Ceremony

April 14, 2026

Ceremony of moving house

At the end of each week of Chinese class, I always ask my teacher what her plans are for the weekend. For the past several months she's been repeating the same task: moving into her new house. She and her husband recently purchased some property which they have been remodeling, furnishing, and (slowly) decorating. A few weeks ago, she finally told me that they were almost done. "Almost" done is actually kind of a big deal, because the next and final step is the traditional "moving-in" ceremony.

Across the diaspora of Chinese people there are many kinds of moving-in ceremonies. In Taiwan, this depends on what the residents want (or, what the residents' parents want given my teacher's in-laws helped with the financing). In this case they had selected a purification ceremony (more below), but each family may use different ceremonies or elements of a ceremony to meet their needs. For example:

1. Selecting the right day: Chinese culture is closely tied to the lunar calendar or "farmer's almanac" equivalent. This document indicates which days are best for certain events, including moving house (but is also especially important for weddings). These days are marked on the lunar calendar by 宜入宅. This literally means suitable for entering the house. Choosing the wrong day can subject one to ruinous energy.
2. Placing an oven in the house: called 烘爐 (to heat an oven), this ritual requires a small, lit charcoal stove be placed in the center of the home. This represents the heat and warmth that the new home will provide for the people who live there.
3. Bringing lucky objects into the home: when formally entering the house for the first time, each member of the household must carry an object which represents wealth. Usually this is an assortment of fruits, each with their own meaning.
4. Purifying the space: called 撒勁 (撒 is to scatter or sprinkle, but also to cast or let go, while 勁 is to make clean), ceremony participants must spread salt (to drive out evil) and uncooked rice (as food for wandering ghosts) from the innermost corners of the house in an outward direction. This will force bad spirits and bad luck outward. The scattering of salt and rice is often accompanied by the participants reciting auspicious phrases to drive out spirits and usher in good luck.

While these ceremonies may seem driven by superstition, they do offer a practical benefit: they act as a conduit for mindfulness. Will moving in on the 17th instead of the 16th really cast a spell over one's marriage? Doubtful. Is scattering salt all over the new floors actually driving out evil? Probably not. However, these ceremonies are a medium which focuses our attention, or a mental timeout which forces us to slow down, engage with, and reflect on a new home.

Why is it important to be mindful about moving house? My opinion is that ceremony (and the underlying mindfulness) can facilitate a greater sense of fulfillment. Moving can be a chore that brings stress and fatigue, a necessary but unwanted part of the to-do list where the end (new home) is more important than the means (moving). Implementing a ritual can bring presence of mind to the activity. Every box moved is a reminder of the value of the objects within; each of grandma's antique dining chairs carried up the stairs is a tally of a life lived. Rather than a hollow, meaningless task that "has to get done," ceremony can bring a sense of purpose. A new home becomes an opportunity for a fresh start in a new country, a chance at deepening a relationship with a new housemate, or the expansion of space to accommodate a growing family. The ceremony acts as a reminder of the significance of the moment.

The application of ceremony as a tool for creating presence of mind, purpose, and general mindfulness can be applied in other scenarios as well. Want to feel more engaged with and rewarded by life? Start implementing more ceremonies.

Ceremony of food

One ceremony I've personally picked up in earnest over the last few months is that of celebrating food.

Before I get into this, allow me a brief aside to discuss the ethos of eating. Humans need energy to walk, run, play games, raise children, work, think, etc. Energy is required for every part of life. Up at the top of the modern food chain, the source of that energy is other life. Plants draw on raw materials from the soil and air to grow. Animals then consume plant bodies and convert them into energy for their own body. Humans then consume animals to convert into energy for their own body. To be alive is to consume other's life. I'm not decrying the food chain, that's just how nature works. It is simultaneously an elegant circle of existence and a cruel wheel of death.

