A Decade of Wonder: Discovering rituals and practices

"Rituals and practices have always played a part in how we’ve expressed and strengthened our connection to Mind a Decade of Wonder."

– Black Turtle, Co-Founder, Dhyana

What are rituals? Are they everyday habits passed on from ancestors to descendants, or sacred celebrations linked to demarcated occasions? Do they coalesce in the repeated patterns of artists, musicians and thinkers? Or are they hidden in the mundane and everyday?

Communal, playful and sometimes grounding, rituals and practices have played a part in how we’ve expressed and strengthened our connection to Mind over a Decade of Wonder.

Traditional beliefs are given new life and made contemporary by the many different practitioners and artists who have visited The Fields—some time and time again. In 2024, Thai dance artist Khampa led a contemporary Bai Sri Su Kwan ceremony, drawing from Buddhist, Hindu and Lannan customs. The animist ceremony restores the Kwan, the inner spirit believed to exist in all things. 

In Wonderness, Unconditional Space and Oracle Den, divination practitioners reveal pathways to seeing the past, present and future through different lenses. In Dhyana, people from around the world lead Wonderers through chanting, shamanic invocations, quiet reflections and sacred dance. 

Each year, before we open the gates and welcome everyone in, Team Wonderfruit honors the land in time-honored Thai tradition. Friends, family, vendors, builders and programmers honor the land and ancestors through a land merit ceremony. We make offerings at the Spirit House (which you can find right next to the Yoga Barn, in the lower areas of The Fields). 

Roving artists performing elemental rituals, reminding us that we are connected to nature, not separate from it. In 2023 and 2024, BEX’s rituals followed the natural flows and cycles of our land. ‘Sunset Transformer’ acknowledged, blessed and celebrated  the shifting energy of the day, while ‘Star Seed Dusk & Dawn Rituals’ follow fire-lit processions that bless Wonderers in passing.

In opening and closing ceremonies, we make offerings both in the community that gathers and in the flowers, charged water and incense we give in thanks for five days of wonder. 

Something innocuous is made precious every hour in The Fields. In 2024, TeaRoom by OCHILL reinterpreted Japanese tea ceremonies into something inquisitive, playful and contemporary, transforming the simple act of sharing tea with tea smoking.

At Indigo World by Philip Huang, a practical technique that dates back thousands of years is transformed into communal rites. Each year, Indigo World’s open rituals envelop more elements of indigo dyeing. Wonderers harvest from plants that grow on-site, feed them into the indigo vats and dye garments as the morning dew evaporates at sunrise.