Spiritual Direction is a “Ring around the Rosie”
Dec 31, 2025“Ring around the rosie. Pocket full of posey. Ashes, ashes, all fall down.”
For reasons I can’t quite explain, this curious rhyme recently intruded upon my thoughts. It carried me back to childhood, to evenings when my mother would recite it at bedtime. I had no idea what the words meant then, and even now their meaning remains elusive. When in doubt, do a Google search. I did—but the results were few, contradictory, and inconclusive.
Some suggest the rhyme refers to the bubonic plague that ravaged Europe, though that theory is often dismissed. Others trace it to France, describing a children’s circle dance around a flowering shrub. Still others claim it began as a folksong with the original lyric, “Ring a Ring o’ Rosie.” Proposed dates range anywhere from 1665 to the late 1800s.
As these fragments swirled in my mind, I found myself wondering, What does any of this have to do with my life right now? Oddly enough, what surfaced was a metaphorical connection to spiritual formation and spiritual direction. Stay with me.
Spiritual direction has much to do with how we understand and relate to the great mysteries of life and death. Our posture toward these mysteries often determines whether we live within a circle of fear or a circle of hope.
The rhyme begins with hope: “Ring around”—circle around—“the rosie.” As spiritual directors, we circle the stories entrusted to us. We listen. We discern where hope flickers, where coping skills are at work, and where fear resides in the hearts that open before us. If the “rosie” truly refers to a fragrant flowering bush native to France, then this circle dance begins with beauty, with life, with what is necessary. Life is necessary. Beauty, celebration, and community are inescapable. Spiritual direction helps reconnect us with all of these.
The rhyme continues: “pocket full of poseys.” This suggests a deeper commitment. It is not enough to circle life—we must learn to receive it, to hold it, to make its wholeness our own. Our pockets must be filled with the experiences that, in Ignatian language, bring consolation rather than desolation. This is the realm of contemplation, silence, lectio divina, mindfulness, and the other mystical tools that shape our awareness and prepare us for the quiet work of grace and transformation.
Then comes the final line: “ashes, ashes, all fall down.” This is not a descent into despair. Rather, it names the truth that life is short and endings are inevitable. Spiritual direction helps us loosen our grip on the light and turn slowly, courageously toward the dark. We are pleasure seekers who often avoid the “ashes” of loss, grief, and change. Yet the end of the rhyme does not leave us in ashes; it gestures toward renewal. In our limited understanding, we often mistake one for the other. We resist change and, in doing so, miss the blessings that transformation brings.
Spiritual direction invites us to embrace change and, in that embrace, to discover how ashes can become hope. This is the quiet power we hold as directors: the ability to see beyond what is into what could be in the lives of those we accompany. And in those moments—just as the rhyme says—we “all fall down,” or as earlier versions put it, “we all bow down.” We bow before the light that rises from the darkness. We become bearers and believers of hope on behalf of others.
~Chuck Wester, Student from WTC's Spiritual Direction School
Stay Connected!
Updates and News sent directly to your inbox.
We hate SPAM. We will never sell your information, for any reason.
