Root and Ritual by Becca Piastrelli a Review

1/2/2022

A wet November afternoon catching up on my emails I followed a link, then another, then another.

Then a wave of vertigo rushed from my feet to my temples.

The wall in front of me started moving, I felt dizzy. I quickly reached out with my right hand and grabbed the desk: solid wood under my fingertips. I was not falling.

My breath slowed down as I returned to having my feet under the desk. I was not falling. I was not alone in my scheming.

I had simply found some of my thoughts laid out in front of me with such simplicity to almost shock me.

I relaxed on the back of the chair, pulled the screen closer and cuddled around the cosy thought of someone else having unfolded the vast theme of belonging in a similar groove as my free guide ‘How to Feel at Home Anywhere in the World'. Which I launched last September so a handful of months before Becca's book was released in the uK

Have you ever held a book and felt as if you were having an intimate conversation with someone who gets you? Or the feeling that your own thoughts have magically been printed? That is what I felt when at first I read Roots and Rituals by Becca Piastrelli.

I’ve had read various authors on the subject of belonging and yet, it is the first time I’ve found someone with whom I share both the premise (loneliness) AND three (out of four) pillar practices (community, self, land). Which is indeed very exciting!

We both work on Belonging as a way to deepen our relationship with our rooted self, and yet Piastrelli’s focus is more spiritual and interested self discovery.

I am fascinated on the other hand by the bringing together of cultural differences experienced by women who have relocated their home to a different environment/ city/ country and is faced by a new culture, a new climate and land.

First of all, let me introduce you the author or Roots and Rituals. Becca Piastrelli is a natural healer, speaker and women’s group facilitator who explores the theme of belonging through our connection to the land, lineage, community and self. Her book Root & Rituals has been just released and can be found in numerous independent bookshops.

Becca weaves together personal stories, thought-provoking reflections and questions, and offers practical ways to go deeper through rituals, recipes, and crafts. The illustrations are also utterly charming and inspiring.

Of all the different invitations offered by Piastrelli, I have decided to respond to two:

Exploring my ancestors
Developing rituals skills, following a long life passion

My young daughter has been asking us who is in her family, where do they live, where they come from and I have decided to welcome her desire to draw a family tree. Had lovely conversations with both my mother and my father about this and they all seem enthusiastic about compiling a genealogical tree.

Do you already have a genealogical tree of your family?

My ancestors are from the land of Italy - my grandfather has migrated from the South to the North escaping the aftermath of an earthquake which in itself is an incredible story but then I realised that most of them lived in port cities like Pisa and Genova, which must have exposed them to all sorts of cultural exchanges. I also found out that most of the women in my mother line either taught in primary school or work in school offices. Is that a coincidence? Fascinating all the same, even if it was.

What about your family where did they live and what did they do for a living?

I really welcome Piastrelli's invitation to look into not only who our ancestors were, when and where they lived but also at the how did they live? what they ate, what they celebrated, what they escaped.

Deepening our relationship with ourselves by exploring our lineage through food and folklore and history is a fabulous reminder of the importance of knowing where we are coming from not only figuratively but also genealogically speaking.

I'm sure it will unfold a further understanding of who I am, why I care about certain aspect of life more than others etc.

Let me know if you'd like to have a shared space o explore this together?

Roots and Rituals is also weaved of beautiful and simple rituals that one can do either alone or with others. Rituals have punctuated my life in different forms and I have attended, created and most recently held the space for others to transform through a ritual.

This is the second invitation that I have decided to welcome from this book: develop my knowledge and understanding of rituals so that i will be able to create sacred space for others more confidently.

"Ritual is an enacted poem, a sequence of actions designed to awaken powerful emotional and psychological forces."

I have therefore decided of enrolling on this online course on Rituals Skills with Starhawk

The first session was all about intention setting & creating a sacred space. I will share with you what I learn as I go along or maybe you'll just experience and benefit from it.

Let me know if any of this has resonated with you? I'd love to know what touches your chords.

Fra

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