Winter Solstice: celebrate with feasting, peace and charity

The depth of winter is here!

In the Blue Mountains, the chill winds blow rain and sleet while the frost chills us to the core. We are rugged up in our winter woollies and the days get shorter and shorter, heading to the shortest day, Winter Solstice, the 22nd June.

 Solstice means ....

Standing-still-sun


but... while Winter Solstice marks the darkest time of the year, it heralds the return of the warmth of the sun.

From now on, the days get longer and we can encourage the return of the sun and the light with the fun of the Yule festival, which includes lots of feasting, pleasures and games around the warmth of the fire and don't forget the kisses under the mistletoe!

The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown
Of all the trees that are in the wood
The holly bears the crown ...

Evergreen trees are sacred to the Goddess and in Australia we are blessed with beautiful evergreens, acacias, gums, angopheras, turpentines, wollemi pines, bring the Goddess into your house with a branch or two of the Australian bush (not from a national park though!).

peace, love and goodwill to all ...

Most importantly, Yule has always been a time of peace and charity so bring this into your celebrations as well. Donate to your favorite charity and ask yourself what you can do to create peace in a world full of war. Join Amnesty perhaps or GreenPeace? Remember, 'from little things big things grow'!

... Happy Winter Solstice 

and merry Yule all!

Why I'm a marriage celebrant

Once upon a time....

I was a NSW public servant, working in eBusiness, project managing the development of such things as websites, applications, and at the end, the move to social networking through Twitter, FaceBook, blogs, etc. I commuted from our Blue Mountain's cottage to the Sydney CBD, a three hour return journey for 9 years!

This commute, plus my growing unhappiness and lack of fulfillment in my work sent me searching for another career that would free me from both commute and 'working for the man'.  I wanted something away from technology, I love using it, but was so tired of trying to convince managers that social networking wasn't 'risky'! A friend had become a marriage celebrant a few years earlier and so I investigated the idea and loved it, it suited me to a 'T'. So last year I returned to study and qualified as a registered Civil  Marriage Celebrant and started the journey to my new business of Offbeat Ceremonies.

I see a Celebrant as holding a complex and important role in our secular society. I strongly believe that birth, coming of age, death, menarche,  menopause, marriage and commitment ceremonies are rites of passage that  need to be thoughtfully and appropriately marked for us to fully transition into the next phase of our lives. Being a Celebrant means that I work with people so they can transition between one phase of their lives to the next. As a Celebrant I mark these important stages, I'm a gatekeeper and shaman and ritual maker. Perfect for a woman who has reached her third age.

You can find out more about my passion for marking the important stages of our lives with ceremony from the following videos:

• Why Offbeat
• Rites of Passage

I adore my new career, instead of office politics, I get to be with people who want to reconnect to  community, who take time to mark and celebrate each new season of  life, its a role where I can celebrate important and significant parts of people's lives.

Since I've been working from home, my life is enriched with so many wonderful community ventures, I've started to learn belly dancing and ukulele, get more into my yoga practice, create more in my studio, currently an 1880's 'saloon girl' outfit with a lovely bustle!  I am volunteering with various organisations and loving giving back to my community.

Best of all, I spend time on my business, networking, reaching out, marketing.

I am loving the freedom of my new life, I love my clients who are people in love with each other, with life and the world. I love that I have more time for the things that are important to me, my beloved partner, my friends and my business.