Okay, I am in the Northeast US-- we are talking about Friday night at midnight when we welcome 12/21? or later?
Winter Solstice Ceremonies:
I always celebrate them, mark them on my heart and make holy water that I leave out all night to collect all lunar, solar and other alchemically magical holi-days energies.Â
More importantly I live on the 45th parallel. (Pacific Northwest) Should be a factor of my catalyzing energetic position on and with all media influencer and bringing light into the dark things. I light lots and lots of candles inside and out.
Also have extensive care giver knowledge of many, many forms of mental illnesses and Alzheimers and a variety of vascular, Lewey Bodies, Picks and other associated Dementias. I'm a fully packed Rx box of energies needed.... ha!Â
Add me to the roll call ???
The consensus seems to be we want to do a synchronized candle lighting around 11:19 pm, eastern time, on Saturday, since that's the precise moment of the solstice. But If you won't be free then, you can light a candle whenever you want.
Borrowing a page from Vestralux, first I'm going to turn out all of the lights in my apartment at around 10:45 pm. I'll meditate in darkness - internalize the darkness - and perhaps practice tonglin breathing. Then I'm going to light a solitary candle at around 11:10 and begin my prayerful intentions. I'll blow it out whenever I feel the time is right.
For those of you wondering about whether there's a "correct" way to go about observing this Solstice, my suggestion would be to just do whatever feels appropriate for you. Back in October, when I started thinking about marking the end of the year with some sort of ritual, I at first thought I needed to find a shaman or teacher to lead me through a formal ceremony. But as I pondered it more, I realized I already have all of the knowledge I need to create my own ceremony. I'm inclined to think most age-old ceremonies began as acts of intuitive creativity on the individual level, and if you're a regular visitor to this site, you probably possess stores of the self same creativity.
Will be joining you all, although a few hours ahead, since I will likely be asleep by that time.Â
Our family Yule tradition is something like Vestralux's: at dusk, as soon as dinner is prepared, we turn off the electric lights in the house and have only candlelight for the evening. If weather allows, we have a fire outside and we read and burn memories from the past year that we wrote on scraps of paper. It is a lovely way to connect as a family and to tap into the contemplative spirit this time of year brings.Â
This year we will join you all in praying for light to lead us out of the darkness of these times, for the light of democracy, and that people will wake up to their connections with all humanity and all beings to move toward healing, not just our broken country, but our planet in crisis. ❤️Â
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Yep, Fairfield County. I’ll be there over the holidays, but not during the Solstice.
@coyote, @bluebelle, @jeanne-mayell, @bright-opal, @laura-f, @cindy, @baba, @penelopefp, @cc21, @rowsella, @michele-b-here-in-the-forum, @triciact, and @herondreams
I've been deep in the writer's cave grinding out an important deadline, but I'm back and I had to tell you all how much it lights up my spirit to see everyone's posts and participation here. Look what you started, Coyote! (Be careful or you might kick off a riot in heaven.) ;)
I don't reckon that synchronized timing is ever as important as synchronized purpose. And anyway, time only appears linear to those of us in 3D, yes? I wager that, for this ritual, we can all cohere ourselves outside of time simply with presence and intention.
That said, I have a suggestion or two—and would love to hear everyone else's thoughts.
Since at least November 2016, we've all been steadily and consistently tuned into the chaos, conflict, and division. We've become hyper-vigilant to the growing dark; we see it everywhere. The man in the White House is innately Uranian at its lowest expression (unpredictable, defiant, shocking, oppositional) and the world around us has become steadily entropic as a result. We secretly fear that we've stepped into an alternate universe where the fascists return to crush everything bright and good and worthy of love.Â
It's important that we exercise that capacity of imagination. As light bringers, we always need to guard against naiveté. Being able to hold space for the dark (and the potential of greater darkness) is the gift of a mature light worker. But we must also guard against too much fear, too much anxiety, too much projecting worst-case scenarios into the field. Not only because those sorts of energies make us literally sick, but because they are radically morphogenic; they create the very realities the collective wishes desperately to avoid.
The only thing more powerful at creating collective reality is shared purpose, mutually focused intention.
And I propose that we make our Solstice night ceremony just that.
Perhaps we can each take a moment of contemplation in the dark, before we light our respective candles. As we do that, we might sense into the space between us, finding one another consciously, feeling our container of belongingness and the power of our shared intention. Then, drawing from the primordial feminine power of the dark womb of creation, the holy Void, the deepest winter night, we shift our focus to a vision of the world we hope to see realized.Â
For example, I see everyone coming together, caring for one another and the Earth in new ways. In my vision, we have gone back to many of our ancient traditions, yet we're also radically new and technologically innovative! Governmental and educational structures and institutions are far more democratized, decentralized, local. Every citizen has a shining sense of purpose and value. There is so much art and beauty and utility in the things we make and share. And there's a lot of singing, many ways that color and light and sound and smell are used in healing and daily life. Young and old are gloriously vibrant and both are respected and cherished. Every faith and tradition and ethnicity and race is represented and honored. Animals are cared for without limitation or reservation. There's just a lot of love, a lot of life. (And wow! A lot of psychic ability!)
