Celebrating the seasons or marking the phases of the moon, for instance, call to our attention our relationships with nature. To greet a sunrise in a ritual way, even if it is just a slight nod or bow, reinforces the understanding that I am part of that sunrise and it is part of me. The ritual of that bow reveals the web of which the sun and I are part. Lighting a candle when we sit down to a discussion communicates our intentions to act with integrity and openness and helps us listen to each other. Writing in my journal as a ritual rather than merely a way of taking notes about the day deepens it into a way of contacting myself in a deeper way.
Communication deepens into communion.
They encourage the unconscious to seek, as it were, the deeper meaning of the ritual acts. In general, rituals encourage people to look for the deeper significance of their behavior. For example, when lighting a candle in a ritual way, one is not just lighting a candle, but, on a deeper level, also entering sacred space, affirming a wish or prayer, or reaching out to another who may or may not be physically present. The significance of lighting the candle lies beneath the physical actions. Such an act calls us to question or recognize its deeper meaning.