Blessed Be, and Welcome. i don't get to visit this branch of my tree very often, but when i do, its always positive; so i'm happy to be back here now.
As i write, it is the evening of the Winter Solstice. Light is returning, even tho winter has yet to arrive (here on the North Coast anyway). i am listening to MotherTongue's 'This Winter's Night' and 'Close to the Edge' by Yes - the latter may seem unusual, but its been solstice music to me since highschool (ok, Yes provided the soundtrack to some transformative psychedelic voyaging in those days ;-) i've got some incense lit, a cup of vanilla-hazelnut coffee at hand, and the puppyboy curled at my feet.. and i want to tell you about my Longest Night.
i have been leading informal guided meditations for a group of friends for a while now - a couple years, actually. Last night was the third anniversary of this. i don't quite recall how we started, tho i do remember how very nervous i was that first time! We haven't managed every point on the wheel since, but i think we've met at least three or four times a year. Every time the group is a little different; this year's was the largest yet, and - for me, at least - the most special.
Yesterday was almost the longest *day* - i worked in the bird room in the morning, spending much of the day scrubbing walls and floors; then came home to shower and change, load my car, pick up my Elder Daughter and go off to participate in a Trunk Show sale down in Tremont. Which was a pleasant time, a sort of holiday party on its own. Had to take her home after - her MS makes her tire easily - then came back to my dear friends house where the gather was to be held.
Arrived to find a nice little party already in progress, with the largest group we've yet had - eep! It was a while yet before all arrived and settled in. i didn't at all think to check the time, but i suspect we were ready to circle around 11:30pm. Some people had been to these before and knew what to expect; others had no idea at all. But we managed to squeeze everyone in, just barely.
i wrote a piece where we all journeyed to a palace of ice with a magickal evergreen in the center. Along the way, there was a line about hearing bells.. just before we got to that, the sound of windchimes drifted in through an open window (its been unseasonably warm here, enough that with so many people we could have a little fresh air). And then, just as the sound of bells was to grow stronger, someone's cellphone went off with a bell-like tone - ! It made everyone laugh, and didn't seem to disturb the flow of the journey too much - but next time, i'll listen to my inner voice when it says i should remind people to set theirs to vibrate ;-D
Afterwards, we went out to the backyard where a small fire had been laid and watched over by a non-participating member. Some people left then, but after a time, one newer attendee mentioned a tradition she'd grown up with, of writing down wishes and committing them to the fire - something we've done in the past as well, so it fit perfectly. Another woman brought out red&green paper slips and silver pens from her house next door. We used the red papers to write things we'd like to be rid of in the coming year, and the green to write wishes for things coming in. Then we went around the circle, and each of us mentioned one or two things we were sending to the fire. As it happened, we were doing that right as the Solstice actually arrived; a beautiful accident.
A bit after that, the first woman shared a chant she knew, one i hadn't heard before, so that was a gift for me! i think the notion of chanting together might have been a little challenging to that group.. she and i sang it through twice together. If we'd had a drum, and one or two more voices, i think we might have had a little chant circle as well; but at least we got close.
Things broke up not long after that, tho the night still wasn't over for me - another friend got into town from L.A. so i went off to have a nightcap with him and a couple other friends before getting home in an exhausted tumble somewhere around 3am. All around, a truly majikal, wonderful, special Solstice night.
