NEXT
EVENTS:
- Saturday, January 21, 2012
- Potluck at 6:00 pm, followed by program
- Presented by the Colorado Welsh Society
- The Kirk of Bonnie Brae, 1201 S. Steele Street, Denver, 80210
- Sunday, January 29, 2012, 2:00 to 3:30 pm
- Labyrinth Room in the First United Methodist Church
- 1421 Spruce Street, Boulder, Colorado 80302
- Celebrate the Rebirth of Spring in the Celtic calendar!
- By donation, $10 to $25 appreciated (no one turned away
for lack
of funds)
I have given Brigid a whole page for Herself.
Click here for details.
RECENT EVENTS:
Sat., Dec.
10, 2011 – Walking the Labyrinth
with Diane Gansauer and Edie Stone
1:00 to 2:30 pm
St. Brigit's Episcopal Church, Frederick, CO 80530
RSVP: Diane
Gansauer, 303-877-7040 or dhgansauer@comcast.net
We need your RSVP in order to contact
you if the weather is questionable
Wed, Dec 21, 2011 –
Midwinter Solstice: Journey from Darkness into Light
with Edie Stone
6:30 to 9:30 pm
Edie Stone's Office, 2027 Broadway, Suite H,
Boulder, CO 80304
RSVP: Edie
Stone, estone@ediestone.com
by Dec 20, or 303-415-3755 by Dec. 21
RSVP soon, as past events have filled
early
Bring a small stone and a bit of greenery for our
altar
Bring fingerfood for potluck after the ceremony
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Midwinter
Solstice: Journey from Darkness into Light
with Edie Stone
Explore Celtic and British traditions of the Midwinter
season as the Wheel of the Year turns through its deepest, darkest
hour. Experience an imaginal journey into the Cave of the Sun
(Newgrange or Brú na Bóinne) and the rebirth of the
Solstice light. Find ways we can individually and collectively turn our
dark shadows into light.
Bring a small stone & sprig of greenery for our altar and
fingerfood for potluck after the ceremony.
DETAILS
FOR MIDWINTER SOLSTICE EVENT:
Please
RSVP as space is limited
and past events have filled up. estone@ediestone.com
by 10 pm, Dec. 20
or 303-415-3755 by Dec. 21.
Note: I can't access my emails on Dec. 21
so only a phone call/voice message will work on Dec. 21 if you need
information or to see if there is still space or to change your
reservation on that date.
Date
& Time: December 21, 2011
6:30 to 9:30 pm
Location:
Edie Stone's Office, 2027 Broadway, Suite H, Boulder, CO
80304
Directions:
1/2 block north of the Pearl Street Mall, downstairs, below OM Time Yoga
Detailed directions, parking, bus routes, and office
photos at
http://www.ediestone.com/directions.html
Donations appreciated ($10 to $25 suggested range). No one
turned away for lack of funds.
RSVP:
estone@ediestone.com
by 10 pm Dec 20,
or 303-415-3755 by Dec. 21
Some topics we may cover include:
- The Wheel of the Year and the Midwinter Solstice
- Rebirth of the Sun in myth, imagery, and customs.
- Plus ... the hidden light of the feminine, O Mother Sun!
- Birth of the Son, the Child of Light:
- Angus Og the Young God of Brugh na Boinne (Newgrange)
- Mabon ap Modron, Apollo Maponus, and Mary's Mabon the
Christ
Child
- The ancient sacred deer dance of Britain: Abbots Bromley
Horn
Dance.
- The spirals of time
Interior of Newgrange, the long passage is 63 ft.
Drawing from Wakeman's Handbook of Irish Antiquities, 1903
The
Wheel of the Year ... approaching Midwinter
The Celtic day started at sundown, and the Celtic year started at the
year's sundown, the time after Autumn Equinox when the sunlight is
rapidly fading, and winter is starting to set in. Samhain/All Hallows'
Eve was not
only the end of Summer, it was the end of the year, the death of the
old
year. On Samhain, we opened the door to the darkness of Winter, as the
wheel turns toward 2012.
