Burning bowl and white stone

This post is adapted from our Sunday service on 18 January 2026. As explained below, we did the traditional burning bowl ritual in a new way. You could read this through and use the guidance whenever and however serves you.

Introduction

This is a sacred time for sacred work. For several decades now, Unity and new thought churches have made space near the start of a new calendar year for two ceremonial activities. One called the burning bowl; and the other the white stone ceremony of setting intentions for the year ahead.

Fire rituals are very old. In many traditional societies a fire ceremony is used for letting go of thought structures, processes, symbols or objects that no longer serve a community. The participants release from their lives what does not benefit them now.

We recognise this could be an idea that has held us in one place. In Unity, the burning bowl is a form of denial. As though to say, ‘What I let go and is released has no power over me.’ Letting go opens the way for forward movement.

The white stone tradition draws on Revelation 21:7 –

‘To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.’

In Unity, intentions aren’t just a plan or a goal or a resolution. They are a definitive statement of purpose or of essential being or about how we will show up. These statements often use strength of the divine I AM.

Maybe you have been part of a burning bowl service already this year. Possibly you have some paper and a pencil to hand. Either way, it’s fine. You can do the burning bowl at any time and in many ways.

We will move into a time of contemplation. Then, you will be able to write in pencil on a little slip of paper anything that comes to mind which you wish to let go. Fairly soft paper works best. But, really, anything you have. The universe knows: you don’t have to write a book, just a word or concept or object. Draw a simple picture. Write more than one word as you wish to. If others are present, you will not be sharing aloud what you write.

Then, float your paper in a bowl of water. Water is an ancient symbol of life. Baptism, cleansing, sustenance, blessing, the activity of the divine. Life itself will take the words you write and dissolve them in purifying waters. Perhaps light a candle nearby and look at that, too, as you let the water sink the paper. You could use a floating candle in the bowl.

Contemplation

And so now I ask you to sit comfortably. Close your eyes if you wish. Notice your breathing, the pulse of life’s force in you. Observe. Gently.

We pause at the threshold of this new moment and remember. God is the life within the breath, the wisdom within the stillness, the presence unfolding through all that is. We open our hearts to this awareness and let it steady us. Every new beginning is simply God revealing more of itself through us. [Adapted from Unity prayers for Jan/Feb. 2026]

Now, open your eyes, look down and write what comes to you. Gently, calmly.

Let your mind take in some opportunities for release. The hurt you feel daily, or which you thought was no more, and yet back it came. What triggered it? A word. An action. Being overlooked. Missing your chance to go somewhere or do something. Perhaps you feel responsible for a circumstance … did you fail to forgive another? Or to accept forgiveness? Did you make a mistake? Decide something the wrong way? Overlook someone’s hurt or plea for support?

Health matters. Lifestyle. Limitations, or the fear of limitation. Work. Family. Difficult relationships. What for you is not as you would have it be?  

What has been lost? Ignored? Left unaddressed for too long? How has an action or perception blocked the flow of good which is yours? Have gifts and talent and potential been held back? By you? By another? Is there a situation you could have blessed? A person? Some learning? Offer the blessing now. (To see a limitation and to release it is to know a redirection.)

When you are ready, make a pause. Take a breath, fold each slip of paper in two and float it. Push it down into the water. Deliberately. Say: ‘I bless and release.’ Watch what happens. It is likely the paper will float for a bit and then sink. Pieces will ball together perhaps. In time, dispose of the waste thoughtfully.

Assurance

[Adapted from Unity prayers for Jan/Feb. 2026]

Friends, love moves without limit. It is the creative energy at work in all things. Through the power of love, harmony is restored, and kindness becomes my language. Every thought, word, and action becomes an offering of love to the world. I am love in expression.

Whenever we address limitation by releasing it or the idea of it, we open ourselves to redirection.

White stone intentions

Perhaps listen to some music or sit quietly for a bit. Then write on another piece of paper or a little card or small stone. Write a word of intention for your living forward. A truth you claim for yourself. A redirection perhaps. It might or might not relate to what you chose to release.

Don’t force your word - receive it, as a gift from the universe.

Moving forward intentionally

Now ponder and cherish your word. It is a gift you have received, for your use.

We breathe again, fully present to this sacred moment. The presence of God is alive in us and as us. We step forward renewed, carrying light into every place we go, trusting the divine activity at work in all things. [Adapted from Unity prayers for Jan/Feb. 2026]

Prepared for Unity of NZ by Greg Morgan 2026