That was really interesting.
Why do you think it is that 'the West' has lost a lot of these nature-based rituals for connection, etc. ? People (of European descent mostly) must to South America, or go with Native Americans, to take part in these rituals which are part of a framework a bit foreign. Have the Europeans completely lost connection to tribal ritual in this way? If so, how and why?
Well, we just gradually became more and more disconnected. There were rituals, but then the Catholic Church came and the rituals were dropped or modified. And later on, we all became very attached to ourselves, our ego. We started to see only ourselves and not the world around. Or we only see the world around and we don't see our inner selves. But this is second to impossible to answer without oversimplifying things terrible and perhaps it is not even important to understand why.
The fact is, though, that there are people that are interested and that are waking up. I am not trying to be too positive or negative about what is happening, but there are certainly people travelling to find the rituals again. And it is because people are feeling empty and dead without living spiritually.
Personally I believe that everything is really here already, all knowledge and wisdom is available. But we are too disconnected to find it ourselves, and that is why we are seeking rituals. Because you need to be pushed to the limits to break out of the old habits. Something is happening during these rituals that nowhere else can happen. But in the end you have to learn how to live a happy everyday life, so this is not just about rituals.
And really, I am not sure that our rituals are lost, or that our spirituality is lost. There are people, although perhaps not widely known, that are strong. But there are also far too many charlatans trying to look like that, just to make the game a bit more interesting.
Just look at all the songs we have. Although you are not going to understand the lyrics, I am passing a link to Ziarislav.
First off, what a beautiful post, thank you for sharing the ceremony with us. To address the previous question about the West's lack of nature based rituals and why we must go to South America to seek such rituals out, I can point you to the prophecy of the eagle and the condor, which is basically the prophecy that over the past 500 years we have been in an era of darkness with the eagle (the U.S.) becoming too rational and technology based and being disconnected from the love and spirituality of the condor (South America), and that we are now entering an era of lightness where the eagle and the condor are reuniting. Many people (from both North and South America) referenced this prophecy for the past two years when I was traveling through South America, and I have personally experienced this reunion of the spiritual with the rational. "When the Condor of the South comes together with the Eagle of the North, the spirit of Mother Earth - Pacha Mama - will awake, then She will awake millions of her children, this will be the Resurrection of the Dead." (http://www.maitreya.org/english/PNative%20Americans/pInca-Eagle-Condor-Maitreya-Explanation.htm)