
Winter Solstice Gathering
December 21, 4pm - 8pmSilver Spring, MD
Contact Keely for further details
The northern hemisphere of the earth is tipped furthest from the sun at 6:03pm on December 21. The winter solstice is the organic anchor of the winter festival tide, which includes the whole big upcoming winter holiday season. The winter holidays include a time of decorating with light, sharing and coming together with family, and taking time away from the daily grind - and they end with New Years, which includes the famous resolution. To connect with nature, I begin each year by celebrating the actual planetary solstice in a traditional way: by lighting a fire, and then keeping some part of it lit all throughout the longest night of the year. And to balance out the New Years resolution, I offer people the opportunity to think about what they want to let go of in the New Year, in order to balance out the things they want to claim. We typically burn these 'offerings' to the 'old fire' before lighting the new fire, which will take us into the holiday season and the new year.
The Solstice gathering is a potluck with opportunity for holiday gathering and socialization, and also for a mindful holiday-time rite of passage. Take some time to think about the changes you want to make for next year, and the things you want to let go of in order to make those changes real.