Singing through Solstice
December 21 @ 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
£5.00 – £20.00
Songlines and Ceremony
Reclaiming our indigenous Songlines from these lands. We are the ancient future beings who are called to be together in this way.
Come all, come all, come sing on this winter solstice night, bring your bones to the light of the fire and warm your heart. Come gather with kin in ceremony through the portal of darkness.
An evening of deep ceremony and songs as prayer, songs of Love and for the Earth from our indigenous lands. No matter if you are a seasoned singer or a croaky whisper on the wind, your voice will be a precious part of our circle of alchemical sound.
We will gather in the EarthLodge, with sheepskins and firelight – we will allow silence and song, and hearts sharing between us.
Held by Jewels and Julian and will include a warm hot treat afterwards and a chance to stay and be with the fire and connect with kindred spirits.
Singing as the ancient way of ceremony
Humans have gathered around the fire outside or in earthen dwellings since time began. When we gather in this simple way we can come deeper into our hearts and into a soul memory of what life is really about beyond the daily survival program. It brings forth the natural intelligence of our hearts to bring us the wisdom we need in service to enriching our inner life. What we might be ready to let go of, that no longer serves us. This can be something from within our inner life, or something of our outer life.
We will be offering a simple ceremony for letting go. You do not need to of done any kind of ceremonies beforehand and it helps to have something in mind that you wish to let go of.
Winter Solstice – outer darkness, inner light
Winter solstice marks the point in the Celtic wheel of the year when the nights are longest and the daylight the shortest because the sun is furthest from the Earth in the northern hemisphere. In the West we view winter as something to endure until the light can once again return in spring. We see little or no value with what winter has to offer. We have been so trained in our culture to avoid our inner life, to avoid self reflection.
However, our deep time Celtic ancestors understood that each part of life (and each seasons) exists in relation to everything else and they knew there where treasures to be found in this time of winter. Nature shows us the necessity of winter, for without winter summer cannot manifest her blooming, for it is in the winter that the seed that fell from the tree goes deep into the earth where it surrenders itself to the alchemical process of transformation. It allows the soil, the darkness and the water to break down its protective shell. It has to surrender and trust that this process of breaking down is necessary so that the seed can receive the energy of life and bring it to birth in spring.
Winter is a time when above ground it seems that much of life is dead but, it is in winter that the tree does most of its growing, where it receives the wisdom and source energy of a million deaths and rebirths that is the fabric of the soil.
Let us surrender to the breaking of our shell
As humans we can learn much from nature and the teaching of the trees. There might not seem to be anything very interesting going on above ground in winter, but inside us the inner light of our spiritual life is most potent at this time. When we sing together an alchemical process unfolds where the collective resonance of our hearts calls us deeper into love. It also offers us the chance to see with more clarify what we need to let go of, what protection is no longer needed as we feel ready to bring more of who we are to the world.
This alchemical process needs our attention, no matter how busy our lives, this will lay the ground for the coming year and to living in a resourced, empowered and joyful way, whatever life throws at us.
“We cannot truly know what it is to fully shine our light if we have not embraced the treasures to be found within our darkness …”
Logistics
Dates
21st December 2023
Timings
Arrival from 6pm (doors close at 6.55pm sharp, no entry after this point for ANY reason.)
Venue
EarthHeart Forest of Dean, GL14 3JQ.
Staying at EarthHeart
If you are travelling from afar you are welcome to park your campervan up in the car park. if you are a hardened camper you are welcome to put up a tent for the night on our eco campsite for £5 for the night. There is a water tap and a compost loo for you to use.
You can also indoor camp on the floor of the Forest temple space with your own sleeping bag and roll mat you are welcome and this is £12 for the night. You need to bring your own simple breakfast with you, there is a tea station and hot water.
Cost
£20
Spaces are limited to 24 people only, we advise booking early.
Booking policy
Please read our cancellation and booking policy BEFORE booking your place so you are making an informed choice.