Friday night I attended a Winter Solstice celebration at the yoga studio at East West Living. I have limited familiarity with the Winter Solstice, having attended a number of the celebrations that Paul Winter and the Winter Consort presented over the years. While the one on Friday was entitled the Winter Solstice Sacred Circle, I was somewhat surprised by how it was celebrated. I understand the evergreens and candles and sand and water, but the use of crystals and a repeated mantra were not quite what comes to mind with earth-based spiritual celebrations. I attached the description of the event below (I could not link to it directly here, as the scripting the site uses does not allow for this):

Winter Solstice Sacred Circle

When	Friday, December 21, 2007, 8 - 9pm
Where	Yoga Studio West
Presenter	Tom Capshew, Ph.D., Adrienne Gammal & Jan Mathews
About	Shamanic Winter Solstice CeremonyThe Winter Solstice - Turning Within This event will align you with the inward gaze of the season, connecting you to peace and inner wisdom even as you hustle and bustle through the holidays. Join a powerful meditation and shamanic/Reiki healing circle to join with the ancient energy of self-reflection and renewal. In a few short days, we will come upon the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere – the day when the sun stops its southern migration in our sky. From December 21 forward, night retreats from day. In this season, all of nature is beckoning us to turn within. You will do this too in a rare opportnity to join a community of Spirit and three powerful healers who will hold space and lead you through ritual, chanting and a crystal-healing meditation to assist you on your inner journey of strength and knowledge. Reiki Master and Shaman Tom Capshew will set a sacred altar and clear you energetically for the intention-setting process ahead. East West CEO and longtime meditator/meditation teacher Jan Matthews will take you into the highest consciousness sound vibrations of the Gyatri Mantra, and Crystal expert and healer Adrienne Gammal will give you the proper stones to aid with your ritual purifying and centering. Winter is the in breath. Breathing in brings us life sustaining oxygen - turning within brings us equally essential sustenance, reconnecting us to our spiritual core, thereby connecting us to that which is bigger than us With this quiet time of raising your vibrations, even as you deepen your roots into the earth, you will find yourself more able to relate to others during the holidays and beyond with more integrity, empowerment and compassion. RESERVATIONS REQUIRED–THIS EVENT WILL FILL!
Price	$25
Category	Special Event
Location	Yoga
Link	www.innerspark.org

Yes, I found it very relaxing and quite reflective, just not what was expected. I wonder how true that is of the holiday season for many people?

Today, my department had our annual white elephant gift exchange at work, and I won a S’Mores Maker. I sense a sweet weekend ahead!!!

Have you been hooked by the song in this year’s Target commercial?

No, the song is not available for purchase; it is a customized version of My Patch by Jim Noir.

Yesterday was Blogger’s Unite, a day to do something good for some aspect of society. With so much need in the world, I was not really sure where to start, so I decided to start with a baby elephant, Tong Jan.  

I fostered her after reading her sad story before she came to Elephant Nature Park, and after learning how she was rescued when she was three months old. As  life-long lover of elephants, I always wondered at them from afar. They seemed magical and majestic, yet after digging a little further (and previously fostering another elephant, Max), I learned that elephants can be particularly needy and savagely abused. Their size can certainly hide their amount of mistreatment.

I did not plan to foster another elephant before the holidays, but it was the challenge of Blogger’s Unite that got me to consider doing something, even minor, to help make the world a better place.  

Over the weekend I spent some time in New York City’s Central Park, walking around to clear my mind and relieve stress. I snapped a few photos of my time while walking by the Chess and Checkers House, going inside the Dairy, and spanding some time in the Central Park Zoo and Children’s Zoo. I uploaded the pictures I took there to Flickr.

Michael was mentioned in this past week’s Cindy Adams Gossip column in the ONLY>New York Post. A nice comment about Michael’s book A Very New York Christmas which has an introduction by Cynthia Nixon. Way to go, Michael!

Technorati Tags: Cindy Adams, Michael Storrings, Cynthia Nixon

I saw the Salzburg Marionettes’ new production of the Sound of Music this evening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was wonderful! The music and story-line are so familiar, but seeing a live marionette production (which I have never seen live before!) with the singing and the music makes me think of entertainment and engagement in a new way.

I see and hear Julie Andrews, but she was not there. Instead, my mind interpreted what I saw and heard and processed it through my experiences. This makes me think of the simulacrum, where there is a copy of the real item that in itself becomes the real item itself.

Whatever the case, I think this is well-worth seeing.

People who know me know that I have a love of pugs, so when I saw this, I could not resist. Nothing like something cute for a cold and dark morning. Click it, and it may give you a chuckle as well.

Hard to believe that the original puppets used in the stop-action Christmas movie, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer were almost lost to age and neglect. Of course, at the time nobody knew how popular the movie would become, even elevated to cult-status, sans people dressing as misfit toys.  Even though they have been on recent tours (nostalgia or new markets?) that have not been in or around NYC, they still hold a certain fascination for me.  

Philosophically and culturally speaking:

• Perhaps they hearken back to a simpler time (if there was such a thing?)?
• Perhaps they hold a gentleness for a violent and scary world (when was it never not that way?)?
• Perhaps they remind us of childhood (who really had a happy one, after all?)?
• Perhaps they are simply iconic or even somewhat archetypical (even in a Kantian perspective?)?

Whatever the case, in its simplest, they look good!