From the moment I spoke with J&K, I knew what they shared was authentic; for, when I asked him to describe their relationship in two words, he said, "quantum entanglement".  This became the theme for their ceremony as all of us experienced a deep connection through the entanglement of their love.  They chose to wed at Arcosanti, an architectural wonder which overlooks a canyon and is located 70 miles north of Phoenix, Arizona.  The flower girls were adorable, the wedding party was dazzling and the bride and groom: passionately in love.  The ceremony included a mother's rose ceremony in which the bride and groom offered a rose in gratitude to their mother's, a tender moment.  K&J's wedding day took place in Spring and the winds were intense!  The element of air is associated with the direction of the East which is connected to the rising sun and new beginnings -  what a Blessing!  The wind, however, did not interfere with the talented Galaxie Andrew's photographing skills.  There were so many brilliant shots, I had to include snap shots from the ceremony all the way to the reception. Links to Arcosanti and Galaxie Andrews are accessible on the slideshow. Such a magical wedding day at Arcosanti for J&K and it was an incredible joy to be  part of co-creating an amazing ceremony! If you are planning a wedding at Arcosanti, I would be honored to co-create your ceremony!

It was a perfect day in October for K & A's wedding.  They were wed at Indian Garden's Park in scenic Oak Creek Canyon.  K & A chose the love story ceremony and their ceremony was both moving and humorous!  If you think a ceremony is boring or not very interesting - think again!  The telling of your love story is memorable!  If you are getting married in Northern Arizona contact me to learn more about co-creating an amazing ceremony with you and yours.
Read the bride's review:
We must find the time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives. - John F. Kennedy. Kyle and I got married in beautiful Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona and had the honor of being united in love by Jennifer Paul from Life Passages. Not only did Jennifer take the time to get to know us before the ceremony but she truly understood our vision, recognized our do’s and don’ts and made our ‘Love Story’ come to life. Jen gave us suggestions along the way, including a Stone Ceremony, which we were able to incorporate into the ceremony. We now have a beautifully unique display of love in our home to remind us of the commitment we made to one another and shared with our closest family and friends. From the bottom of our hearts we cannot thank Jennifer enough for sharing the loveliness of her soul and words with us on our day of marriage. Any couple looking for the perfect wedding officiant would be truly blessed to have Jennifer Paul.
Learn more about their amazing venue at this link
http://www.indiangardenspark.com/​

This is a ritual that can replace the Unity Sand Ceremony or the Unity Candle Ceremony.  It's a beautiful, artistic expression.  Each person and/or child has a vase full of glass crystals.  After the ring exchange, your crystals are combined in a larger glass vase.  The combined crystals are then mailed back to the artist who will create your glass art sculpture.  Once you receive your glass art, you will have it to display in your home for years to come.  Here's the link ​for the website if you are interested https://www.unityinglass.com/

