Events

Winter Solstice: Honoring the Light and the Dark and Moving On!

From my book “Sacred Ceremony”: The strongest component of this season is light. Throughout the year, there is the dance of light and dark, and at the winter solstice, this dance is at its most intense and pronounced, with the longest period of darkness and the shortest period of light. Our ancestors, without the advantages of electric lights and central heating, were no doubt apprehensive about whether the winter’s coldness and darkness would ever come to an end, whether their food supplies would hold—whether their family or tribe would survive the harshness of the season.

      The fire that heated the home, candles placed about, and a great faith in the eternal cycles of light and dark, heat and cold, death and rebirth, were what kept up their spirits. The various solstice festivities kept up their hope. The symbols of light, such as the bonfire, hearthfire, and candles reminded them that the light would return as it had for every year. Other symbols, such as a tree that was brought in, an “ever-green,” helped them to remember that even in the harshest of times, life continue onward.

2020 has been one of the most challenging years we’ve experienced in modern times and there’s a sigh of relief as it comes to a close. Throughout the year since March we’ve done social distancing, covering our faces, staying at home, and growing wearier as the days stretched into weeks and months. In our time together Steven will offer his perspective on how this is affecting everyone and keeping most of us in some degree of fear. The fear leads to an instinctual reaction that becomes expressed in a variety of ways, following a pattern of freeze-fight-flight that gets expressed in a number of different ways.

Following the opening prayer and drum circle, we’ll do a meditation journey on how we best manage these disturbing feelings and move beyond fear.  Steven will offer four important ideas and actions to take that will help dis-spell your fear and move to a place of gratitude and appreciation.