Gender Rituals: Creating a Sacred Space for Your Body, Your Gender, and Your Becoming

by Eli Lawliet PhD

Rituals and practices for reclaiming your gender journey, nurturing trans joy, and coming home to your innate, embodied sacredness

Drawing from his lived experience as a trans person, his training as a gender doula, and years of leading ritual and body-based healing work, Eli Lawliet offers tools for both personal transformation and collective survival—so you can live your gender journey wholly and unapologetically

Gender Rituals is a radically inclusive guide to honoring and navigating your gender journey—and reconnecting to your body as an ally.

Created by gender doula Eli Lawliet, PhD—the pioneer of gender doula work and a trusted guide to trans, non-binary, and gender-expansive people worldwide—this book offers gentle yet fierce practices to help you reconnect with your body, honor the milestones that matter to you, and cultivate trans joy…no matter where you are on your gender journey.

Whether you’re releasing an old name, claiming a new one, or celebrating the transformations of HRT, Lawliet shows how to imbue your gender-affirming with meaning and ritual. Lawliet also

Why this work is for you—regardless of your relationship to gender, how you identify, and whether you’re new to spiritual or ritual practice
There’s no such thing as “not trans enough”—and how to experience your gender journey as profound, affirming, and valuable, whether you have a “destination” or not
Foundational skills for ritual and energetic work, like cleansing, grounding, attuning, and shielding against transphobia and harm
How to access the wisdom of your transcestors and community
How to support identity-aligned choices

In a world that tries to define you, erase you, or make you small, Gender Rituals helps you reclaim your gender journey as sacred, powerful, and fully your own—an act of healing, resistance, and joy.

288 pages, Paperback

Expected publication August 25, 2026

Reviews

[August · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and North Atlantic Books for giving me the chance to read this ARC! Gender Rituals is probably one of the most impactful non-fiction self-help/spirituality books I have had the pleasure to read. The author takes the time to thoughtfully set you up to understand the purpose, order, and resources that are provided within. I really liked the way that it goes through some of the basics of energetic hygiene and ritual before really diving into some trans-specific rituals and processes. It's rare that you find a book on the topic of ritual that isn't overly religious or cisnormative so this was a real gift.

I found myself taking notes on the chapters, expanding my definitions of gender affirmation, and being excited to work on myself and my relationships with my transness. I have never really considered mixing my queer identity with my spiritual identity but now that I have, I firmly believe there is a market and need for this kind of work. I genuinely can't wait until this book comes out so I can get my hands on a physical copy to reference and annotate.

[Charlie Tombini · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was so absolutely affirming. The pacing is gentle, and it assumes belonging immediately, like you found the book, and it found you because you needed it. I appreciate how neurodivergent friendly it was, and it has good examples for practical activities and basically tutorials for specific rituals, which is very informative and helpful. I particularly enjoyed the part on which is talked about cultural misappropriation on spitirual spaces, its a very important topic and not talked about nearly enough. I also appreciated the book recommendations and the beautiful book design. It was a nice read.

Thank you, Netgalley and North Atlantic Books, for the eARC. This was an unbiased and honest opinion.

[Penelope Bloom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very important book that made me think more thoughtfully about my gender and the rituals I enact. It is a book that makes a case for thoughtfulness and intentionality. It felt very validating, in a world where ritual can sometimes feel frivolous (even though it isn’t) – a valuable book to help reclaim the importance of ritual, including ritual for cleansing after bad experiences. I think people of any gender identity would benefit from this (and certainly anyone who has felt disconnected with their body) but certainly gender nonminority individuals.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for this ARC!

[Mary Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really thoughtful book, helping people harness the power of rituals to bring the sacred dimension of life into our life transitions. The writing is clear and organized, which lets the ideas shine through. The author helps people think about the power of rituals in a way that makes them accessible to everyone, not just "experts."