LAKESIDE LABYRINTH

Solstice Greetings Everybody,

Winter Solstice 2025 arrives on Sunday, December 21^st.

This year, we will NOT host a scheduled community walk at the Lakeside Labyrinth in Nelson's Lakeside Park.

The Nelson Community Labyrinth Group traditionally hosts a community walk for each seasonal change, to acknowledge and appreciate, with gratitude, what is important in our lives… perhaps the gift of a community that lives in consciousness with good hearts and minds.

We never know what the weather will bring on the date of Solstice and, in the past, it has often meant shovelling a lot of snow to reveal the path. Our aging small team of volunteers has finally admitted that we just can't do it anymore, especially if the weather is cold and windy.

However, we invite you and your families to take a break from your busy lives and share a Walk of Gratitude and say Thank You to 2025 and welcome in the return of the light and look forward with conscious intention to 2026.

We have attached a diagram for drawing a labyrinth. It is simple and once you have drawn it, you can finger walk it on the paper. A wonderful seasonal activity to do with your children. An opportunity to teach them the value of being grateful for all that they have received during the autumn months and encourage them to envision what they would like the winter months to manifest.

The world will be as we manifest it. Let's all envision a healthy world with peace and connectivity at its core. Let these be the values we hold as the foundation for that world.

You are also welcome to physically show up at the Lakeside Labyrinth and walk the path on December 21^st. Celebrate Winter Solstice in your own way.

There is no charge to walk the labyrinth in Lakeside Park, ever!! Dress warmly.

Seasonal blessings everyone.
The Nelson Community Labyrinth Group

Winter Solstice

‐ it is the 1^st official day of winter
‐ a time to rest and to reflect and to practice deep listening
‐ a time to go deep into the womb of the mother, where it is dark and quiet and cozy and safe
‐ we acknowledge the First Nations people who are the ancestors of this land
‐ in the First Nations indigenous tradition of the Medicine Wheel, this is the time of the north, of midnight, a time to honour the ancestors
‐ there is an indigenous chant: 'Spirits of the North, come wise ones come'
‐ you can call upon your ancestors at this time for council and guidance
‐ White Buffalo Calf woman represents the North, the winter.
She came to her people who prayed for help, and she showed them where the buffalo lay, so that they would not starve during the long cold winter. She gave this teaching only to those who were pure of heart and who would put the tribe's well‐being over their individual full bellies.
‐ remember this…… it is a time for random acts of kindness to others
‐ the paradox of this deep listening time is that, although all seems silent and still, with the turning of the Winter Solstice, the light begins to return.
‐ deep beneath the earth, the seeds and bulbs and roots feel the pull of the increasing light and they start to wake up and activate and stir
‐ much happens beneath the surface before we see the shoots appear above the soil in the spring
‐ WE also are activated by the return of the light. This time in the womb is one of great potential and deep creativity
‐ much inner opportunity occurs now while the outer world is quiet and blanketed with the darkness of winter
‐ our inner life is rich and full and pulsing with potential

    ‐ as you walk the spiral pathway, imagine yourself on a journey to the deep inner core of your being, where inspiration and creativity await you

‐ from another indigenous chant……
'We are one with the heart of the Mother
We are one with Love
We are one with the heart of the Father
We are one with God.'

Blessings on your walk …
Donna