Many years ago, I learned the phrase - "he/she fell off the wagon".  I learned that it related to alcohol. If someone was sober for some amount of time and then decided to have a drink, they "fell off the wagon".  The other day, I had the phrase "I fell off the Spiritual Wagon" come to me.  It seemed to completely fit the way I felt and can be summarized into this explanation: I behaved in an unloving way,  I shut down my emotions, I withdrew from my heart.  Generated from being over tired, avoiding grief, avoiding the cries of my soul (whether it has to do with my own stuff or the stuff in the world around me). If I let grief build up, then it ultimately results in me becoming an emotional train wreck and look out if you get in my way as I can behave in a very ugly, unkind way. Also, I may start to feel ill or experience different aches and pains in my body.  My body is a great communicator to get me back on track, the track of my heart.  I'm grateful that this evolution has become shorter as I have developed more of a relationship with myself.  Sometimes, I can see it coming and it's like - oh yeah!  I forgot to love myself, this is what it always, yes, ALWAYS boils down to.  I'm hurting because I've been overworking and I'm overtired, I haven't spent enough time having fun, I haven't reached out and asked for love, I haven't spoke the truth about how I'm feeling about things going on in my personal world or the world around me.  In my early years of self exploration if I lost my way, it would look like me abusing substances, being overly sexual, overspending or overeating, and/or raging at anyone and everyone who got in my way.  Then I would feel horrible and I would furthermore get out a 2x4, use it against myself, telling myself how awful I am.  Today, after years of meditation, self reflection and surrounding myself with healthy role models, reading and studying how others live a happy fulfilling life and re-programming my mind with loving song and mantras, I can more easily recognize when the darkness takes over.  It generally looks like me trying to control someone in my life - typically my husband or son (God help them!) as they are the closest to me, it may even disintegrate into me yelling at my dogs.  Inwardly, I have a crying inner child and when I get quiet, I can hear her.  Then my work is to sit and cry and nurture myself with an open heart.  I ask for help from Source - God - Angels - Spiritual Warriors and then I sit.  And I ask, what are you sad about dear one?  Usually it's because I feel lonely, unloved and unwanted. It becomes all about self empathy. Then, memories will come through, grief over my ever changing impermanent life. One such recent grief has been that of my 18 year old son becoming an adult and making his way out of the nest.  This change has generated deep sorrow, feelings of loss and it encourages me to further research other losses that I have had.  I've also noticed that whatever age he is at gives me an opportunity to look at my life at that age and ask, how might my life had been different?  Heavy? Yes.  Necessary for me to become whole?  Yes.  It's part of my spiritual evolution. There may also be grief over the intense changing times we are living, the violence and hatred such as the radical extremism that seems to be prevalent in our society today or intolerance.   Then I become whole again and centered in my heart.  I then can see the world through my heart, return to joyful memories, gratitude and experiences of my life that are inherently good.  The next step becomes to offer light and grace to others who cross my path. Of course, I ask for forgiveness from my family or anyone else I may have harmed in the process of getting to a more open heart. The chant that comes to mind for this process is: I will be gentle with myself, I will love myself, I am a child of the Universe, being born each moment. 
What's your process? What signs do you see that you've fallen off the Spiritual Wagon?

As a ceremonialist, I have found that it means different things to different people.  The question I have distilled it down to is: how do you find peace in the world?  Some people find peace through artwork such as music, dance, sculpting or painting, others by being in nature or star gazing, many by practicing yoga or meditating, more through religion or studying teachers who have long since passed, and some by simply spending time with their family or beloved.  For other individuals, peace may be found by giving back: taking action through love or service. Recently, I heard a very interesting perspective on this, this individual defined spirituality as a relationship with their soul verses a relationship with the self.  He said the relationship with self was ego based and the relationship with the soul was spiritually based. It reminded me of a quote by the mystic poet Rumi, "Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you.”   So, how do you define spirituality?

If you have a fondness for nature, gardening, trees and the outdoors, a tree planting ceremony may be weaved into your wedding day.  This happens during the wedding ceremony.  A table has a potted tree and the couple adds soil and water.  Music may be played in the background while the couple participates in the tree planting ceremony.  Some words may be spoken relating the strength of your relationship to the strong roots of the tree.  The video below explains this beautifully.
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I have found that I do best when I do what the wise one's say -  Invite your grief to tea.  It has much to teach us.  There are so many things I grieve -  the shift in my primary relationship, the aging of my children, the aging of my own body, the uncertain times we live in, even the change and growth of myself - "oh I used to be this person and now, I am this person, how interesting."  It is all part of life and all part of the continuous loss of experiencing living.  Does this mean I wallow? No, I do not. Well, maybe, sometimes - this often depends on my hormonal state - ha! ha! Ultimately, though, it means I simply honor that this is part of my experience of being a human being, what a glorious gift.  Not all beings can feel emotion to the depths of which we humans can.  Therefore, it is a gift.  Difficult?  Absolutely!  Enriching?  Without question!  For I find that as I grieve, the gifts that come from it are humility, compassion, grace and gratitude. It is important though to not seek these outcomes as one grieves, although, it's a natural consequence, like, hey!  what's my pay off?  I find that empathy towards myself as I am grieving, such as "yeah, honey, this is hard" or "oh, you are such a good mom and you have given it your all" or "it is so hard to watch my brother or sister suffer" or simply,  "I love you".  These words of self compassion bring comfort to me.  Also, if I call on my guides, angels or higher being for guidance, I find that they are there to comfort me as well.   It is one of the mysteries of life - grief - and it takes so many beautiful forms.  Have you invited your grief to tea recently?  What did it tell you?  
​Many blessings on your journey dear one, Jen Paul of Life Passages.