America's Stonehenge

Autumnal Equinox Ceremony 2024

"Remembering the Magnificence"

Sunday, September 22nd, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Facilitated by Katja Esser.
The exact equinox moment is at 8:44 am.

Gathering time for the ritual is 12:45 pm. Please leave ample time to get yourself to the ritual site. We will be at the Gathering Space, at the top of the hill just beyond the main complex.

There is some preparation involved that we request you do at home prior to the ceremony. Please see below on preparation and what to 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.

In the tumultuous swirl of our world in flux, that is adjusting to higher celestial frequencies bathing the Earth right now, the steadfast dance of an active Father Sun and an ascending Mother Earth continue their cyclical movement to move closer to that balance point, where the sun rise opposite from where it sets, where day and night are equal. The Equinox is a short-lived moment of balance as all is in constant motion to aspire to the next greater expression. This opens a portal for more light to enter and it starts off with a partial lunar eclipse with a super moon on Sept. 17 - 18 and is followed by two more eclipses in October. Eclipses tend to bring lasting changes.

The Autumnal Equinox announces the beginning of the fall season where the energies pull inside and nature begins to shed its outward form, but not without a celebration of completing a growing season. The inner light turns outward as we notice the enlightenment of the trees with their vibrant deep colors, glowing in the setting sun. It is a time of rapid transition, a stripping away of what is no longer needed, revealing what is underneath.

We gather in ceremony, at this time of sudden twists and turns as the old paradigm is dismantling, and focus on the portal that opens at this powerful Autumnal Equinox. We draw upon the incoming light to raise our vibration, so our inner light can shine stronger to be the peace-commanding, loving, compassionate presence that guides humanity out of the darkness. Also, we are shedding beliefs and programs we have installed that covered up our magnificence. The Earth is ascending and all that is in discord with her is surfacing to be transmuted into the light. Secrets and lies will be exposed. We are in the final battle of light and dark and know the light is winning, even when it may feel that things look like they are moving backward. Remember that the physical world is the densest and is the last to reflect the change. Nobody wants to die and the forces that do not want our light to shine will put up a fight. Know that we are ascending together, no soul can be left behind. Tolerance, peace, love, and compassion will bring our sisters and brothers home. Keep looking inside where these discordant energies still live in us. As we release the old patterns and stagnant energies within us, our intuitive abilities can come to the foreground that will help us navigate the changes. The beings of light are waiting for us to grab their hands and begin to co-create the divine plan of the new earth; imagining the UN-imaginable as the creative force of the universe lives within each one of us.

The intention:
We are the image of God/Source/Creator and so is everyone and everything. The image is the love of God expressed. We, through our lifetimes, ancestral lineage, and traumas, covered that image and only we can uncover it. Someone else may see what is underneath but unless we see it in ourselves it will not create a change within us. Recognize how we rejected our magnificence, the love of God we are, how we covered it up so we can unveil it and live from our self-worth and greatness. Every choice we made based in fear and separation that fueled our beliefs covered up that image of love we are. God/Source/Creator equals love, light, truth, magnificence, and beauty. Without this realization we cannot access the creative source of God within to imagine and co-create heaven on Earth. We transform and integrate old ways and patterns of being into a conscious way of expressing that emanates love and compassion.

What to prepare for and bring:

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. The unfolding of the ritual creates the sacred space, in which we give more meaning to the details of the ritual. What you bring creates the magnificence of this ritual as each contribution makes up the whole. Please make sure to do your best to bring your items, but do not be deterred from coming if you do not complete them. Some people may bring some extra materials. Come early if you still need time to work on your items. We love to have some helpers to assist with the setting up of the ceremonial space. Katja will be there around 11 am.

Filming and photography:
We ask you not to film or photograph during the ceremony. You can take pictures before or after the ceremony. Some things belong to the spirit world. Thank you for understanding.

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 smiling joyfully at the camera. 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, 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's focus is now on video production, combining her music, poetry, and images of water in praise of the living world around us, to bring awareness to our participation to keep the earth alive. She also focuses on 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.

Testimonials

"Thank you Katja for a beautiful, powerful, and healing Equinox ritual at America's Stonehenge! Your "work as path" is a soulful, rich, and beautiful gift, from which we deeply benefit and which we greatly appreciate. Thank you!"
~ Margaret, David, and Abigail

"Dearest Katja,
We thank you deeply for the ceremony today. It was wonderful. The words you speak are like water to a dry mouth. You are truly a blessing for sharing this with us all…… Your coyote was fantastic!!"

~ Ann, Eric, Ezekiel, Obadiah and Gary

"Thank-you, Katja Esser, for the beauty and vision you bring to the world. It was so lovely to be together and to remember that a new old way is possible here now. So grateful."
~ Nicole, winter solstice 2022

"Once again, thank you for hosting the ceremony. After the ceremony, I immediately felt more positive with a sense of joy that I haven't felt for a long time. Thank you."
~ Ka

"I simply want to thank you sincerely for the awesome rituals and ceremony for Summer Solstice on Sunday. I loved every minute of it, and I listened closely to your words. I was also honored to be able to participate in the ancestors part of the ceremony, placing the two pronged branch into the earth. I know I speak with gratitude for my two friends, as well.
Again, you provided a wonderful experience which as my friends and discussed on our way home, will certainly have unseen but real effects for each participant, our Mother, and all people we come into contact with.
Thank you so much for your valuable and deep work…so needed at this time."

~ Pam