
A very dear friend of mine, Cindy Owings, has finally convinced me to start a blog. She has been blogging at petuniagirl.com for several years and finds great enjoyment and fulfillment in sending her musings out into the world. So, here goes . . .
Yesterday was the Winter Solstice and I invited some friends to join me in ceremony. In the Andean tradition of shamanism I have been studying since 2000, the Winter Solstice signals a time of recapitulation and preparation — to bring conscious awareness to any unfinished business in order to choose what of that to bring into the new year and what to complete in that moment and leave behind. Similarly, it is a time to vision the qualities and experiences we want to attract into our life in the coming year. Together, my friends and I journeyed to the Lower World to “see” our pending engagements and to the Upper World to bring back a vision of our Becoming. Then we created a community despacho or offering to Spirit that held the energy of these experiences, which was later burned. Afterwards we celebrated with a communal feast of chicken with prunes, quinoa, salads and high calorie desserts . . . and lots and lots of wine — much of it made in our beloved Santa Ynez Valley!
Yesterday was the Winter Solstice and I invited some friends to join me in ceremony. In the Andean tradition of shamanism I have been studying since 2000, the Winter Solstice signals a time of recapitulation and preparation — to bring conscious awareness to any unfinished business in order to choose what of that to bring into the new year and what to complete in that moment and leave behind. Similarly, it is a time to vision the qualities and experiences we want to attract into our life in the coming year. Together, my friends and I journeyed to the Lower World to “see” our pending engagements and to the Upper World to bring back a vision of our Becoming. Then we created a community despacho or offering to Spirit that held the energy of these experiences, which was later burned. Afterwards we celebrated with a communal feast of chicken with prunes, quinoa, salads and high calorie desserts . . . and lots and lots of wine — much of it made in our beloved Santa Ynez Valley!