The Book of Modern Ceremony - by Shari Dunbar Boyer (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

For those seeking connection and meaning in their everyday lives, an easy-to-follow, beautiful, and inspiring manual on performing ceremonies for all occasions and milestones, from life transitions and family gatherings to holidays and seasonal changes.

For as long as humans have existed, we have performed ceremonies to mark occasions and personal transitions to create meaning and connect with the world, ourselves, and each other. Though ceremony is still a cornerstone of many cultures around the globe, modern rituals are largely confined to just three events: birth, marriage, and death. Without our ancestors' sense of frequent and intentional ceremony, we have lost the power to bring meaning to our everyday lives. The Book of Modern Ceremony is here to change that.

Written by sociologist and ceremonialist Shari Dunbar Boyer, this book shares more than 30 ceremonies that can be easily incorporated into contemporary life. There are rituals for life transitions, calendar changes, and personal growth. Some celebrate familiar events, like the Untraditional Birthday or Vow Renewal ceremonies, but others mark important milestones that we often neglect, such as moving to a new home or entering menopause. And of course, there are seasonal rituals for every solstice, equinox, and moon cycle.

Presented in easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions, The Book of Modern Ceremony encourages readers to leave behind the daily stressors of life and connect more deeply with themselves, their loved ones, and their own spirituality.

Review Quotes

"The Book of Modern Ceremony offers us intervals in which we can reconnect to ourselves; earnestly, authentically, and with ease. Boyer invites us to bring meaning and connection back into our lives." ---Elena Brower, author of Practice You, Art of Attention, and Softening Time

"An inspiring, beautifully-presented guide to hosting your own ceremonies. The perfect starting point to gather your community and make meaning of nature's rhythms and life's transitions."---Casper ter Kuile, author of The Power of Ritual

"Shari Dunbar Boyer reminds us that we are not meant to navigate change alone--ceremony is a bridge that connects us to our past, our communities, and the future we are creating."---Chip Conley, author and founder of Modern Elder Academy

About the Author

Shari Dunbar Boyer is a ceremonialist and trained herbalist. She has been studying plant medicines, natural healing modalities, and the use of ceremony in modern and traditional cultures for over a decade. Shari came to ceremony after a long career in marketing, seeking ways to create more meaning and connection in her life and her community. Shari lives with her husband, Chris, two young adult sons, Tristan and Dylan, and two dogs on a property she is fortunate to tend in the shade of the San Gabriel mountains, with a suburban farm in Altadena, California. You can connect with Shari at shariboyer.com or @sharidunbarboyer.