We have had our first significant snowfall of the year, although warming temperatures and rain in the forecast will see it disappear today. Chances are we won't have enough snow for winter activities until January, which is about the time it gets cold enough for the snow to stick around for longer periods.
That means we probably won't have the raw material to build a SnowHenge for a December 21 bonfire celebration. But it looks like it would be a fun way to accentuate any Winter Solstice celebration.
There are many ways creative folks have built Stonehenge replicas, ranging from scale models that accurately align with the cosmos, to designs like the one above which are only suggestive of the original.
Imagine the ambiance of having your very own SnowHenge. I'm thinking one would look great in my front yard. And like a sand mandala, impermanence would be its defining quality. I wonder, if I built one, would Druids come (before it melted)?
Psychologist David Fontana tell us that the symbolic nature of such structures can help us "access progressively deeper levels of the unconscious, ultimately assisting the meditator to experience a mystical sense of oneness with the ultimate unity from which the cosmos in all its manifold forms arises.”
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| Snow mandala by Simon Beck |
It is my hope that we can all experience the "mystical sense of oneness with the ultimate unity" of the cosmos in the new year.
We shouldn't look for these peak experiences in stores. Or in a box under the tree. They can't be ordered online, at any price.
Better to build a SnowHenge in the yard or park. Or a snow mandala. Or just go for a walk in nature.
I'm looking forward to winter, the most meditative of seasons. Stay warm, Northern Hemisphereians.
I remember in Chinese medicine that the winter is the optimal season for meditation as earth undergoes a process of drawing inwards allowing the mingmen, 命门 fire to accumulate, in order to spark new life in the spring. The Taiji picture 太极图 illustates this. Learning how to work with flow of the universe helps understanding.
ReplyDeletePeace and a happy solstice,
Alex
I think it worthy of experiment to build a snowhenge in your front yard to see if Druids would come. Let us know! I loved viewing the various "henges" in the link you provided. The snowhenge is my fav! I truly love your solstice posts. I've attended a handful of Druid solstice celebrations and enjoyed them all. It's really cool to do things like leap fire with a group of folks. So tribal. Druids have a particularly neat way of celebrating nature and especially solstices. I'm currently cultivating a meditative practice. It's had a very positive impact on me so far. Thanks Gregg ans Linda, many of your posts here go far in educating me. I'm often intrigued to investigate further. Sign of a good teacher.
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