A is for A Winter Solstice Celebration

 

                                         Winter Solstice sunrise at Stonehenge

 In the interest of spreading some hope and wonder, I draw your kind attention to the moment when we realize that tomorrow there will be a little more light. My favorite kind of metaphor celebrated with music and dance and words and collaboration and community.

Here we are, just days away from the Winter Solstice. We know that ancient peoples marked this auspicious time with rituals, great markers in the earth herself, and celebrations of all sorts. In this wacky year of 2020, we attune to the magic of gathering in cyperspace. So here are two celebrations worth the journey...available on your electronic device of choice (though I recommend the largest screen you can find).

https://solsticeconcert.com/winter-solstice/    will take you to the website for the Paul Winter Consort Winter Solstice Celebration, over two hours of music and dance and amazement with the theme "Everyone Under the Sun". It will be released Friday, December 18, 2020 at 7pm EST. The Paul Winter Consort has been presenting solstice celebrations summer and winter for 40 years. The winter one was on my bucket list for 35 years and being in New York five years ago to soak it all up was wonder-full. Oh the magic of the dark!

In the cathedral, the great percussion tree appears from the darkness, 

hung with chimes, bells, and gongs of all sizes and played by the dancers. 

Here is a sample – I recommend watching all the way through to catch the variety: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?utm_source=Paul+Winter+2020&utm_campaign=dcedd9a1fd-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_12_11_05_52_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1ff992435d-dcedd9a1fd-366012862&v=x1CvNyULMZY&feature=youtu.be

Please do this for yourself--if you can't afford the $20 ticket, there is a place to click for a discount.  

Just as moving and delightful is the Winter Solstice Singing Ritual: A Celebration of the Darkness and the Light with Songs and Stories,  a participatory event presented all over the world by local communities of singers and readers in which congregations or audiences join in the singing and dancing.  You can also purchase the book, complete with musical score and do it with friends and family in your living room.  Well, this year it should be your back yard, but outdoors in the dark is the perfect place for a Winter Solstice celebration anyway. It was written by Julie Forest Middleton and Stasa Morgan-Appel and is a favorite of Unitarian-Universalist congregations because it honors a few spiritual traditions.

On Facebook:  www.facebook.com/WinterSolsticeSingingRitual/

The winter solstice choir under the direction of Pam Blevins Hinkle 

with Stephanie Lewis Robertson singing her heart.

I participated in one such Unitarian-Universalist presentation in Indianapolis for several years as a singer and reader. It has become central to the winter holidays for me and I miss it terribly. But thanks to Zoom, we can attend the Orange Coast Unitarian-Universalist event via Zoom on Saturday, December 19, 2020 at 7:00 Pacific Time.

https://ocuuc.org/events/winter-solstice-singing-ritual-2/ will get you the link.

However you choose to mark the moment when the northern hemisphere of Mother Earth makes the turn (December 21, 2020 at 5:02 am EST, 4:02 CST) I hope the gifts of the darkness (endarkenment, eh?) serve you well and trust the growing light will help us all see the way to peace with one another.

A Winter Solstice Altar from the U-U celebration in Indianapolis, created by collaborating artists, 

probably including Stephanie Lewis Robertson and Rexene Lane. 

And here is a link for some connective-tissue for the Singing Ritual, music for transitions and background by Le Herder:

https://www.margherder.com/musicRitual.htm