Drums, Candles and an Hour for the Earth

From 8:30 to 9:30 last night, in the midst of a ribald geocosmystic celebration of Deb Miles' reaching the halfway point on her centenial journey, we joined what I hope was a global circle of consciousness. We raced about the house turning off lights and lighting candles. We put the electric guitars, computers and appliances offline. We sat around a firepit with bellies full of roast chicken (thanks, Robin!) beneath a clouding sky, and listened to Deb lead us in native American chants, and Carl Mikkelson sing some love ballads, sea shanties and folk songs. We drummed (Carl really plays the bejeesis out of that bodhran!), Randy Miles on the djembe and most of us bouncing sticks off our hoop drums. We sipped (well, MOST of us sipped) marguaritas and exotic malt beverages. We forgot to check when the hour had past. None of us seemed to miss the lights or the buzzing amps or even our LCD screens. Lots of folks pitched in to keep us focused on the beauty of the night rather than distracted by Electricality and Electronica. The beer and tequila were tasty, but altered states were the result of sitting together in the dark with heartbeat drumming, human and "pinkletink" (peepers) voices and Lulu's nuzzling and shepherding. I'm missing something critical in my life when I don't routinely put my body with others in a circle around a flame, beneath the protective face of our Sky Father, and with my barefeet upon our Earth Mother. In that geocosmystical space, clock time becomes irrelevant. The misty grey morning after has its own rich beauty and power. That will be the subject of a future post. Aho!