Purim is a festival of celebration of the triumph of goodness over evil, of light over darkness. Queen Esther is at the center of the story. Purim is usually celebrated with noise, reverie, and the theme of military victory. In the Purim story, part of Queen Esther’s actions included meditation. I have incorporated this aspect of the story in a new ritual for Purim, the Crown of Esther.
Ritual:
With a group of people, make a circle of candles.
Envision this circle as the crown of Queen Esther.
As each person in the room lights a candle, he/she/they describe a characteristic of Queen Esther, such as courage, dignity, strength, beauty, wisdom.
This ritual can be followed by reading excerpts from the Megillah focusing on Esther and her actions.
