Inspirations: Ritual & Celebration

Over the 4th of July, we traipsed the Berkshires, to experience all things American.  In Summerland, in a small, hot room, off the side of the road, we happened upon  a ‘Fa So La Sing’ where passionate voices rose in four and six part harmonies for no other reason than the beauty of their song wanted out.  It was an ancient sound, part Southern spiritual, part primitive, part magical chant. It is called ‘shape note singing,’ or Fa So La.  It is also known as ‘The Sacred Harp,’ (harp referring to the voice as instrument,) which is the universal song book used by everyone. The sound is all things American: simple as a Shaker chair, complex as a California Bordeaux, invigorating as Niagra Falls. ‘Fa So La,’ refers to the fact that those are the only notes sung, giving the music a familiar feel of old, southern church hymns. But It is not a religious group. It is not exclusive, au contraire, inclusivity is key.  It is not sophisticated, yet it is incredibly chic in its simplicity and verve. It is not a performance.  There is no clapping, no audience, bar the stranger who wanders in.  No one is a star. There are no microphones, no videos.  There is no leader. Everyone takes a turn, standing in the center of a four-sided box of singers, each section facing off; altos facing sopranos, bass in opposition to contralto. It is a united community come together to create something of profound beauty. Anyone who wished to lead might do so, and everyone wanted to because they could choose their favorite song. One after the other they leaped from chairs to move to the center and direct. Making simple, one-two arm motions, up and down, up and down, their flock followed, rising and… Read more »

We do not honor our great Mother.  We do not look to her future. We do not listen to her needs.  We only pay attention when she is really pissed off and blows a volcano, tosses a tsunami, or hurricane our way.  We do not offer sacrifices and bow in celebration every day, as she justly deserves.  If she were our child, instead of our mother, she would be dead. Being human means we are a strange lot, capable of inordinate greatness, and debilitating carelessness within the same body, within the same breath.  If there is an oxymoronic way of being, humanity is it.  When consciousness comes through the heart there is little we cannot do superbly.  But most of us move unconsciously, having no idea of consequences, except to self.  Our parameter of awareness moves out to a six foot circumference at best.  Beyond that lies uncharted territory, areas we think we are not responsible to, or for. Imagine we are lucky enough to receive an earth-incarnation.  Imagine it is the most magical place of choice in a vast Universe, filled with varieties of incarnations.  On Venus you take life as a rose.  On Mars, we are androids. With a Plutonian life, one is   a serpent.  And no, you are not downgraded.  With each of these choices come gifts, and detriments.  On earth, we receive lessons.  It is a short-lived home for souls who wish to learn and grow from mistakes, confusion, and pain, and our great mother has agreed to suffer the consequences of our learning. If we could but pick up the tempo of our lessons, along with the speed of technologies, we might grow consciousness exponentially.  Our ears might hear Gaia’s SOS.  We might make every morning a dedication to her well-being, if only to save… Read more »

Sometimes when least expected, a magical event appears from haphazard seed. It seems all the more special as magic is in short supply these days. The following tiny story comes to you full of magical possibility, born of an odd thought in an insouciant moment Our Yoga community celebrates.  We create ritual for the earth at its four quadrants of change; Vernal Equinox, Summer Solstice, Fall Equinox, and Winter Equinox.  We do Suns and Lunars for Full and New Moons, plus follow festivities of many religions.  We celebrate everyone’s birthday with cupcakes, candles, songs and silly hats, and tiaras. Few go unscathed and un-sung. Yoga-life is about celebrating life- as much as it is about standing the mat. This story is about the translation of light from one celebration to another, one world to another, one heart to another.  It unfolds from a Yogini’s birthday just as she prepares to leave for the Amazon, an interior trek deep into unknown territory.  We sing her song, she blows out candles, but the wonderfully corny crown suits her curls and incandescent spirit too well.  Looking at her brightness, it suddenly becomes clear that she is to drive off in the tiara, and more, she is to include it in her back pack and offer it to a woman, a young queen, in the Amazon. It is only an instant’s recognition, silly, wayward, nonsensical, yet right.  A bargain is struck, and the tiara heads off into the unknown. It is a seed of light, a silly offering of shared grace, holding abstract opportunity to be part of other’s celebrations, and community.  This is magical enough, but you know that there is more translating beneath the surface.  Energy fields we know nothing about have been activated. Because these un-seen fields were birthed from joy,… Read more »