Now as we approach the Winter Solstice, and the shortest day, we are
well into winter weather, and we are experiencing
increasing darkness. We are approaching "midwinter."
s
Wheel of the year image from http://www.gaias-garden.co.uk/articles/woty.html
Visit their site for a lovely tour of seasonal flowers in England, and
order calendars for 2012.
This is my favorite graphic of the Wheel of the Year, for it's complete
simplicity.
We in America mark the seasons in the rhythms of the sky. We
think of
Winter as starting with the Winter Solstice.
The Celts and ancient Britons, however, experienced and celebrated the
seasons more in the rhythms of the land than of the sky. The
agricultural seasons followed the cycles of the plants and animals: the
plant cycle in the rhythms of
sowing, tending, and reaping – and the
cycles
of the animals in the rhythms of the lactation of ewes at the
birth of Spring, of driving the cattle to summer pastures at the
beginning of Bealtinne/Beltane, and of the sacrifice of cattle at
Samhain for survival through Winter.
This is still true in much of Britain and the Celtic lands. There, the
time around December 21-23 is still called
Midwinter. And the the
fairies in Midsummer Night's Dream were out making mischief on the 23rd
of June, not in July or August.
The tribal and community gatherings of the Celts also followed these
rhythms of the land. The major Celtic fire festivals are held on the
Cross-Quarter dates,
in between
the Solstices and Equinoxes: Samhain
(start of Winter, November 1), Imbolc (start of Spring, February 1),
Beltane/Bealtinne (start of Summer, May 1), and Lughnasa (start of
Harvest/Autumn, August 1).
See Wheel
of the Year, above.
It may feel a bit dreary and depressing to think that we are in winter
already in November and December. But look outside, it has been cold
and snowy, finally. And when you realize that we are
almost half way through winter,
something may shift in your inner sense of the seasons, and then you
can truly look forward to the
Solstice
as Midwinter.
We have the festivities of lights and
feasts and carols and mistletoe to keep us merry at
Midwinter and
through the Twelve Days of Christmas that follow, up to Twelfth Night.
Then only a few more weeks of January, and we will be celebrating
Spring already on February 1,
with Blessed Brigit and those lactating
ewes of Imbolc. Yes! (I plan to host another Imbolc ceremony in the
Labyrinth at First United Methodist Church, on Sunday, January 20,
2011, so stay tuned.)
Exploring Celtic Spirituality
is a series of classes and ceremonies celebrating the Celtic Wheel of
the Year and seasonal traditions in the Britain, Ireland, and beyond.
Suggested
donation for most events is $10 to $25.
PLEASE RSVP as space is limited:
estone@ediestone.com
by
the day before an event, or
call
303-415-3755
on
the day of an event (if
space is left)
Photo credit: http://www.stbrigit.org/
Walking the
Labyrinth, with Diane
Gansauer and Edie Stone
12/18/11
– UPDATE on our labyrinth walk which was Saturday, December 10,
2011
A Midwinter
Preview of Imbolc, by
Edie Stone
We had planned to meet inside
with a canvas labyrinth
because of the snow, but ... lo, the children were practicing their
Christmas pageant inside the church ... so we had to meet outside. The
site at St. Brigit's is an old farm, and folks had to drive across an
acre of snow to reach the labyrinth. When I
arrived, Diane, Sue, and some church parents and teens had just
finished shoveling and sweeping a large volume of snow so we could see
and walk the paths. Thank you!
The day was warm, bright, and beautiful – the
first really clear blue sky in a long time. 
The center of this Chartres-style labyrinth is a six-petaled rose (see
diagram below). At the very center, I was delighted to find a
simple Brigid's
cross, created from the brick pavers that also formed the lines of the
11 circuits.
