Seasonal Sustenance Ceremonies as Food for Hungry Hearts
by Jen Boyes-Manseau, Certified Life-Cycle Celebrant™
I love my work as a Life-Cycle Celebrant. As I rise to the challenge of meeting and
serving the ritual and ceremonial needs of those around me, I feel truly blessed and fed
by this creative heart centred work. I have practiced Celebrancy that honours joyous
and tender ceremonies across the human life cycle over a span of 35 years and in two
very different Canadian provinces – my home province of beautiful British Columbia and
where I live now, in la belle province of Quebec. These provinces share the reputation
of being beautiful, but their similarity ends there. Culturally and spiritually, they are
vastly different, and the same is true of the natural world of each.
While I am truly proud to practice Celebrancy that honours human rites of passage, I
have come to understand how essential the seasonal sustenance ceremonies I offer are
to me, to my celebrant practice and dare I say to our wounded and burning planet?
Ceremonies that, in the words of botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer, “celebrate the land,
fostering gratitude and accountability beyond the human realm.”
Listen Within
We often speak about self-care, yet it remains deeply true that tending to our own lives
and loved ones is essential if we are to be of meaningful service to our communities. As
I listen inward, I notice a recurring theme—a longing for homeland. I grew up in the
Pacific Northwest and now live in Eastern Canada, where I am learning to live in
relationship with the land I inhabit: the unceded ancestral territory of the Algonquin
Anishinaabeg, in what is now called Gatineau, Quebec. I am keenly aware that I am a
guest here, a newcomer. Although I was raised in British Columbia, my ancestors,
culture, and traditions originate from another continent. I feel a strong pull to explore my
connection to my own ancestral roots, and, as someone living here, I am working to
build relationships with the trees, plants, and animals that surround me.
To this longing for homeland and the tricky truth that I live on stolen land, add heart sick
worry about climate catastrophe. In Braiding Sweet Grass Robin Wall Kimmerer
evokes the great late eco-philosopher Joanna Macy while sharing this: “until we can
grieve for our planet, we cannot love it—grieving is a sign of spiritual health. But it is not
enough to weep for our lost landscapes; we have to put our hands in the earth to make
ourselves whole again. Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world
holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because
I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must
return the gift.” (page 327)
To these potent ingredients - longing for homeland, lack of roots, and grief about what
we humans have done to our home planet - I felt called to combine my passion for movement & dance and love of the natural world to create the recipe that I describe as embodied sustenance ceremony experiences that I offer in my community with the hope that they will help myself and others move from longing to belonging and from disconnect and despair to joyous connection.
Embodied Sustenance Ceremony Experience
The aim is to encourage:
ā€£ A sense of community and connection between seekers who love the natural
world
ā€£ A sharing of our impressions, insights and learnings from and with the land and
the more-than-human beings,
ā€£ A space to honour our grief about our wounded world and move into joyous
connectivity.
We gather to explore and dance the rhythms, lessons, and gifts of each season using
the eight ancient Celtic festivals of the year as anchor points. (Solstices, Equinoxes,
Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasa and Samhain).
We gather in outdoor locations to honour each earth festival around the wheel of the
year. I seek out sites on common land, in parks and wild bits of land in and around the
city that reflect each season, like on a solid rocky ledge next the fluid river for the Fall
Equinox, in the woods surrounded by fallen old trees for Samhain, and in the company
of a cluster of Oak trees for Beltane. And over time as the circle has grown in depth and
trust, I have proposed bringing this practice to places that were in need of healing – an
old dump site outside a nearby town, a littered site in the woods near the river that in the
words of a participant felt desolate when we arrived, but after our cleaning efforts and
ceremony revealed its beauty and resilience. And we leave traces of gratitude behind,
with materials collected on site.
We explore simple circle dances; an embodied dance practice that was born and
incubated in the intentional community of Findhorn in Scotland. These dances help us
explore how something ancient like dancing in a circle can have resonance and serve
today. Each season of each year is unique and a theme, a weave of dances and rituals
emerge to help us embody our search and build community. The circle holds us and
reminds of the lie of disconnection. In a circle – a form that evokes unity and wholeness
– all are equal, all are one.
I piloted this sustenance ceremony practice in British Columbia, and it flourished there.
And it is different in Eastern Canada. For one thing it can be challenging to gather
outdoors in the colder months! One big plus in Gatineau, Quebec where people speak
French and English is that the focus on non-verbal ceremony elements helps bring
together people with different mother tongues.
So, are other people’s hungry hearts fed by participating in these embodied sustenance
ceremony experiences? The feedback says yes:
“I am very glad to have happened upon your circle making. There is something deeply
nourishing about repeating steps, directions together.” Sylvia
“Thank you, Jen, for the wonderful celebration last night. I felt so close to everyone and
at One with our natural surroundings. My heart is filled with gratitude and joy for having
shared this moment with you all.” Christianne
“Heartfelt thanks to you Jen for a wonderful Spring Equinox celebration (all while the
snow fell haha)! I was particularly moved by the Kore dance we did together. The
rhythmic cadence of our feet, moving in unison with the sound of swirling and flowing
water, evoked a deep sense of connection to and honouring of my maternal bloodlines
and lineage. A spark of curiosity also stirred… how had the women and ancient ones in my lineage welcomed in and honoured the emergence of Spring? It’s a question that
lingers!” - Laurel
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Jen Boyes-Manseau combines her training in theatre and dance with her calling to explore life’s meaning and foster connection in her work as a Life-Cycle Celebrant™. She began co-creating ceremonies and rituals as a Community Celebrant in 1991 and joined the Life-Cycle Celebrant tribe in 2018. She is certified in Weddings, Funerals, Ceremonies Across the Life-Cycle and Healing & Transitions, and currently serves as NTI Learning Director and Instructor. She creates and officiates ceremonies with individuals, families, and communities in the Canadian national region of Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec and she offers a Seasonal Sustenance Ceremony practice that cultivates embodied presence, fosters a sense of belonging, and explores the rhythms and lessons of each season, to build community and respectful relationship to the land.
