What do we do when we feel disempowered, disconnected, alone and afraid?  We can throw ourselves more deeply into social media, drink, drugs and deeper disconnection…or we can build rituals with intention, creativity, gratitude and kindness that re-connect us with the web of life.  With Isla McLeod, ritualist and shamanic healer.

Isla McLeod is a creator of ceremonies, ritual designer, transformational healer and companion at the thresholds.  She has dedicated her life to bridging the gap between humanity and the soul of the earth.  In her new book, 'Rituals for Life: A guide to creating meaningful rituals inspired by nature', she brings decades of experience in creating ritual and ceremony to the exploration of what ritual is and how it can enhance our lives, returning our sense of engagement, of being part of something greater, of 'turning up the dial on the beautiful'.

In this, our second conversation on the podcast, we explore the origins of the book in Isla's own childhood in Nigeria and Japan, and the sense she had of being surrounded by rituals that held real power to connect.  From there, we explore her sense of devotion to the Earth as a living being as she encountered it in Dartmoor and the sense of ritual as a doorway to the sacred.  We delve deeply into what ritual is and how we can each create our own rituals for the thresholds that matter: what the key ingredients are and what we can play with and make our own.  And finally, we explore a ritual for each season, that touch on different aspects of our lives, different thresholds and doorways.

Isla McLeod website: https://islamacleod.com/
Isla on Accidental Gods podcast #111 https://accidentalgods.life/earth-alchemy/
Martin Prétchel Book 'Long Life, Honey in the Heart' : https://wordery.com/long-life-honey-in-the-heart-martin-prechtel-9781556435386