As we set up, I chose three candles that depict aspects of Brigid: one
in the North with a collage of Irish images, including a red-headed
colleen and spirals of Newgrange; one in the East with a reed Brigid's
Cross, that had an image of Brigid as nun on one side, and Brigid
either as maiden or
goddess on the other; and the third, in
the South, the image of a woman (Brigid? the artist? the viewer? any
one of us?) receiving the light of the sun which then spirals into her
heart. This last image is by Irish artist and writer Susanne
Iles (www.susanneiles.com). One of the miracles of that day is that the
candles stayed lit through the whole ceremony ... on the plains of
Colorado where the wind always blows.
In my experience, ceremonies have to include spontaneous experience as
well as a planned structure. The labyrinth itself provides
an archetypal structure of enter/deepen/return, a gentle version of the
hero's journey. Diane's role was to provide an overview of these phases
of interacting with the labyrinth. My role was to open our ceremony
with an acknowledgment of the sacred space surrounding us, and an
invocation from the Carmina Gadelica. 
Then I received an inspiration directly from Brigid. The sun was
shining in the south, on this beautiful clear
day. The south candle showed the woman receiving the light, her hands
open, the light spirialing into her heart. So I said, "Let's turn to
the sun, and receive the light. And allow it to flow into your body,
into your heart or belly." So we stood, each receiving in our own way
the warm golden sunlight. Truly, a warm blessing of Brigid in the white
winter landscape.
In some Scottish legends, is is said that there is a fierce competition
between the Cailleach (Hag of the Harvest, the Winter Storm Goddess)
and Brigid, in her aspect as bringer of Spring. In some versions, the
old Cailleach imprisons the young Bride in a cave. In Ireland, there is
also the theme from O Mother Sun by
Patricia Monahan, which is the alternating feminine identity of the sun
between the old winter sun Grian and the bright summer sun Aine (in
Irish, the word for sun, grian or greine,
is feminine).
Imbolc image © by Susanne
Iles, Irish symbolist artist and writer
www.susanneiles.com
Well, on this day, Bright Brigid escaped from the icy hands
of winter, scattered the grey clouds, and reminded us that spring will
soon return.
Our walk was wonderful and warm. Two amazing things at the end: All the
candles stayed lit. (outdoors! on the plains!) And two large
flocks of Canadian geese flew overhead in the crystal blue sky.
Afterwards, we went to the church house and had hot cider and cookies,
and pleasant talk.
Here is the original description of this event:
Find your sacred path this season, and explore the peaceful
effects of
walking a labyrinth. This is an opportunity to set aside the rush
of the holidays and move into sacred space-time.
We will meet at the labyrinth near the new little church of St. Brigit
in Frederick, a few miles north of Denver. It is a 11-circuit labyrinth
in the Chartres style, which has just been created by volunteers.
What is a
labyrinth?
A
labyrinth is an ancient archetypal image and a tool for meditation.
Labyrinths have appeared in many cultures
and
various contexts for
thousands of years: from ancient Cretan coins to Roman mosaic floors,
from British turf paths to Hopi baskets, from Gothic cathedrals to
Druid fire walks. Rather than separating faith communities, labyrinths
create an open space of acceptance and resonance.
Labyrinths are
not the same as mazes. Mazes have dead ends and confusing turns, and it
can be a mental challenge to find your way out. Labyrinths have one
path, with rhythmic, symmetrical turns, which lead to a sense of
rhythmic flow and a reconnection of left and right hemispheres. You can
let go of your busy mind, and trust the labyrinth to take you deep into
the Center, and bring you out again.
Our gathering
will be facilitated by Diane Gansauer. She is an avid student
of Celtic spirituality and is working on certification
as a Life Cycle Celebrant. She has walked labyrinths many times
and found them to be a powerful aid to meditation, for people of all
spiritual backgrounds.
We have a canvas
labyrinth available that we can use inside if the weather is not
suitable outside.
We will end with
some hot tea or cider, and an informal discussion of our labyrinth
experience.
