u/fairy-cocoa

I grew up Protestant. As many of you probably know, Protestants are a lot less ritualistic than Catholics. Communion and baptism are pretty much the only rituals my church would do. Here is the thing, I understand that a lot of Protestants don't like rituals because of a valid fear of putting too much focus on the material world. But on the other hand, we are material beings who live on a physical plane of existence, and we cannot see the spiritual world. So I started getting into Druidry and more of the witchy side of spirituality, but with a Christian focus, and the rituals have helped me so much emotionally.

I made a money bowl as a way of symbolically leaving my finances in God's hands. It has always been difficult for me to just give something to God like that, but I made the money bowl and put a cross on it and suddenly my stress was just gone. Like the physical act helped me to fully offload my anxiety. I don't understand why Christians, and society at large, are so dismissive of crystals and candles and herbs and "New Age" stuff. It is a wonderful way to synchronize the body and spirit, so that your body has a way to catch up to where your spirit wants to be.

In my view, I think some people put too much emphasis on the spiritual world to the point of neglecting their physical body. We are three-in-one, mind, body, and soul, made in the image of God who is also three-in-one. We are meant to take care of all three parts of ourselves, and for me that includes rituals, otherwise it is far too easy for me to lapse into going through the motions and stop consciously remembering God. There is a reason that we take communion, because with the physical act of drinking the wine and eating the bread, we simultaneously remind our bodies and our spirits of what Jesus did for us. But for many Christians, it stops there. I think a lot of us would benefit from tying our faith to physical actions more often.