Remembering the Gathering
by Colter Murphy
On February 2nd, the Confluence community gathered at UCC in the fireside room. The theme for this gathering was Emerging Light and Shadows. Our seats were arranged in a horseshoe shape to focus our eyes and energy on the hearth. The hearth was adorned with heavy candles and pieces of paper with guiding images on them. The images depicted fire and light: a woodblock print of a woman holding the sun in her lap with her arms wrapped around it, a pen drawing of two people sitting in a hot spring, a drawing of a plant growing upward with a fire in its base, a drawing of a candle.
We began with welcoming each other, settling in, holding silence, and pouring water into a bowl to remember its sacred movements through this mountain landscape. Karin offered her gift of knowledge and story to us throughout the gathering, and began by rooting us in this particular time of year: the midway point between solstice and equinox. In celtic tradition, this time of year meant gathering in the dark around the hearth, holding close to the shadows that move and distort, and paying attention to the smallest flames of new life burning within the earth. Bride, the celtic goddess of the hearth, was the accompanying presence for these people living in the harshness of winter. She was with them in their hunger as the land was barren. She was with them at the sacred springs as the light of the sun danced upon the waters. She was with them as they kindled their fire within.
Part of looking at fire is noticing the shadows it casts in the dark. We took time to name, during the gathering, our experience of shadows, both in seen reality and as an unconscious stirring. Shadows are the subtle and unseen currents that motivate our conscious movements, they offer us both insights and distorted projections all at once. From our shared conversation, we each drew an image or two with pastels to represent our own idea of shadows. We placed these small pieces of paper around the candles and images on the hearth, and spent time looking upon the hearth as a whole, shadows and all.
The tradition of honoring the midpoint of winter became a Christian one in the fourth century as Christianity spread among the celts. The light of Bride was celebrated with the festival of Candlemas. The people celebrated two prophetic divine feminine figures by merging their stories: Bride was Mary’s midwife, who ushered Jesus into the world, and Bride’s candles lit the way to safety for the Holy family after his birth. These stories gave rich texture and layers of meaning as we lit long candles during our gathering, placing them in a bowl of sand at the hearth. What newness within are we to midwife into the world this spring, and what flames do we kindle within?
We ended our gathering by singing “Canticle of the Turning”:
My heart shall sing of the day you bring.
Let the fires of your justice burn.
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near,
and the world is about to turn.
Questions to Ponder
What is your experience with shadows?
In the final six weeks of winter, what do we need to learn from sun and shadows, fire and water?
How do you describe the new life burning within you in this season? How can you nurture it with fuel from the shadows?
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