Solstice Summary June 2008

We experienced a weekend of intensity at mid-winter. First on Thursday, June 18th was a Gemini Full Moon. This corresponded with an annual world wide event called World Invocation Day. For more information please click on the link below:
http://www.souledout.org/festivals/worldinvocday.html
The Great Invocation is a world prayer, based upon truths common to all religions. It has been translated into more than 75 languages and dialects and is used daily by tens of thousands of men and women of all faiths who wish to bring about right human relations and lasting peace.
On the Saturday we attended a special wedding of two dear friends in nearby Kaeo. Diane is in her mid-thirties, is blind from birth and is an amazingly talented musician and singer. Diane sometimes performs at our Ceilis and a few years ago she became the first New Zealander to win a prize in Scotland for traditional Gaelic singing. She’s also a Buddhist.
Colin is in his early seventies and spent a good part of his working life as an engineer for the British military, specializing in bombs. After immigrating to New Zealand he had a change of heart and now teaches didgeridoo in local schools, heals with crystals, works with dolphins and is an all round lovely man. He practises Wicca.
‘What’s that?’ you ask. Imagine the sort of ceremonies the ancient Druids would have performed at Stonehenge and Glastonbury to celebrate the solstices and other seasonal events.
The ceremony was touching and Diane brought tears to most eyes, mine included, when she sang of her love for Colin. For levity, Colin then adopted Diane’s budgie. It was a marriage like none other. Afterwards we attended a mid-winter Ceili, where we were treated to some items by some incredible visiting musicians. And, of course, we danced all night.
On the Sunday we hosted a Winter Solstice gathering at our place. As always, it was a wonderful, touching reminder of what’s important in life. Love and friendship was shared by people from all walks of life, a number of different religions and children from nine to seventy-five. Dave, the 75-year-young shared a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson that I’d like to share with you:

What is Success?
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life breathed easier because you have lived;
This is to have succeeded.

Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803 - 1882. American essayist, poet and philosopher