Singing Together through the Darkness

“We who can love both sun and moon, joyful in both seed and bloom.  Sound and silence, dark and Light, have nothing to fear from the long winter’s night.”  (Cindy Mangsen)

As we approach the longest night and the season of winter in our northern hemisphere, let’s spend some time honoring this season together in song and chant! The Winter Solstice has been celebrated in cultures throughout human history, with the wisdom of ancient astrologers understanding that even as the darkest hours overtake the daylight, new light is being born. The solstice was celebrated in ancient Rome on December 25th, thus it’s not a coincidence that waiting in the darkness of Advent for the birth of the new light of Christ is also celebrated by Christians at this time. In deeply troubling times, singing together has always been a way to lift spirits and engender hope in community. So let’s sing together!

In our time together we will sing chants and short simple songs to do with the themes of darkness and light, including the blessings that darkness offers. Singing in a repetitive style makes it easy to learn the songs without reading words or notes, allowing us to have a more embodied experience. Sufi wisdom says that chant is the bridge between sound and silence. We will alternate our songs with brief periods of silence and include opportunities for worship sharing and journal writing, reflecting on whatever arises in our hearts.

While the full vibrational experience of singing happens best in an in-person group setting, we’ll make use of some pre-mixed recordings with multiple voices so that with mics necessarily muted over Zoom, participants will hear their voice blending with a chorus of other voices. Viewing each other on screen, we can feel united in that chorus, as we lift each other up!