Who am I when I am doing something I don’t like?
What is triggered, what stirs, what straight up chucks a tantrum?
Acknowledging and accepting this is part of you is where healing—remembering—begins.
The more we practice every day, to play and pray with heartfelt attention and intention, no matter where we are, and what we are doing, (yes, even cleaning the toilet, or the gutters) the more the universe vibrates, matching our rising frequency, revealing more of our true nature, our deepest self.
There is a song that captured this exact feeling for me
Yo, Graywolf here, I remember, over a decade ago now, hearing Karen playing around on the piano, testing chords and melody, searching for the song that was patiently waiting to come through.
Suddenly, she sang the words,
Don’t listen to what they say, pray your own way, every day, every single day…”
I was struck dumb—paralysed by a sweet blend of excitement, elation and profound respect, all quickly dissolving to the burning desire to immediately know all the lyrics so I could sing along!! It turns out I would have to do wait (and participate) until all the words had been written before I could satisfy that desire.
So, in shared excitement, we sat together singing, playing, and writing until the rest of this profound song had manifested—which I believe was about 15 minutes. You know it is a direct message from the universe when they come through like that.
The full lyrics are copied below the pic of Karen’s hands actually playing the song. It is titled ‘Everyday’ and its core message—play and pray your own way, everyday—has become a mantra for us and one of Crow Circus’ core messages. A universal seed from which so much personal power, acceptance and connection, with self and other, can sprout.
Sitting here tapping away all these years later, I feel we are only really beginning now to breathe into and live that mantra. Please share with us in the comments how you play and pray, it is in the sharing that the next level of transformation and healing begins.
Lyrics
Every Day
Feel, all the colours run and she says you look so good in grey,
maybe it’s because she only ever…
Leaves, falling to the ground without a sound, she could be anyone.
If only we had all the time to grieve.
Tears, falling through our hands as he says you don’t exist today,
I’ve seen how you pray and I don’t believe,
faith is a gun you shoot and run aimed at just anyone.
The time, the time has come.
Don’t forget to play, every day,
every day, every day, every single day.
Don’t listen to what they say, pray your own way,
every day, every day, every single…
Day, defeated by the night, and they say,
our fear of the dark, is just our fear of change.
The singing in our ears, just reveals we can be anyone,
The time, the time has come.
Don’t forget to play, every day,
every day, every day, every single day.
Don’t listen to what they say, pray your own way,
every day, every day, every single, every single…
Day, every day, every day,
every day, every day, every single day.
Don’t listen to what they say, pray your own way,
every day, every day, every single, every single…
CREDITS
“Every Day” music and lyrics by Karen White & Mark Robertson © 2011
In loving service 
