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Ring of Fire: A Walk Through Life and Passion
Case: The Ring of Fire Ceremony — Bonjuk Bay, Turkey, June 2025
Facilitators: Ylva Björnberg & Yerko Sanchez
Participants: 75
Occasion: 40th Birthday Celebration for Teresa & Lars
Theme: Ring of Fire — A Walk Through Life and Passion
In June 2025, we were invited to Bonjuk Bay, a coastal sanctuary in southern Turkey, to lead a large-scale birthday transition ceremony for a community of seventy-five. The occasion was the celebration of Teresa and Lars’ 40-year journey through life. Our task was to craft an experience that would honor their passage and awaken a deepened sense of connection within the wider community gathered around them.
The ceremony was designed around the theme Ring of Fire, exploring passion as both a creative force and a transformative fire. Structured as a Walk of Life, the group was invited to journey and interact together through four life stages: childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and the unfolding future.
Each stage offered a shift in perspective and tempo, integrating sound, movement, dialogue, sharing, and symbolic actions that evoked the emotional landscapes of growth, love, and transformation. As participants walked in silence, sound, dance, dialogue, and reflection, the line between witnessing and participating dissolved. Everyone became both traveler and companion in one another’s story.
In the final stage, we entered a shared space of future visioning. Participants tied personal wishes to a wish tree, symbolizing the collective field of intention and continuity. The atmosphere was electric yet grounded; laughter and tears moved easily among the group.
The ceremony concluded in a moment of stillness, followed by spontaneous celebration. Feedback from participants reflected a deep sense of unity, meaning, and renewal. The Ring of Fire became both a celebration of many lives intertwined, but also a lived experience of community as sacred witness, a reminder that every transition, when honored together, strengthens the web of life.
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