{"id":924,"date":"2010-12-20T19:28:13","date_gmt":"2010-12-21T00:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/?p=924"},"modified":"2010-12-20T19:36:10","modified_gmt":"2010-12-21T00:36:10","slug":"winter-solstice-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/?p=924","title":{"rendered":"Winter Solstice Celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"

\tWe celebrated the Winter Solstice last night at Neskaya. The building was decorated with a Solstice tree covered with lights and ornaments, and small white lights strung along the balconies. We had a good big circle.
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\tFirst dance was Kos<\/strong>, the one we usually begin with
\nLord of the Dance<\/strong>
\nKyrie Eleison<\/strong> (the lively one choreographed by Friedel)
\nThen we listened to a story and song from the Christmas Revels CD Wassail Wassail
\nLulla Loel
\nKitka
\nLore
\nNightwalking<\/strong>\u2014done around a single candle, all other lights turned off.
\nSitting in darkness, we pass a talking piece and each speaks about what darkness and this time of year means to them
\nThen we light candles one by one, making a wish, which can be shared or not. Many people wished for compassion
\nShepherds\u2019 Dance<\/strong>\u2014done with candles. A while back we agreed that all the circles would do this dance, so it feels like it connects all of us
\nAt this point we relight the candles at the Four Directions
\nRing of Light<\/strong>\u2014another candle dance
\nThen we turn on all the lights and do two new joyous dances
\nIl Cantico delle Creature<\/strong>
\nIhie Tov<\/strong>
\nBleak Midwinter<\/strong> (a very simple version)
\nMidwives<\/strong>\u2014our usual closing dance, we all come into a hug.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Many people said how glad they were to have this group and this celebration, for a short time living in a world filled with love, sharing, co-operation, and peace.<\/p>\n

Any readers who are wondering how these celebrations fit into a life characterized by struggle with PTSD, I have to say, Circle Dancing saved my life. What is there you are still willing to do when you can\u2019t enjoy anything? My ability to enjoy is dependent on brain chemistry. I know there are people who choose not to enjoy certain things, but I\u2019m not one of them. After my therapist told me that depression prevents enjoyment, I thought about it – in some ways it was a relief, that I WASN\u2019T choosing to not enjoy. I saw then that appreciation can be done on will, but enjoyment needs correct brain chemistry. So there are days that I know are beautiful \u2014 sunshine, green leaves, white clouds, soft breeze \u2014 but I can\u2019t FEEL they are beautiful. But I did find out that doing dances in community, with the understanding that they have a sacred dimension, was still worth doing even when I couldn\u2019t enjoy it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We celebrated the Winter Solstice last night at Neskaya. The building was decorated with a Solstice tree covered with lights and ornaments, and small white lights strung along the balconies. We had a good big circle. First dance was Kos, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-circle-dance","category-depression"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jennydeupree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}