We enter the period in the wheel of the year that signals the end of the old year and the sparks of the beginning of the new year. The symbolism of fire as a divine energy transforms and purifies us, and harkens us to look toward the light as the life spirit of nature herself, her fertile essence.

Join WindSpirit and MorningSong as they facilitate a unique Imbolc ritual without words, full of symbolism, movement, dance and sound, to awaken the Goddess and encourage her presence in our lives. Bring instruments (sticks, rattles, drums, wind instruments, bells, gongs).

Facilitated by Wind Spirit and MorningSong.

We now celebrate the awakening of the Earth
And the return of beauty and of fruitfulness.
Life has quickened forest, meadow, and field.
Let us celebrate the return of the gentle times
With spell and chant and song!

Join Celebrate the Circle at Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Durham, NC to honor the Turning of the Year. At Spring Equinox on March 21 we will gather to welcome spring and honor the Old Gods. Personal seeds of growth planted at Imbolc will be nurtured and encouraged to grow strong and fruitful. By the use of chant, movement and a Dream Candle we will empower our visions for our futures and send out a cone of power to grant us strength, health and fortune and to make the land fertile and all creatures prosper.

Facilitated by Brydie, Dick and Gryphon.

Facilitated by Luna and Ace.

On the longest day of the year, we will join together to celebrate the sun and our masculine energy made manifest in the world through our work.

"Work is love made visible." Gibran

Please plan to bring food and/or drink to share The celebration will take place OUTDOORS, rain or shine, at KUMASI HILL in ORANGE COUNTY. We have chosen a beautiful outdoor location for the ritual.

Facilitated by Dick, Geneva, Chip and Dolphin Moon.

A Harvest Celbration. A Feast. A Celebration of Abundance. We will cook food on the center fire: a pot roast, a vegetable stew, baked beans (vegetarian), vegetables, corn-on-the cob (in the fire), whatever people bring.

Bring food to give to OCIM or other food pantries (we share our abundance with others).

We will name our abundances. Then, as the food is tended, as the fire is tended, we will sing and dance in thanks and gratefulness for the abundance provided for us. We will bless the gifts of food for others and ask that it multiply. We will sing and dance to raise energy for the feeding of the earth's people raising a cone of power and casting it for that purpose.

Facilitated by Brydie at Kumasi Hill.

We will explore keeping a balance in our lives, with special attention to the balance of work yet to be done this year, as well as giving thanks for our accomplishments so far.

Please wear comfortable clothes that you can move in, and shoes that will support you. We will conclude the evening with drumming and feasting... Please bring food to share at the potluck ending.

Facilitated by the Terrell Creek Trio: Steve, Lila and Sarah at Kumasi Hill.

Samhain (pronounced sew-in) is also called the Witches’ New Year. The Wiccan holy days center around the agricultural calendar. Samhain is the time when the Earth begins Her fallow season, the season of change, season of rest and rejuvenation. Typically, Samhain is the time to honor our ancestors, and also to honor all people who have died for their religious beliefs. Many people set up an ancestor altar in their homes, with photos and flowers, candles and incense, and sometimes with the loved one’s favorite foods. Samhain is also a time to reflect on the year past, and plan for the year just beginning.

The CTC Samhain ritual will take place on Sunday, October 31 at Kamasi Hill in Durham. We will gather at 7 p.m., and ritual will start promptly at 7:30. Our theme for Samhain is “Learn From Our Past, Create Our Future”. Be prepared to spend some deep, introspective time in silence. As it is the New Year this turning of the wheel, we will focus some energy on the new millenium, and our place, as Pagans, in shaping that future.

Please remember that it will be dark when we arrive at Kamasi Hill, so flashlights, candles in tall glass shelters, tiki torches and camping lanterns will be helpful. Also note that there are no buildings for shelter, so the ritual will take place outdoors. We will have a bonfire, but you need to dress warmly enough to be away from the fire for part of the ritual. Costumes are welcome, but not necessary. If you choose to come to ritual in costume, be aware that you are creating a magickal persona; choose with mindfulness and intention.

As usual, gathering for ritual starts at 7 p.m. with the ritual to start promptly at 7:30. Please allow enough time to arrive without disrupting the energy!

Facilitated by Luna and Ace and Brydie and Greg at Kumasi Hill.

Kumasi Hill

Come out into the stillness of
Midwinter's night to be
reborn into the new year.

The poem read by Geneva during the Ritual:

Food Chain
by Lynn Ungar

Give up pretending.
Everything, you know,
everything, sooner or later
gets eaten. Little fish,
big fish, no difference-
the world's mouth
is on you. Outside the personal,
it even has a certain glory.

When the mouse, in its last
short dash to the grain,
feels the great rush of wings,
in the flash before
the crushing beak descends,
it is finally, luminously, airborn.

In the broad, voiceless,
hours of the night
you have always known
the red beak of
your consummation
awaits you. The choice,
very simply, is this:
What will you give
your own beloved
bones and blood to feed?

Included in Changing the Spirit Within, Marilyn Sewell, ed., Boston: Beacon Press, 1996, page 225.

Lynn Unger is a Unitarian Universalist Minister