What are your rituals for the season?

I've been reading a book written by Human Potential Movement leader Jean Houston more than 25 years ago. It's called Life Force: The Psycho-Historical Recovery of the Self. Houston, who was mentored by such seminal figures as Margaret Mead and Teilhard de Chardin, acquired a very broad view of history and culture from a young age. Throughout her career she has been interested in the use of ritual to tap into our connections to our historical roots.

Houston says: "The word rite comes from the same root as art and order. Like all real art, like the movements of sacred dances, ritual provides organic order, a pattern of dynamic expression through which the energy of an event or series of events can flow in an evolutionary process toward a larger meaning or a new stage or level of life. It offers us ways in which our transitions may be illuminated." Houston believes that rituals can help illuminate cultures, evoking hope during a time of societal transition. As the year 2006 wanes without the characteristic cold and snow of other late Novembers, I long for a ritual awakening of hope and possibility.

Our seasonal transition in late November is towards the holidays, Christmas for Christians, Hanukkah for the Jews, Kwanzaa for African Americans, secular celebrations for others. What are the rituals that we use to commemorate this seasonal transition, with shortening days as we approach the winter solstice?

Many people engage in the rituals of house decoration, decorating their yards with pumpkins and scarey figures during Halloween, turkeys during Thanksgiving, and myriad lights, sculptures, and creches during Christmas. Good rituals are rich in sensory detail. Are they doing so because they crave more sensory participation in the seasonal transition? It seems as though there are 2 kinds of people, those who decorate, and those who don't. I am of the second type. Those who throw themselves most whole-heartedly into the trappings of the holiday may be putting a great deal of emphasis on the externals, in the hope that they will be echoed by inner feelings of happiness and peace. We approach this time of year with a great desire for illumination, and similarly try to fill it with rituals of holiday parties, shopping, gift-giving, travel and decorating.

What I hunger for during this time of year is a sense of mystery, and I don't get it through the external trappings. My most memorable Christmas eve was a quiet walk at night with a friend through snow, out to a bridge over a river. Our path was illumined by moonlight. As we approached the river, which appeared to be frozen over, we heard a thundering sound in the water. Was it a beaver, signalling alarm, or a very large fish jumping? It was too dark to see, but it didn't matter. Our walk was a ritual made us feel connected to some deep and beautiful mystery.