Solstice Full Info
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The Annual
Winter Solstice Ceremony 2019
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Sat. Dec. 21 from 12:30 – 3:00 pm
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At America’s Stonehenge, Salem NH
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Exact solstice moment Saturday December 21 at 11:19 pm, Sunrise 7:13 am – Sunset 4:13 pm
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There is some preparation involved that you want to be aware of and create in the weeks leading up to this ritual. Scroll down to what to prepare and bring.
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The early arctic winds pushed winter’s breath into Mother’s malleable soft skin hardening her instantly. Harsh yet decisive, water now claims its form in its crystalline beauty contouring the edges of the floral world to finish off the growing season. It sweetened the bright rose hips and killed every remaining apple still clinging to the leaf stripped trees. The dilapidated greens cringed wilted and sad as death frayed the once lush skirt of our Mother. However sad Mother looks in her ongoing impermanence of form, deep within she rejoices her well-deserved rest to renew, sort, and dream her next expression.
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We honor the cyclical nature of our universe that continues to inhale and exhale moving in a steady rhythm through the seasons marking the path of our beloved father Sun. Seasons shift in intensity and length yet the length of days are still ruled by the Sun’s travel to the South and North. When all is uncertain we turn to the solstice, the steady beacon to remind us that the light will return and it takes our effort to assist its journey as to how it will return into our lives. This sacred duty keeps our earth alive and connects us to the web and the mystery of life. It aligns us to the rhythms of inhale and exhale, form and formlessness, and to the source within that dreams the next expression without. It allows us to come into harmony and makes our earthwalk a service and asset to our environment. The winter solstice, when the sun stands still, reminds us that in the deepest darkness the seed of light is born which holds so much truth as we only seem to make change and get enlightened when we are in our darkest or most stagnant place in our lives. The reflections and laws of nature are our guiding principles of leading a balanced life that supports life.
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As every issue and secret is being pushed to the surface we see the reactivity, confusion, and discordance intensify that may create a sense of hopelessness that we can ever lift ourselves, as a specie, above this dense vibrational frequency. We may forget that the light is pushing the deep seeded patterns of dysfunction and separation to the surface so we can see it and transmute it. If we do not see the bigger picture we get caught up in the spiraling distractions and become part of the problem. We are getting a lot of help from the other world and the portals are open for us to get more easily access to Source energy. At this time when we face the impermanence of form in nature as well as in our existing culture we are called to shift how we do things. The question ‘who am I’ allows us to perceive our true identity. Watering our inner garden allows our divine expression to take firmly root. Guided by our heart and Source energy we become the solution, the vision that makes the old issues obsolete. 
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We are moving from a Mineral year into an Earth year according to the Dagara Cosmology of West Africa. This cosmology reflects accurately what patterns of vibration are playing out each year. The earth element is our home, the center on which all things play out. Earth welcomes us home. Earth is the nourishing principle as she supports all life and has always provided everything for divinity to come to its fullest expression. We came here as stewards to keep the balance going and serve the continuation of the expression of the Divine by serving our highest good that served the highest good of all. With our collective fall from Grace we saw the world through the eyes of separation and exerted control to get a handle on the fear, pain, hurt, and uncertainty we felt. We now get to look at our devastating trail we have left behind that makes the survival of our specie and life questionable. How have we treated our home? How have we forgotten the laws of the universe and the laws of nature that what comes from Source has to return back to Source to keep Source replenished and move the expression of the Divine up the spiral of evolution? Now the eroded soil under our feet lies depleted, lacking the mineral content that makes life thrive. Civilizations rise and fall based on the fertility of the soil. We have the ability to create fertile soil rich with microbial life faster than Mother Earth does on her own accord. Paying attention to our soil is the consciousness that now arises. We eat to make fertile soil and we are here to make fertile soil and this can only happen when we remember who we truly are so that we value what we put through our bodies truly nourishes us and the Earth.