I would hold this vision in my mind's eye, but more importantly, I would focus on what it FEELS like to witness this reality, to exist inside it. What is its emotional and energetic vibration? How connected and alive do I feel there? What is flowing between me and everyone else in that space?
Once I've fully called up that sensation, raised up that energy as strongly and clearly as possible, I would then light my candle, in honor of the coming sun, the return of light where there is now darkness. And I would throw up my hands in thanksgiving. Laugh and clap my hands. Or stomp my feet, play music, dance, kiss my child, and eat something delicious.
Note: This last bit serves an important purpose: it transmits the powerful energy we've just raised directly into the collective field toward its targeted realization, and closes the ritual space. It's necessary to do this because we will inevitably return to our habitual fretting and sour-pussing and very understandable raging about the state of things as they've been. If we drag the beautiful energy of our shared ritual back into that, well, it's self-defeating. And by "self" I mean everyone. A whole nation. A world, really. So if this whole idea sounds good to you, don't forget to laugh or clap or eat cake at the end!
One more note: it's also very important that as we focus on our vision of a healing world, everything is experienced in the positive, in terms of what we do want to see (e.g., rather than thinking, "There are no racists in my vision, woohoo!," etc.)Â
What do y'all think?
❤️
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Thank you. This is a lovely intention framework to apply to our ritual. And now you've given me an excuse to cook up a gluten free treat to have after!!
Thank you. This is a lovely intention framework to apply to our ritual. And now you've given me an excuse to cook up a gluten free treat to have after!!
Heck, yeah! That's how we do it at my house. ;)
Lovely vision! And we always have cake or a treat on the solstices, equinoxes and fire festival days. Laura F., this gluten free orange cake is terrific: https://elanaspantry.com/orange-cake/
I absolutely love your suggestions. It feels like such a great process to mark the solstice and welcome in the new year coming up. Thank you!!Â
Absolutely right on. Bless you for laying it out with such kind and articulate energies.
We'll have a far better experience by preparing all levels of our physical beings and allowing ourselves carefree joy and freedom without expectation of results just belief that it already is. Print posts off and reread if need be.
Many of us I suspect realize how seductive the light is to the dark and vice versa so every single one of your suggestions is awesome and wonderful. Take them to heart one and all with deep love and gratitude and appreciation.
This is a really expansive opportunity for really and truly creating the living light and sacred heart of love for our world and even all worlds, mutiverses or parallels states of being and not any select group.
And yes let us all eat cake and dance afterwards this is SO how it works!
Dance in the moonlight! It is a phenomenal joy!
Love all of you from the seat of my soul and yours, now and forever!
Unite in the Light on Solstice Night! Hahahahaha!
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Thanks, everybody! And @herondreams, I'll be making that orange cake tomorrow night—it looks divine.
@michele-b-here-in-the-forum, I hereby crown you our Mother of Merriment. Your joy and radiance are exquisitely infectious—and so very needed in these times. Thank you for your love and care. You have my love and gratitude in return. ❤️Â
"@michele-b-here-in-the-forum, I hereby crown you our Mother of Merriment. Your joy and radiance are exquisitely infectious—and so very needed in these times. Thank you for your love and care. You have my love and gratitude in return. 
"
Oh yes, yes, yes. "Mother of Merriment" indeed!Â
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These are such good ideas, Vestralux! I'm already thinking of the songs I'll include on my solstice celebration playlist. While I still will have a candle lit at 11:19, I'm thinking I will perform the main chunk of my solstice ritual - deep meditation then feasting - in the early evening (I have a lot I need to get done tomorrow, and I'm going to be too tired to do all of that near midnight).
This is probably going to be my last post on the forum for the next few weeks. I'll be off the grid celebrating the holidays with my family and reading some good books, and then I have a lot of intention-setting to tackle in the first week of 2020. Have a happy new decade, everyone, and may you all start soaking in the returning sunlight!
Have a beautiful, restful holiday break, @coyote. And everyone else here.
I'll be holding all of you close in mind and heart tomorrow evening, as we dream a shining vision of our new world into being together. Much love and light all around.??
@coyote and all of you,
I will be participating from Northern Virginia at 11:19 pm on Saturday. Because I live so close to the seat of political power, I am often aware of the swirling, psychic energy emanating from DC. For the past 3 years that energy has felt increasingly dark and chaotic. Sitting in front of my beautifully-lit tree, in quiet, grounded, prayerful contemplation and meditation, feels right to me.  I will light a candle in unity with all of you.Â
It's time to tame the Tazmanian devil swirling around us. Our collective light can accomplish that.
I used to live in Loudoun Co. (aka LoCo !) - we used to bump into Oliver North in local stores... We escaped in 2014... Thanks for "holding down the fort". I will send a little extra light your way, to offset the swirl emanating from The Swamp.
❤️