We welcome all
who are interested in Celtic spirituality (Christian, pagan, or
resistant to labels), and anyone who is curious about
labyrinths. We are inviting the Celtic Spirituality in Colorado
Meetup group, Edie Stone's email groups, and others. Bring your
friends.
Edie will also host Imbolc/St. Brigid's Day again on the Labyrinth at
First United Methodist Church in Boulder on January 29, 2012. Stay
tuned.
DETAILS FOR
WALKING THE LABYRINTH EVENT:
Please RSVP
to Diane, so we can notify you if the weather is terrible. But if it is
a bit wintery, we can meet on a canvas labyrinth inside. dhgansauer@comcast.net or
(303) 877-7040
Date & Time:
Saturday, December 10, 2011
1:00 to 2:30 pm.
Location:
St. Brigit's Episcopal Church, Frederick, CO (just
east of
I-25)
110 Johnson Street, Frederick, CO 80530
Directions:
Take I-25 to the Colo 52 exit, go EAST.
(From Boulder,
take the Longmont Diagonal to Colo 52, go east past I-25)
Take the SECOND LEFT which is
Colorado Avenue (Weld County Road 13).
Continue north to Tipple Parkway,
the first traffic light -
(Tipple also known as 1st Street or County Road 16)
TURN RIGHT on Tipple = 1st Street.
Go two blocks east on 1st Street
to Johnson.
Map:
http://www.stbrigit.org/
Free (Donations appreciated)
===================================================
UPCOMING Exploring Celtic Spirituality events in 2012:
Jan 29, 2012 - Imbolc on the Labyrinth
Celebrate Brigid in her many aspects as Celtic
Goddess and Beloved Saint of Ireland
Welcome the return of Spring!
2 pm. First United Methodist
Church, Boulder
Feb 24-25, 2012 - Merlin's Prophecies and 2012
Location TBA
Merlin and Visions of 2012 - upcoming
event
On Samhain, we worked with the Young Merlin of prophecy, and
the Old
Merlin of wisdom, to help us mark the Directions and the turning
of the Wheel of the Year.
Young Merlin embodies the power of visionary experience, and the
courage of speaking truth to power. Old Merlin embodies the madness of
war, the cleansing of grief, the healing power of nature, kinship with
animals, and the wisdom of cosmic knowledge.
This is the Welsh Merlin, the first images of Merlin that we see in
ancient Welsh poetry and the early medieval text,
Vita Merlini. This is not the
Merlin of later Grail Quest legends in Europe. He is not the sorcerer
sealed in cave, tree, or glass by the seductive Vivien or Nimue, and he
is not the silly wizard with a pointy hat of film and comics. Rather,
he is a visionary prophet, poet, king, madman, and philosopher of the
stars, with deep relevance to our times.
I am planning to offer a workshop in February, 2012, to explore the
Prophecies of Merlin. Please let me know if you are interested by
sending me an email at
estone@ediestone.com with "Interested in Merlin
workshop" or something like that in the subject line. That will help me
plan for the size of the workshop, thanks.
Preview: You can read my article on Merlin's Prophecies at
http://www.shamanstone.org/ArticleMerlinVisions.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Exploring Celtic Spirituality
is a series of classes and ceremonies celebrating the Celtic Wheel of
the Year and seasonal traditions in the Britain, Ireland, and beyond.
Suggested
donation for most events is $10 to $25.
PLEASE RSVP as space is limited:
estone@ediestone.com
by
the day before an event, or
call
303-415-3755
on
the day of an event (if
space is left)
Learn
about Summer Solstice traditions in the Celtic realm and old Europe.
And now for something
completely, Celtically obscure and wonderful:
The death, dismemberment, and rebirth of
John Barleycorn
B.
The balance of day and night, of dark and light, and of masculine and
feminine:
When the Roman Catholic Church showed up in
Ireland, and other places
in northern Europe, they had a really, really hard time
stopping the
people from celebrating their connection with their ancestors at this
time of year. So they moved All Saints' Day to November 1 (it was
originally in May, one week after Pentecost), and added All Souls' Day
on November 2. 
