Winter Solstice
So last night, on the winter solstice I was invited to a party at a friends house in Gresham, Oregon. The house is home to actually a group of friends, all of whom have become near and dear to my heart. So it’s no surprise that they throw awesome shindigs.
The party served as a holiday (Christmas is coming) party, a haven’t seen you in a while party, and as welcoming of the winter solstice, which marks mid-winter, or better, the reversal of the lengthening of night and shortening of days.
Winter is still upon us, but it is nice to know that we are slowly slipping forward toward Spring again.
Burn 2010 Negativity Away
One happy event of the evening was that a burning, or cleansing of this past years negativity was planned, in which party attendees were invited to write down all the negative thoughts and events needing a purge before the new year starts.
Obviously, 2010 has had it’s share of negativity for me, mostly stemming from two particular family members who will never admit to how badly they affect my life, and how I am unwilling to have that negativity affect my blooming family.
I relished the idea of purging that energy away. Particularly, since I have performed cleansings of my own at other periods of my life. There is something deeply spiritual about burning physical objects from this world, that seek to hold your spirit hostage.
It was quite refreshing! To stand there, hand and hand with my wife Lo Ride, eyes and lips in sync to the words easily scribbled upon the page, and to drop those words, those terrible occurrences into the hot burning charcoals of the Chiminea.
The night wind lashed at me. The dark air surrounded me. The embers flew like a hot red blizzard. And there it burned. There it became ash. There I left it. Forever.
Drum Circle Redemption
After most of the party had served the Chiminea their 2010 negativity, we proceeded to form a drum circle, with the few bongos and drums our host had, as well as adding buckets and pails, anything to move the beat, and invest our blood into the rhythm of the night.
So, if last night, you heard the wind howl, and wondered who on Earth would be making a drum melody on a night like that, it was us. Looking forward to another promising year.
Eager to move to the beat of our own drum.