The fifthteenth annual

Summer Solstice Celebration

at America’s Stonehenge

                                                                           Sun. June 21, at 2:00 pm

                                                                                                     www.ritualexpressions.com


The solstice is a turning point.  It marks the longest day in the year when the sun has reached its furthest point to the north before it starts its journey to the south again.  It is the time when the sun is at its utmost strength and when the earth is opening to her full creativity, vulnerability and expression.  It is in this moment of fullest light that we become aware of the change it foretells.

The intention of this year’s ritual is to bring forth abundance. We gather to reset the old story line of scarcity, lack and poverty and rewrite the story through the ancestral lines and anchor it in our bones. 

Our Earth Mother is a generous being, constantly listening and responding.   She has her own rhythms and cycles and at the summer solstice she comes to her fullest expression.  As we celebrate this aspect of the season we like to see that reflected in our own lives as well, particularly in these times.  However millennia of gradual disconnection with the earth have created a global scarcity that is deeply ingrained in our cultural make-up.  We are all in lesser or more degree born with this cultural imprint of scarcity.

According to the Dagara people in Africa we are in a mineral year.  Mineral is about our stories, our bone knowledge and deep ancestral memories.  It is about communication, ideas and creative thinking.  It is about remembering our original instructions of why we are here in this lifetime.  It is a call to purpose.

Katja Esser and Ann Sousa guide you through this very participatory ritual where we focus on bringing forth abundance in times of global scarcity.  We gather on the Mother, to nurture and anchor our primal connection with her.  We work with the healing waters of grief for our ancestors.  The ancestors will then call for the abundance and resetting to happen.  We become the vigilant trackers and magicians of our minds that live by the new story of abundance.

We ask that you come with a coin, a walnut size rock you are willing to part with and flowers.

Also this year we will create a colorful procession through the site.  We encourage you to carry banners or flags that symbolize unity and abundance with the earth.  Let your outfit be an expression of your abundance already in existence. 

This ritual is highly participatory and it is quite a production.  We need your involvement during and before the ritual! Please come early to help to decorate the shrine with flowers, to set up the archways and the ritual space.  We will be arriving around 11:00 AM to begin setting up the space. Helping brings your energy to the ritual. By 1.30 PM we will explain the details of the event.
We need drummers and singers to keep the energy up.  Drummers please meet with us at 1.00 PM so we can review the ritual with you.  We also like gatekeepers who escort people into the ritual space.  We need shrine keepers who work with the water shrines and help people shed the old story.  Please be in contact with us prior to the day of the ritual so we can talk you through the process.

Gathering time for the ritual is 1:30 PM; please come early:  Please arrive in the parking lot by 1.15 PM, so you may hike to the site.  At the site at 1.30 PM you will get a layout of the event and your part in it.  It is a collective experience.  

What to bring: Your flowers with showy heads, your coin, your rock, drums and bells if you have them, natural bug repellent, raingear, and potluck food with your own plate, cup and flatware to prevent further accumulation of garbage.  Bring a snack and water for before the ritual because it lasts a while. Leave your potluck food in the car until after the ritual, just make sure it stays cool.

Location and cost:  America’s Stonehenge is privately owned but is open to the public.  The entry fee is $9.50 for adults (check for detailed rates).  In addition there is a suggested $5 donation per adult at the ritual site to cover expenses.  America’s Stonehenge stays open till sunset on the Solstice.  The celebration is followed by lively music.  This is an open ritual.  We encourage children to come, as long they are accompanied by an adult.  Bring a friend and please pass this information on.

Who to call: Please contact Katja at 617 365 4024 or Ann Sousa at 978 479 1335 if you want to volunteer.  Email: katjacreates@ritualexpressions.com or annsousa@yahoo.com Check out Katja's web site www.ritualexpressions.com

Directions:  From I 93, take exit 3 in NH, take Rte 111 East (app. 5 mi.,) to Island Pond and Haverhill Rds. (there will be a sign here for America’s Stonehenge on your right).  Follow Haverhill Rd. south to entrance.  The earlier you come the more chance there is to park close to the building.

Katja Esser is an inspirational artist, mask and costume designer, ritualist, photographer and performer.  She has exhibited her work in the Netherlands, New York and Boston.  Katja has studied different forms of movement and voice.  She has created sacred ceremonies for the seasons since 1992 for small and large groups of people of which the summer solstice at America’s Stonehenge is most well known.  She is very involved in african based spirituality with Malidoma Somė and the East Coast Village which has brought her to Africa a few times.  She creates rituals and gives talks on colleges and universities.  Katja has sung with Bonesong, an improvisational sacred singing quartet that sings in a cave. She performs with the Theater Behind The Mask in schools through Young Audiences and at First Night.  She created a performance around ‘The Hidden Life of Trees’ with Ricardo Frota in which she appears in a full tree costume that took her a year and half to make.  Katja has an extensive website www.ritualexpressions.com at which her work can be viewed.   

Ann Sousa is a Shamanic Practitioner and Diviner, currently studying with Malidoma Somé, a West African Shaman and is in community with the East Coast Village. Ann is a Certified Fire Walk Instructor Ann utilizes the element of fire to connect to the ancestor world. She has visited and traveled with Peruvian Shamans. She is a Shamballa and Reiki Master. She holds a degree in Mental Health and Science. Ann has done extensive work in the process of death and dying for the past 25 years and is an intuitive healer, channeling EN+R+GY with the ancestors and the universe. She practices daily sacred ritual with the ancestors through the gateways of fire. Ann utilizes her deep and abiding connection with the depths of Water for reconciliation and healing. She loves to dance in the magic and mystery of Nature while traveling through the womb of the Earth Mother. Ann grounds in the ancient remembrance of who we are from within the Mineral of our bones and DNA. At Shamanic Pathways Healing Center, Ann’s goal is to assist you in bringing harmonic balance to all levels of your DNA being. Ann will track and reset patterns and behaviors from your own lineage as you release what no longer serve you. Being in alignment with the Ancestors, The Law of Attraction and the Elements can brings you to your inner joy. www.shamanicpathwayshealingcenter.com

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