The reason the world is round is it keeps us from looking too far down the road.  Another reason is that- roundness is symbolic of a mandala, a magical circle.  Roundness delineates birth.  It is the womb. The inmost shrine of an Indian temple is called a garbha, the womb. The center of a mandala, the Bindi, Sanskrit for ‘a drop,’ can be a symbol for the Third Eye, the ajna, seat of profound wisdom. If and when we sit in the center of our being, still and listening, we are in the center of our Universe, connected to circles within circles, an evolving mandala in our own right. Our roundness retains energy and concentration. We grow inward-toward a deeper reality, aligning spokes from the center to greater harmony with nature, with the Universe. We react less, respond more.  Being roly-poly, we have fewer jagged edges.  Like the Uroboros, a great dragon formed out of the formless void, who bites its own tail to create the first circle; the first separation between dark chaos and light, we bring life into greater order when we have patterns, especially round patterns. We have polarities.  We have cycles. We have us and them, this and that, here and there. When we are able to perceive cycles, and designs- to what appears meaningless and out of control, we breathe more deeply.  We settle into Self. Simply sitting and taking time to draw a circle with a bindi draws the eye in, the body toward calmness and reason.  The innate harmony that arises in adding color and beautiful pattern to the circle frees the mind from monkey yammering. We tend to organize feeling and thought around the mysterious.  Life and death, spirit and significance take up more time.  To our roundness we add weight, gravitas…. Read more »

A newcomer to class, observing a Shakti Yoga Dance for the first time, told me he was surprised at how strongly it affected him.  He asked how I chose to put them together, why connect those particular Asanas?  Surprised by the question I had to question, how do these dances grow out of the mat? What is it about their ritual that is satisfying to many.  I was reminded of the writing in an old Breath, for it seems a very similar process. In 2005, I wrote, “Words are sacred because we choose them. Anytime conscious choice is involved, it is possible to make something sacred. ‘Sacred’ is defined as, ‘set apart or dedicated; consecrated by love or reverence. From Fr. sacre to consecrate; sacrer OF meaning ‘holy.’ The word ‘sacrifice’ comes in here as well. It is the act of making an offering to a deity, or making atonement; the giving up and, or creating something cherished.  When choosing a particular word, we sacrifice all other words/possibilities for that one. “ When choreographing, as with writing, the more consciously we sacrifice the multitude of poses, or steps, or words for one or two ‘sacred’ well-thought out ones, the more holy they are.  Does it not follow with everything in life that we ‘consecrate’ with love, time, and energy?  The more we give up, the more refined our choices.   Do our contributions not contain more of self?   And is that not more holy? The next time we step onto the mat and put energy into a dance, or an Asana, or choose a particular song to sing, a poem to write, a person to kiss, consider it as ritual made sacred, one that honors you, and makes the choice more holy. You could have chosen to do a lot of other things, like take a… Read more »

Despite the dizzying sense of speed, the structure of fall’s equinox provides a moment of stillness, a symbolic cross  road that divides the year into one of its four seasonal quadrants.  Like spring’s Vernal Equinox, along with the Summer and Winter Solstices, Autumn’s equinox  is an astrological transition when we open a door to the coming three months.  This year, September 23 is when the earth’s axis inclines neither toward, nor away, from the Sun, putting the center of the Sun in the same plane as the equator, which makes day and night fairly equal. (Latin, aequus-equal and nox-night.)  It is also moves the Sun from Virgo into Libra, signature of balanced grace. “So what?” You ask “Here’s what.” I say: As the world becomes boundary-less, we need boundaries.  We need markers to give import to chosen moments so we may stop, take note, and with any luck, decide to move forward with higher intent. It is a re-asesing view from  summer spaciousness to fall boundaries. As we race from moment to moment for more harried face-booking and texting, it’s imperative we create space not only to stop and consider what we are face-ing’ and texting, but to create the richness of ritual so we have an opportunity to imbue life with velvety-wines, and deeply connect with others of like-spirit. With the balance of night and day, we are again offered opportunity to validate the night, the feminine and receptive, the listening Goddess within –to day’s solar masculinity.  The Sun’s demand of ego and identity pushes more and more production at a faster pace.   When the earth stills this impulse by portioning light and dark, we are offered a divine gift of creating inner equilibrium. When driving a 100 miles an hour it’s important to know where we’re headed.  Some… Read more »