That's why cultures across the world give thanks for food. There's the French bon appétit, the Christian grace, the Japanese itadakimasu, and countless others. Personally, I've adopted the practice of taking a quiet moment before digging in to express gratitude for the lives given to my meal, lives which in turn nourish my life. It is not a moment to justify the morality of eating animals. It is not a moment to thank a higher power. But it offers the same benefits of the ceremony of moving house. I have a little more presence of mind: conscious of the fact that what I'm eating was once alive, conscious of the people I am enjoying the meal with, conscious of the fact that I have never been hungry. I also have a little more purpose. I'll eat thousands of meals in my lifetime, and already too many of them have been while mindlessly watching sports highlights. A moment of ceremony brings a bit more purpose to each bite. This is not just the daily effort to feed myself; this is the ritual of consuming life and converting it into energy. But it's not all that dramatic, it's a micro-ceremony to flavor the meal with a little more meaning.

Spiritual decline

I feel the importance of ceremony is growing. In the modern world my attention is constantly demanded, be it from a group chat, email, news bulletin, bus ad, loud scooter, or anything else that may add to the constant noise of daily life. Opportunities to slow down and appreciate what is immediately in front of me are rare. Ritual and ceremony have become diluted or disappeared altogether from the contemporary lifestyle.

As a recovering financial analyst, I would be remiss to pass up an opportunity to offer some numbers in support of my conclusion. Most of the figures I'm about to share measure either organized religion or spirituality, the two most related topics to the ideas of ceremony and ritual that I've discussed above. Spirituality here means a sense of connection to a higher power or the divine, not explicit adherence to an organized religion^1,2. For example, the rituals of daily prayer, meditation, yoga, 氣功 (qi gong), or 太極拳 (tai chi) are elements of spiritual practice, but can be done without being a member of any religious denomination.

I'd like to emphasize that from a researcher's perspective the concepts of religion and spirituality are extremely nuanced and highly dependent on cultural interpretation. The data on religion and spirituality is as complex as the traditions themselves, but a few key trends stand out:

• Pew Research Center has published data indicating an increase in the percent of people unaffiliated with a religion, rising from 16% to 29% between 2007–2021 (Fig. 1).³
• Pew also notes that "actively religious people are more likely than their less-religious peers to describe themselves as 'very happy.'"⁴
• Data from Gallup, Inc. supports the Pew data illustrating a shift towards non-religious affiliations, with decreases in the number of people affiliated with a religion from 68% to 56% over the 2005–2024 period (Fig. 1).⁵
• Sapien Labs publishes a Global Mind Health report which supports Pew's statement on the connection between more active spirituality and better mental health, stating that "those countries where the majority of young adults lean spiritual (average ratings above 7) have [mind health] scores on average 30 points higher than countries where they lean atheist (average ratings below 4)."⁶

This handful of datapoints suggests that religion or spirituality can lead to a greater sense of happiness. Let me reiterate that this is an incredibly complex topic and is surveyed in a number of different ways (face-to-face, over the phone, online) using different keywords (religion vs spirituality), so it's not possible to get a clear, objective picture that spirituality and fulfillment are connected. Furthermore, these studies don't indicate that ceremony or ritual are the basis for religion or spirituality. However, I am suggesting that the benefit of religion or spirituality is the same that I've attributed to the implementation of simple ceremony: mindfulness. Pew data indicates that Americans practice spirituality in some of the following ways: spending time looking inward or centering themselves (44%), spending time in nature (26%), meditating (22%), exercising (7%), or yoga (4%) (see Fig. 2).⁷ These practices are closely aligned with the mindful nature of the ceremonies that I've described, which is how I'm drawing the connection from religion & spirituality to ritual & ceremony.

This decline in spirituality has been very evident to me, which is why I've implemented a little ritual practice. These small ceremonies meet my spiritual needs. I have ceremonies for the body (yoga, eating), for the mind (meditation, journaling), and in other miscellaneous areas.⁸ My suggestion would be to select an area of your life where you want to feel more fulfilled and try implementing a ceremony. This could be a micro-ceremony or something grander. You might find something you like, and if not, you won't be any worse off for trying.

But maybe it feels a bit daunting to design your own ritual, so let's look to the professionals for inspiration. Let me introduce you to the cornucopia of Taiwanese gods.

