The Solstice last month was a particularly powerful moment, marking what many indigenous cultures see as the beginning of a new era for humanity. The Pachamama Alliance honored the occasion with ceremonies on a global and national scale, joined by a number of Pacha communities across the U.S. and beyond.
A Ceremony for Pachamama Communities
Many members of Pacha Communities are looking for ways to experience deeper connections with each other and with other Pacha communities around the world. On the Solstice in December, Pacha Communities around the U.S., as well as at The Pachamama Alliance office in San Francisco, took part in a ceremony to connect with one another on this important day.
The Pachamama Alliance worked with well-known spiritual teacher and long-time ally Angeles Arrien, as well as with Peruvian shaman Arkan Lushwala, to create the ceremony of connection and renewal to honor Pachamama, Mother Earth, on the Solstices and Equinoxes each year.
By sharing in this ceremony from wherever on Earth they are, Pacha communities can experience another way of embodying the vision of an environmentally sustainable, socially just, and spiritually fulfilling human presence on this planet. As even modern science is beginning to understand, the collective effect can be nothing short of magical!
Preparations for the Pachamama Solstice Ceremony
The ceremony involves a preliminary step: each member of the community selects a small rock or shell from a location where he or she calls home —and then someone in the community collects those rocks or shells in a bowl that is kept as a ritual object for the community.
This bowl represents the larger spirit of that regional community and the land it is grounded in, and it can also contain a rock from the home of The Pachamama Alliance, the San Francisco Bay Area (sent from the Pachamama offices upon request).
On the Day of the Ceremony
Then, on the Solstices and Equinoxes, the Pacha community gathers and performs the ceremony: opening sacred space, acknowledging the spirit of the local indigenous people, reminding ourselves about our shared purpose, and acknowledging Pachamama and asking for Her guidance.
Then water is ritually poured over the bowl of rocks, with a prayer for renewal. After this, the water is poured out on a tree or a flowing source of water, with a closing prayer.
Why Solstices and Equinoxes?
The Solstices and Equinoxes are appropriate for this ceremony because these are cosmic moments shared by the entire Earth at the same time. And these dates also remind us of the nurturing that we receive from both the light and the darkness and the balance between them, occurring and alternating in their rhythms and cycles.
In addition, they are cosmic events that have been recognized by indigenous cultures throughout history as highly significant for all humanity—so this ceremony reminds us of the indigenous roots that we all share.
How Did You or Your Community Celebrate the Solstice?
At least seven Pachamama communities from across the U.S. have shared with us about their experience with the Solstice ceremony, including Rochester, NY; Ashland, OR; Conway, NH; and San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Cruz, and Orange County, CA.
From what we’ve heard, it sounds like all the gatherings were sweet, beautiful opportunities to connect and renew local communities, and engaged people of all ages, including one very new baby, as well as deer and other living beings sharing the land.
We hope this practice will grow throughout the wider Pachamama community. If you are interested taking part in future ceremonies, get in touch. And if you were part of the gatherings mentioned above or observed the Solstice in other ways, please share more details in the comments below!
A Selection of Recommended Reading on Shamanic Ceremonies & Traditions
- The Time of the Black Jaguar: An Offering of Indigenous Wisdom for the Continuity of Life on Earth by Arkan Lushwala
- Shamanic Journeying: A Beginner’s Guide by Sandra Ingerman
- Medicine for the Earth: How to Transform Personal and Environmental Toxins by Sandra Ingerman
- Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche by Bill Plotkin
- Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World by Bill Plotkin
- Urban Shaman: A Handbook for Personal and Planetary Transformation Based on the Hawaiian Way of the Adventurer by Serge Kahili King
- Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World by Joanna Macy
