Brooklyn, New York
Reverence to Her: A Participatory Chant to Invoke the Female Forces in the Universe Present in All People.

28TH ANNUAL WINTER SOLSTICE CELEBRATION
with DONNA HENES, URBAN SHAMAN
SATURDAY DECEMBER 21, 2002 6PM

Join us as we welcome back the sun. Bring drums and children and plenty of spirit. Please wear white, bright, silver, sparkle and/or neon finery to help light up the dark. And dress warm!

Meet the bus under the arch at Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn.
2/3 train to Grand Army Plaza. Magical Mystery Bus Trip to the Atlantic Ocean includes refreshments, ritual supplies and favors.

$35. advance purchase tickets. Send your check right away to ensure your seat. $40. on the bus

DON'T MISS THIS ONE!!!!

Essence of the Season
Winter Solstice
from Always in Season: Living in Sync with the Cycles

The sun, its back toward us, has been retreating for half a year now. The days have shriveled to a skeleton flicker of light. The frozen nights are endless. By the solstice, we are left standing alone in the dark. And winter is only just about to begin. These are dim, drab times. No flowers, no foliage. No insects, few birds. The earth itself is congealed with cold. Dark death and Arctic gloom surrounds us. How do we know that the sun, too, won't die, it's flame of life extinguished forever? How do we know that it won't just go off and leave us, abandon us to the night?

We know because it always has come back. Light is conceived in the dark cold at the time of the Winter Solstice, making it the most hopeful of all days. The Winter Solstice is like the time before we were born, when we floated in the great inky uterine void from which all is formed: that vast black ring around all possibility, its perimeter bulging with promise. The sun, a mere gleam in the eye of eternity, graces us with the smallest spark, the most tentative hint of a glow, imagined now in the dense ambiance of its absence. And light, no matter how tiny, equals life.
(c) Donna Henes

Please join us in spirit wherever you are as we welcome back the sun.
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Menlo Park, California
Winter Solstice Celebration: The Turning of the Tides
Dec 22, 4 PM
Marsh Road Bayfront Park, Menlo Park

We will celebrate the winter solstice at this public, community gathering by honoring the darkness we have all experienced in these last months, and opening space in ourselves for the light and new beginnings that follow this turning of the year.

With the intention of letting go of (dark, heavy) feelings that no longer serve us, we will each place a message in our tule spirit boat. We'll float the tule boat out to sea on the turning of the tides, offering our intentions to the creatures and waters of the Bay. Whomever is inspired will have a chance to name what new attitude, feeling, or focus s/he wants to welcome into her/his life, and by witnessing for each other we will strengthen our intention as the light returns.

Meet at 4:00 at the parking lot by the first pond (on the right) after you cross the tracks and enter Marsh Road Bayfront Park. The park is on Marsh road to the EAST of 101 in Menlo Park, along the bay.

Sponsored by Meg Beeler, Ginny Anderson and Foundation for Global
Community. Note: this is a shamanism-subtly-shared-with-the-world
event, with no overt journeying or other of our usual practices.
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Charlottesville, Virginia
Our group in VA already did our solstice gathering, since we meet the 2nd Monday of each month. After the usual smudging and calling directions, we all journeyed to ask "In this darkest time of year, with the shortest days, what is the spark of light within that guides me and keeps me going?" Ask your power animal to take you to that spark and have a dialog.

After sharing the results of that journey, we did a 2nd journey, each to ask for a piece of a ritual to honor that light found within us, even during the darkest times. We then did that ritual as a group, and closed with releasing the Directions with thanks.
Shirley Paul
Charlottesville VA
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