Other rituals

I recently finished reading a book on Taiwan's many different gods.⁹ These gods are quite similar to the polytheistic Greek or Roman gods who each manage their own domain (a god of thunder, a god of the underworld, etc.). A few of my favorites:

文昌帝君: Essentially the god of studying. The story goes that this person (most Chinese gods were previously real people) was studying to pass the imperial service exam. He was extremely bright, even top among his class. But he could never pass the exam, so he eventually gave up and went to live among the mountains. One day while wandering the woods he came across a god and begged the divine being to take him under wing. The god obliged, thereby deifying 文昌帝君 and allowing him to oversee people in scholarly pursuits.

People usually worship 文昌帝君 by bringing scallions, garlic, celery, and cinnamon to his temple. These are all homophones for words that sound like clever, or are related to 成語 (Chinese idioms) that have to do with being intelligent (Chinese speakers really love homonyms, called 諧音).

媽祖 (Mazu): Maybe Taiwan's most important god given the island's population is largely seeded from Mazu's birthplace (福建 Fujian, just across the strait). She is the protector of fishermen and sailors, but people generally pray to her for all kinds of protection.

When she was a teenager her father and brother went out to sea. One day before they returned, Mazu fell into a trance. Her mother was distraught and tried everything to wake her. When Mazu was roused, she told her mother she had been in the middle of saving her father and brother from shipwreck, but because she was disturbed her brother dropped into the sea. A few days hence, her father returned (without Older Brother) and confirmed the story.

土地公: The local god. There is a 土地公 for almost every neighborhood in Taiwan, and sometimes there are even several. Anytime you need a little bit of help from the gods, 土地公 is your guy. He's the catch-all god.

Believe it or not, 土地公 actually used to be a tax collector. He was very kind to his constituents and would often give them more time to pay taxes or even help them pay (!). The people loved him so much they built him a temple after he passed away, therefore enshrining him as a god.

保生大帝: Where would the Chinese be without a god for doctors (the most important job in the world)? In fact, the book I read talks about two different gods for doctors. Both of them were incredibly skilled and helped heal the emperor or his wife. People visit these guys when loved ones are sick and need to be healed quickly.

臨水夫人: She oversees pregnant women and young children. Her story goes that her hometown was plagued by a gigantic snake 妖怪 (yao-guai, monster) that would eat children as soon as they were born. She swore to defend the newborn children, and in the middle of her own pregnancy set out to kill the snake 妖怪. However, she was wounded in the battle and after an emergency birth of her child she passed away. Again, the people loved her so much they built her a temple and she ascended to heaven. People visit her to pray for healthy pregnancies and the protection of young children.

The point of introducing these gods is to offer some sparks to set aflame your interest in ritual. Just as the Taiwanese have a god for anything, you too can bring an element of spirituality into any domain of your life. Pray for good test scores, a safe fishing expedition, a healthy pregnancy, or throw it all out the window and design your own ceremony. Whether you are praying at the Taiwanese temples or offering a ritual at your own kitchen table, either is an opportunity to bring a greater sense of mindfulness and fulfillment to your life.

1. ↑ Sapien Labs, Global Mind Health in 2025 Report (pg. 21). Link
2. ↑ Pew Research Center, "Spirituality Among Americans" (Dec. 2023). Link
3. ↑ Pew Research Center, "About Three-in-Ten U.S. Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated" (Dec. 2021). Link
4. ↑ Pew Research Center, "Are Religious People Happier, Healthier?" (Jan. 2019). Link
5. ↑ Gallup International, "Two Decades of Change: Global Religiosity Declines While Atheism Rises." Link
6. ↑ Sapien Labs, Global Mind Health in 2025 Report. Link
7. ↑ Pew Research Center, "Spiritual Practices" (Dec. 2023). Link
8. ↑ For example, at the end of last year my partner and I spent time doing a goal-setting exercise. We each took a sheet of paper and wrote down our goals for the year, then spent time discussing and affirming the other person's goals. The final step was to burn the paper to create a sense of closure through ritual.
9. ↑ 臺灣故事小百科：宮廟神明信仰