We perform ceremonies to mark important events and celebrate holidays―yet our modern approach to ceremony only scratches the surface of its true potential. With The Book of Ceremony, shamanic teacher Sandra Ingerman presents a rich and practical resource for creating ceremonies filled with joy, purpose, and magic. “We are hungry to connect with more than what we experience with our ordinary senses in the material world,” writes Sandra. “By performing ceremonies, you will find yourself stepping into a beautiful and creative power you might never have imagined.”   Weaving shamanic teachings together with stories, examples, and guiding insights, The Book of Ceremony explores:   • The elements of a powerful ceremony―including setting strong intentions, choosing your space, preparing ceremonial items, and dealing gracefully with the unexpected • Stepping into the sacred―key practices for leaving behind your everyday concerns and creating a space where magic can happen • Guidance for working alone, in community, and across distances with virtual ceremonies • Invoking spiritual allies―the power of working with the elements, the natural world, ancestor spirits, and the creative energy of the divine • Sacred transitions―including ceremonies for weddings, births, rites of passage to adulthood, funerals, honorable closure, and new beginnings • Ceremonies for energetic balance―healing and blessing, resolving sacred contracts, getting rid of limiting beliefs, creating Prayer Trees, and more • Life as a ceremony―how to infuse your entire life with ceremonial practice, from planting a garden to revitalizing your home or office to helping heal our planet   The Book of Ceremony is more than a “how-to” guide―it will inspire you to create original ceremonies tailored to your own needs and the needs of your community. When you invoke the sacred power of ceremony, you tap into one of the oldest and most effective tools for transforming both yourself and the world. As Sandra writes, “If you perform one powerful and successful ceremony for yourself, the principle of oneness ensures that all of life heals and evolves.”   “Compassionate...personal...Ingerman’s comforting ceremonies will provide interested, believing readers with practices for times of strife, stress, and uncertainty.” ―Publishers Weekly “Sandra Ingerman invites you on a life-transforming magical carpet ride in her new release, The Book of Ceremony. She reminds you that rituals and ceremonies are the drawbridges to a lush landscape where the ordinary can seamlessly evolve into the sacred. Easy-to-follow directions will guide you to confidently prepare, plan, and execute rituals and ceremonies for all circumstances. This engaging read is perfect for those of you just beginning to recognize and explore your spiritual path, all the way up to the most seasoned and gifted shamans. Whether your occasion is a joyful event such as the birth of a new baby, tough times like transitions, hardships, or endings, or even welcoming nature’s changing seasons, the tools are there. Sandra takes her profound insights and knowledge and weaves it all into relevant stories that will lovingly grab you right from page one. The way she meshes new technology with ancient wisdom is brilliant and exciting. While immersing myself in this wondrous work, I experienced a myriad of emotions from laughter to compassionate tears. Keep this book handy. You and your community will visit it often for its simple reminders on how to live life fully as an expression of your gratitude for the unseen world of spirit.” ―Renee Baribeau, the Practical Shaman, Wind Whistler, and author of Winds of Spirit: Ancient Wisdom Tools for Navigating Relationships, Health, and the Divine “Our word ‘ceremony’ is derived from the Latin word caerimoni. It covers a range of meanings from observance and solemnity to sanctity or holy deed. Ceremony means performing a sacred act. During a ceremony, the veil between the worlds dissolves and the gates to our soul open while the hands of our ancestors cradle us. Hope, healing, and miracles all live in this place. As Sandra says in this book: ceremony is a sacred tool so powerful that we cannot keep it for ourselves―it must be shared! Thank you, Sandra Ingerman, for giving the world a book that preserves the mystery of ceremony yet tells us how ceremony is actually done, allowing all of us to taste a drop of eternity.” ―Imelda Almqvist, international teacher of sacred art and shamanism, author of Natural Born Shamans: A Spiritual Toolkit for Life and Sacred Art, a Hollow Bone for Spirit: Where Art Meets Shamanism “In these pages, you’ll find a wide range of ceremonial medicine including altar-making, traditional fire and water ceremonies, coming-of-age ceremonies, blessing ceremonies, relationship ‘unwinding’ ceremonies, energy-balancing ceremonies for body and earth, innovative virtual ceremonies for online sessions, and Ingerman’s beautiful transfiguration cer