The Ritual Master So I am reading the Ibis Trilogy, the story is absolutely mesmerising, and every time I put the book down I wish I could be there, in another place and time…
Here are a few things that help me bring everything to life :
I start my day with meditation : admittedly, this is not something I do only when I read about India, but it is a ritual that is strongly connected for me with the discovery of elements of indian culture. So I sit confortably, I choose a crystal from my collection to guide me through the meditation (this morning, the Imperial Topaz called to me, its warm honey glow inspiring me to take the first steps towards a joyful day) and after a few slow breaths I concentrate on my mantra.
Now that my spirit is awaken and that I chose to live the day with joy and gratitude, it is time to wake up my body as well. The perfect indian recipe for this is a Chai Massala.
You can make your own massala blend, using ginger, black pepper, cardamom, cinnammon and cloves. Or you can find it readily made at your local indian shop. I start with equal parts of water and milk, and a generous half teaspoon of the spice blend. When it comes to boil, I let it simmer for 5 minutes, then I turn off the heat, add some nice black tea leaves (English Breakfast or a classic Assam blend work perfectly) and let it infuse for 4 to 5 minutes. Strain and pour into my morning cup for a perfect wake-up.
One of the easiest ways to experience my readings outside of the book is by cooking. Now, as we all know, Indian cuisine is both incredibly rich but also poorly reduced to a very cliché curry in the western world. So in my attempts to honor the true indian cuisine, I fell in love with Rogan Josh, as it has tought me to appreciate lamb, and believe me, it was not an easy task. So here we go, making a Lamb Rogan Josh for lunch, be sure to watch the video for the entire recipe.
When it is time to go back to reading, I like to create an ambiance to suite my mood. So I light some incense, coincidentaly I have some Opium perfumed incense, and enjoy its strong scent while listening to indian flute music. The Meditative Channel on YouTube has really wonderful indian flute videos, you can check them out HERE.
I hope you have enjoyed my indian inspired rituals that accompany my reading time. I would love to know your favourite indian music or foods, you are most welcome to leave a comment below and we will chat about it.
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