December 16, 2024 WATERritual, 7.30 pm ET
“A Solstice of Resistance, Solidarity, and Recommitment”
With Diann L. Neu and WATER staff
Watch the recording of the December WATERritual here.
Preparation: Have a candle and matches nearby.
Call to Gather
Song: “Light Is Returning” by C. Murphy, on Canticles of Light (Out Front Music © 1984) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXb4-aUIfTM
Light is returning, even though this is the darkest hour,
No one can hold back the dawn.
Let’s keep it burning, let’s keep the light of hope alive,
Make safe our journey through the storm.
One planet is turning, circling in her path around the sun,
Earth Mother is calling Her children home.
Lighting Candles of Peace
From generation to generation, people honor the darkness and call light from the womb of night. We light five candles to welcome peace, resistance, solidarity, and recommitment into the world.
The Candle of the South:
I light our first candle, the candle of the South, to welcome peace in the Southern Hemisphere as they celebrate the Summer Solstice. We unite especially with those who have migrated from Mexico and face hostility at the U.S. border.
May solidarity come now!
The Candle of the East:
I light the candle of the East in solidarity with those in Asia and the Middle East, especially civilians in Gaza, Palestine, Israel, Syria, and Korea.
May peace come now!
The Candle of the North:
I light the candle of the North for those who are afraid of losing democracy, for immigrants, Muslims, Jews, communities of color, sexual and gender minorities, our trans siblings, and those who have experienced violence: gun violence, intimate partner violence, domestic violence, and sexual violence.
May justice come now!
The Candle of the West:
I light the candle of the West for those who experience the devastation of natural catastrophes, wildfires, and flooding and those who work for climate justice.
May recommitment come now!
The Candle of the Center:
I light the candle of the Center for all of us, those who have died this season, and those who will be born this Solstice. Please put their names in the chat.
May serenity come now!
Blessing Our Light
Let us bless these lights of resistance.
Blessed are you, Holy One of Solidarity,
For you empower us to kindle flames of recommitment.
Let us warm our hands over this fire.
Cup your hands over the flame,
And draw the light to your eyes three times.
For Resistance. For Solidarity. For Recommitment.
Let us open our hands outward and send light to those who need it now.
Spreading the Light
Let us spread peace and solidarity far and wide.
To friends who share joys and sorrows,
The light of friendship to you.
To the people living in war-torn countries,
The light of peace to you.
To people with cancer, and those who are sick,
The light of healing to you.
To families divided by differences,
The light of reconciliation to you.
To children of every race, family, and country,
The light of love to you.
To people in despair,
The light of hope to you.
To those who feel alone,
The light of connecting with community to you.
To those who are without homes,
The light of shelter to you.
To those who are hungry,
The light of food to you.
To those who have no job,
The light of remunerative work to you.
To those who fight for human rights,
The light of resistance to you.
To those who are dying,
The light of a peaceful death to you.
To children being born this day,
The light of life and health to you.
To those who experience discrimination in any form,
The light of justice to you.
To those struggling to show up for themselves,
The light of self-love and forgiveness to you.
To the elected leaders of every country,
The light of solidarity and truth for the global community to you.
To women who experience violence from war, rape, and religion,
The light of safety and restitution to you.
To young children growing up today,
The light of hope to you.
SONG: “Solstice Carole” by Wyrd Sisters (3min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgQ97O1fb-w&ab_channel=SonoLux
Reflection | Sharing
How are resistance and solidarity returning to your life and life around you?
What do you need to recommit to?
How can we look out for each other during this Solstice and beyond?
Take Action
Let us put our prayers into action.
- Take care of yourself
- Show up and engage in the fight for social justice
- Speak up about intolerance and injustice
- Don’t conform to harmful societal norms and reflect on your values
- Volunteer at a Women’s shelter or a food pantry in your community
Sending Forth
Close your eyes and feel the power of the darkness around you and within you.
Call forth your light, creativity, and healing powers.
Filled with the power of this Solstice,
Let us go forth to be peace in the world.
Let us be in Solidarity with family, neighbors, colleagues, friends.
Let us recommit to taking care of ourselves, living joyfully, sticking to your values and service, engaging in social justice and showing up for the fight, empowering others, protecting democracy, offering kindness and empathy, envisioning a better future, and spreading goodness and hope.
Let us resist violence and hatred; harmful stereotypes, behaviors and habits; manipulation, negative self-talk; intolerance, injustice; looking the other way; pessimism; pressure to conform to harmful societal norms.
Let us go forth to spread the good news of peace, resistance, solidarity, and recommitment far and wide.
May these be the songs in our hearts.
Song: “Light One Candle” Peter, Paul, and Mary
The song was written in 1982 by group member Peter Yarrow as a pacifist response to the 1982 Lebanon War, an intention was reflected in the lyrics “Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice justice and freedom demand, Light one candle for the wisdom to know when the peacemaker’s time is at hand.”
Light one candle for the Maccabee children
With thanks that their light didn’t die
Light one candle for the pain they endured
When their right to exist was denied
Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice
Justice and freedom demand
But light one candle for the wisdom to know
When the peacemaker’s time is at hand
Chorus, repeat twice:
Don’t let the light go out!
It’s lasted for so many years!
Don’t let the light go out!
Let it shine through our hope and our tears.
Light one candle for the strength that we need
To never become our own foe
And light one candle for those who are suffering
Pain we learned so long ago
Light one candle for all we believe in
That anger not tear us apart
And light one candle to find us together
With peace as the song in our hearts
Chorus, repeat twice:
What is the memory that’s valued so highly
That we keep it alive in that flame?
What’s the commitment to those who have died
That we cry out they’ve not died in vain?
We have come this far always believing
That justice would somehow prevail
This is the burden, this is the promise
This is why we will not fail!
Chorus, repeat twice:
Don’t let the light go out!
Don’t let the light go out!
Don’t let the light go out!
© 2024 Diann L. Neu, WATER: Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual, dneu@hers.com
