"Stripping Away: The Journey Home"
Sunday, Sept. 21st, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
Facilitated by Katja Esser.
The exact equinox moment is Sept. 22nd at 2:19 pm.
Gathering time for the ritual is 12:30 pm. Please leave ample time to get yourself to the ritual site. We will be in The Gathering Space, which is just outisde of the main complex. Staff in the visitor center can give directions to the space.
There is some preparation involved that takes some introspection that you will want to be aware of and work with in the days leading up to this ceremony. Please see the instructions below on what to prepare and bring and take some time with it. The preparations are part of the feeding of the spirit world and deepen the work we do so we can reap the most benefits from it as well. It also shows a commitment to walking a different path as it takes some effort, which is noticed in the other world.
Join us as we gather for the Autumnal Equinox Ceremony when a portal opens within a 24 hour time span between the partial solar eclipse (visible mainly in New Zealand) and the equinox. Energies align in that short-lived moment of balance, allowing higher frequencies to pour in and giving us an opportunity, as long as we call upon these energies, to raise our consciousness in remembering the oneness of all life and who we truly are.
We are in the midst of the most intense rapid changes as the old paradigm is losing its grip, fights for its survival, but cannot avoid its collapse. The light is expanding exponentially bringing what is in the shadow into the light. Humanity is remaking itself. We are challenged in so many ways, all to stir an awakening within us to remember that we are the creators of our physical manifestation and begin to follow Divine law and nature's law. Central is the journey to come home into ourselves where we come into alignment with our higher self, serving our soul's purpose, not the roles we play.
As we transition slowly into the Fall season that marks rapid change, where the impermanence of form comes poignantly into view. We align ourselves to the cycles of nature allowing it to become our guiding force. When the fullness of outward expression has reached its culmination and the trees show their enlightened state as they glow from within, form has to die to come into its next incarnation and evolution. The cloak the tree wears with all it knicks and blemishes as it deals with the challenges of a growing, like this drought, crowns the season with a final blast of glory before it returns to earth to give back and keep the source of its existence renewed. Luckily the cloak is not the essence of the tree but functions to provide for its environment and self. Always ready to give it up when the growing season comes to an end and get a better try next season. With the grace it displays, it stirs us to awe and peacefulness.
Questions to Reflect On:
We are in an Earth year according to the Dagara people of West Africa. Earth is about home, body, nourishment. Earth is at the center; all comes from her and has to return to her to keep the source of life replenished. She holds the stories, memories, records, and data in her bones, she holds the seeds of life in her skin. She cracks, bulges, erupts, and shakes. She is shifting, recalibrating, ascending, all moves in cycles. We see the power of the elements shaping and destroying, beauty, grace, destruction, desolation all run through the mix. Form is temporary while the soul is eternal. New life forms will arise to match the new frequencies that are coming in, but the memories stay within the earth, the imprints are left to seed the new. Nothing is ever lost. What matters is that we have seen the beauty, recognized the divinity, have loved, and filled our cup with gratitude because of it. It is that what feeds the earth and all her life. What footprint do we leave as we walk the earth, is it one of joy, love, and gratitude or is it one of sorrow, confusion, guilt, or anger? All are feelings needing to be felt, but remember what lifts you lifts the earth and all her life.
The intention:
I always do an inquiry by moving shells and items around. What caught my attention was that the
doll and the higher self underneath it where smack in the center of the spread in the realm of earth.
The doll, which represents us, was in resistance mode though, which creates a split, bewilderment,
and confusion. Earth is about coming home and if we are not beginning to embrace the integration of
the two, home will stay out of our reach and we will struggle, managing our lives and health with
the contradictory information of our 3-D world. Earth is also about our bodies, nourishment, and
belonging. We are going through big upgrades and we need to pay attention to our bodies to be able
to integrate the new frequencies that are coming in. The fire stone was in water heating up the water,
agitating it. We are in a pressure cooker causing waves. A lot is happening in water; that is where
the healing and the action is. There was some perfect symmetry, balancing the opposites of the male
and feminine energies within us which the equinox moment always is about, but it is remarkable when
it actually shows up in the spreading of a bunch of shells and it has not been the first time. The
focus is on healing root causes, going down the layers, our own, ancestral, and past lives all
needing to be cleared, moving through layers of stagnation, the old identities, old ways of being.
Without doing this work the energy stalls in fire where it hit a big roadblock. Fire is connected
to our mental body and enlightened state but also to the ancestors, and the beings of light who are
very active right now to assist us in our ascension process, but we still have to do the work. The
future stays nebulous when we do not consciously co-create it from a higher state of being. New
uplifting things are on the horizon that help us to get passionate about something new that may
help us to let go of the old more easily.
Preparation and what to bring:
The Fall Equinox marks a balance point between the in-breath and out-breath of the earth, light and dark as the sun rises opposite from where it sets, making day and night equal in length, matter and spirit, the abstract and the concrete, yin and yang. It briefly marks the union of opposites when the forces that shape our world come into balance. There is a lot to be balanced for this planet and all her life to thrive. Know that the changes are here to move us up the spiral of evolution to remember the God beings we and all of creation are.
Katja Esser guides you through this very participatory ritual. In the spirit of co-creating in our own evolution, the ritual grows to new heights when you bring your items and participation to it. The rituals go deeper each year as they are built on each previous one. We do our best to fulfill the requested preparations but let it not deter you from coming if you can't fulfill it. Someone may bring some extra fabric; come early if you can and need time to work still on your fabric.
Cost:
In addition to the general admission at America's Stonehenge, there is a suggested $8.00 donation
at the ritual to support the continuation of this sacred work.
Filming and photography:
We ask you not to film or photograph during the ceremony; before and after is fine.
You can take pictures before or after the ceremony. Some things belong to the spirit world,
and we respect people's privacy to feel safe in ceremony.
Who to call:
Kindly respond if you plan to attend. Please contact Katja Esser on Facebook or through e-mail at
katjacreates@ritualexpressions.com. She
needs to have a sense of the number of people coming so as to adjust the ceremony for the number
of people that are present, and it also allows her to notify guests if there are last minute
unexpected changes. You can find more info on Katja by visiting her
website.
Katja Esser creates a container of a particular energy frequency that allows people to awaken and express their ancient
sacred connection to the infinite universe. As a multi-disciplinary artist, ceremonialist, teacher, performer, film maker, and healer
who inspires through self-expression, she assists people that are ready to come into a participatory relationship with
themselves, the living Earth, and the unseen world around them to live a sacred eco-centered, magical, and connected life.
Katja has been running annual seasonal rituals since 1992, of which Summer Solstice at America’s Stonehenge is most well-known.
Her singing and her extraordinary elaborate masks and costumes bring forth beings from another world. Katja has
facilitated drumming circles, workshops in sound, continuum-based movement, ritual, and maskmaking. She studied with
Emily Conrad, Malidoma Somé, Alisa Starkweather, Eric Bornstein, Martin Prechtel, Saruah Benson, Tim Kelley, and
various healing modalities to facilitate a shift in consciousness. She performs with the Theater Behind The Mask in
schools through Young Audiences and has appeared at First Night Boston for a number of years. Katja facilitates grief
rituals, sacred sound circles, ancestral rituals, and performances. Katja focused for 10 years on water
through video, combining her music, poetry, and images of water in praise of the living world around us,
to bring awareness to water's teachings and our participation to keep the earth alive. She also focuses
on wildcrafting, sacred geometry, and no-till gardening, contributing to eating local and having a
relationship with the living beings that feed us. Katja has an extensive
website at which her work can be viewed.