The intention:
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We move beyond the outward distractions to nurture the source within, to let ourselves be guided by our higher self, to heal and embrace the feminine Divine within, the source of love that heals all separation. The extend to which we are able to love this world has to do with how capable we are to love ourselves. All the ways we keep separating ourselves by judging ourselves and others, by not forgiving ourselves or another, or where we are not present and come from an automatic response are indications that we do not love ourselves. Presence is the doorway to gratitude that is the doorway to love and connection.
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What to prepare and bring
– Please, get two 1 yard strips of 100% white cotton or compostable natural fabric between 1 and 2 inches wide. With the first strip make knots for every way you use the same reaction, same action, same approach or automatic response and expect a different result. What have you been doing that has not brought you any closer to making change in your life or the lives of others? What stops you from being present?
With the second strip make knots for every way aspects of your life have become easier because you became present, thankful, and aligned yourself with Source energy which in the end served your highest good as well as the highest good of all?
– If you would ask Source how you could serve Source’s will, what would you be doing, knowing that Source always uses your talents, capabilities and your unique perspectives and life experiences to serve your highest good and the highest good of all? Please, create on an about 10 inch square of 100% yellow cotton or other compostable natural fabric an image or symbol of what that could be.
– Please, bring flowers as part of the offering, a candle with safe holder, drums or rattles, flashlight, warm clothes and footwear and a friend. Make sure that your candle has either a holder or cup that protects it from blowing out in the wind or dripping on your hands. Bring your own water for during the ritual and a wholesome non-gmo snack to share afterwards.
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Katja Esser guides you through this very participatory ritual. In the spirit of co-creation, wherever your are in our own evolution, the ritual grows to new heights when you bring your items and participation to it. The rituals go deeper each year as they are built on each previous one. The unfolding of the ritual creates the sacred space, in which we give story and meaning to each sacred object we bring into it. What you bring creates the magnificence of this ritual as each contribution makes up the whole. Please make sure to do your best to bring your items and let the not fulfilling of these items deter you from coming. Some may bring some extra. Come early if you still need time to work on your items. I invite you to bring a friend and children are welcome as long as they are accompanied by an adult.
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Donation and Gathering Time 12:15 pm:
America’s Stonehenge is privately owned but is open to the public and is in operation under the dedicated care of the Stone family. The entry fee is $13.00 for adults there is an additional suggested donation of $8 if you can or more at the ritual site to support this work. Make sure you leave enough time to hike/walk to the site so we can start the ritual promptly which is more called for in the colder season. We are at the center of the main site.
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Who to contact: Please contact Katja on Facebook or
Email: katjacreates@ritualexpressions.com
You can find more info on Katja by exploring this website. You find more info about America’s Stonehenge or if there are issues reading the full text on my website go to http://www.stonehengeusa.com/katja.html#whattobring and this info is also posted on Facebook.
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Directions: From I 93, take exit 3 in NH, take Rte 111 East (app. 5 mi.,) to Island Pond and Haverhill Rds. (there will be a sign here for America’s Stonehenge on your right). Follow Haverhill Rd. south to entrance.
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We honor the cyclical nature of our universe that continues to inhale and exhale moving in a steady rhythm through the seasons marking the path of our beloved father Sun. Seasons shift in intensity and length yet the length of days are still ruled by the Sun’s travel to the South and North. When all is uncertain we turn to the solstice, the steady beacon to remind us that the light will return and it takes our effort to assist its journey as to how it will return into our lives. This sacred duty keeps our earth alive and connects us to the web and the mystery of life. It aligns us to the rhythms of inhale and exhale, form and formlessness, and to the source within that dreams the next expression without. It allows us to come into harmony and makes our earthwalk a service and asset to our environment. The winter solstice, when the sun stands still, reminds us that in the deepest darkness the seed of light is born which holds so much truth as we only seem to make change and get enlightened when we are in our darkest or most stagnant place in our lives. The reflections and laws of nature are our guiding principles of leading a balanced life that supports life.
