Solstice event focuses on healing the earth

By LINDA M. LINONIS

linonis@vindy.com

liberty

“Healing intent” intermingled with chanting and meditating as some 35 people celebrated a summer solstice ritual Wednesdayat Unity Church Centre, 1226 Naylor Lloyd Road.

Kirk Kupensky, church music director, said he wanted the ceremonial event to focus on healing of the earth in light of the oil disaster in the Gulf.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice officially began at 7:28 a.m. Monday; the date is usually June 20 or 21. Kupensky said he chose midweek because it fell between the arc of the solstice and Midsummer Day, also the nativity of John the Baptist, June 24.

The church, which follows a Christian tradition, wanted to do “something outside the norm” for the solstice, the first day of summer.

In the ritual set in the church sanctuary, Kupensky focused on “giving back to Mother Earth,” which sustains our lives. He noted “birthing, growing, maturing and dying” are part of the cycle in the “wheel of life.” The wheel is a reference to American Indian spirituality and symbolizes the journey of life.

He added that the solstice provides a natural time “to give back to the Creator some of the blessings we receive.” The earth, he said, is just the right distance from the sun. ... If we were closer, we’d burn up, and farther away, freeze. “It’s the right amount of closeness and distance,” he said, noting the balance itself is a blessing.

Kupensky used the words of a contemporary Sioux leader, Chief Arvol Looking Horse: “The power of the world works in circles.”

Round is the shape of our planet, the moon and the sun. “We’re all rooted in the same Mother Earth and entangled with other roots,” Kupensky said.

Several readings, based on American Indian lore, offered a declaration of intent to raise consciousness.

Kupensky led a chant about being one with the heart of mother, father, love and God as participants joined in. Lynda Couch and Gary Lucas both sang, and Lucas played the drum.

Participants walked out to the church garden, where they planted flowers. “This is a symbolic gesture of giving back to Mother Earth,” Kupensky said.

Lyn Hemphill of West Middlesex, Pa., a church member, said she attended because she wanted “to honor the earth and our connection to God, our creator.” Cay Tomerlin of Niles, also a member, said she wanted to support the church by participating.

Jeff Lancaster, garden coordinator, supervised the planting. He said the church garden is patterned after American Indian plantings in circles. “We call it Unity crop circles,” he said. Paths delineate the circles, and some statuary accents the outdoor space. The circles include a bounty of vegetables, herbs and flowers.

The church also has an outdoor labyrinth, which members and visitors walk for meditative prayer.