BUFO CEREMONY PREPARATION
JOURNAL & WRITING EXERCISES
KEEP A DAILY JOURNAL, In this Journal keep a written record of both your thoughts, and daily events, with a focus on any synchronicities that may pop up during this time. In addition to this, end each daily entry within a free-writing context (this means writing without stopping for 2-5 minutes with whatever comes into your mind), It is well understood that your participation in a Bufo Ceremony extends both forward and backwards in time. It is not very clear on how or even how to identify these moments while in the past, until after the fact, until it becomes the past. By keeping a PRE-Bufo Ceremony Journal, it will become very clear to you after the fact that this medicine was very active in your life before taking the mat to receive it in Ceremony.
While keeping a Journal, take some time to complete these writing prompts as well
WHAT HAS IMPACTED YOUR LIFE? Make a list of the things, people, and experiences that have influenced you. What has shaped who you are? It’s good to first identify the event or person, and then write about how the experience has influenced your current self- and world-views. This exercise will allow you to identify root causes of certain patterns, behaviors, conditioning, or sources of suffering. This is the type of self-inquiry that will create more clarity and allow you to deepen your experience in the upcoming ceremony.
Give It To The Fire. WHAT DO YOU WANT IN YOUR LIFE? WHAT DON’T YOU WANT IN YOUR LIFE? A powerful journal prompt is to list the things you want to see in your life that are currently lacking. What are your deepest dreams and desires? List them all. After this is complete, list the things you want to let go from your life. The people, situations, behaviors, patterns and distractions that do not serve you. Keep the list of what you DO Want and bring the list of what you want to release from your life with you to Ceremony. It is important in Ceremony to remember that ENERGY Cannot Be Created Nor Destroyed, therefore it can only be TRANSMUTED. The Element of Fire is a Gift of Spirit, it is a Natural Transducer of Energy. When you come to Ceremony you will be given tobacco, (tobacco is the first of all Sacred Medicines, it is represents the power of prayer), our ancestors taught us that when the tobacco (our prayer) is put to the fire that the spirit of the fire carries our prayers to the heavens. We have later discovered that when we set our intentions (what we want) in the form of tobacco and give this to the fire (the transducer of energy), and upon so, taking a mat that encircles the fire for Ceremony, when we take the medicine, the energy that is released towards the fire during our process is the energy that is transmuted by the fire into our prayer, or intention. To some this may sound silly or outlandish, in such a situation, it is good to remember that the mind and spirit communicate through symbology, and that this ritual is extremely powerful to speak directly to the Divine/Universe, (to whatever name you give God), so regardless of beliefs, know that this should be taken very seriously and that it is important to be direct and precise with your intention/prayer.
CREATE THE FUTURE YOU. If living a healthy, purpose-driven life, where do you see yourself 6 months from now? Two years from now? Five to 10 years from now? *DREAM BIG*. Once you describe these versions of the future you, list some steps you will need to take to accomplish these goals. Having understood that the medicine was working in, with and through you prior to Ceremony, know that this list of steps will come with ease when the time arrives for it’s fulfillment, and it will arrive. When it does, this list will become very much of a ‘life line’ for you. Again, remember that your participation in a BufoCeremony is a Game Changer, in every sense of the statement. Many feel “Where do I go from here?”, having this list of steps already prepared for you, for your re-entry into the world “Post Bufo Ceremony” will be a comforting guide.