Friends, December 22 seems like a truly "cosmic" event which excites us far more than the Millennium hype. Who wants to play? , So far there will be groups in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart  and Lismore, Australia,  Ecuador, Japan   and in WI, Maui, and MA USA engaging in "Sun, Moon and Earth Dance" ceremonies around sunset/moonrise on Wednesday 22nd December. Who will join us? Let's network this event and let each other know what we'll be doing that evening.

We propose that those who are interested jointly design some ceremonies for the occasion via an email circle of correspondence. Let us know you're interested and we'll enroll you in the cc loop.

The Lismore group will convene at Brays Beach at 6PM, a secluded beach by the most easterly point in Australia reached by a 15 minute walk through littoral rainforest. There will probably be two groups around Canberra, one on the summit of Mt. Majura and the other at Mirramu by Lake George (Weereewaa)

We are presently facilitating a "Timeline of Light" weekend workshop with 40 folks in the bush by the Cotter River outside Canberra following a Council of All Beings weekend in Melbourne and feeling particularly attuned to celestial rhythms.

A better time to celebrate a truly once in a thousand year event arrives some nine days earlier than the official end of the millennium. This year's December 22 winter solstice coincides with a full moon - a combination that happens only every 3 decades or so...But that's not the only  celestial oddity for the day: The moon also reaches perigee, its closest point to the Earth.

So this solstice , which brings together the year's lowest sun and longest night, comes at the same time as the closest moon- and a full moon to boot.  The last time the full moon , lunar periagee , and winter solstice fell on  the same day was in 1866. But even then the moon merely reached its closest  approach of the month. On this December 22, the moon will be at its nearest point of the year. Its the kind of event that would have driven "primitive" (his quote, not ours) cultures bonkers!!

And believe it or not , there's more...The day of Earth's maximal tilt (when the axis is directed most fully away from the sun) will also combine with a very CLOSE sun...which reaches its nearest point to the earth, 12 days later.The confluence of all these forces at "the very least" will brew up huge proxigean tides, also called "closest of the close moon" tides. They will extend a few , but crucial, inches farther then normal, ranging from reaching the boardwalk highs to lows that uncover rarely exposed marine life. If you add a low pressure storm at sea scenario to this day, ..........unusually strong tides could go over the edge and even earthquakes occur more often during strong tide effects...

The cosmic culprits responsible for all this drama - the moon and sun occupy opposite ends of the sky on December 21-22. A full moon will rise just as the sun goes down in its leftmost position of the year along the horizon.This exceptionallly plump moon will seem a full 14% wider then than it appeared at apogee, its farthest point from the Earth ...