I wrote a piece for the Fremont Art Council (FAC), and I’ll be damned if they didn’t up it smack dab on the front page of their annual newspaper, the SOL. The kids are totally excited because their picture is right on the front page! There isn’t a weblink, but I’ve posted the text below.

Speaking of press, Monkfish Abbey got another nod last week when we were mentioned in a front-page story for the Seattle Times. There’s a bunch of other intriguing groups mentioned in the article, which you can link to here.

In other exciting news, the FAC folks also invited me to bless the workshop space for the Solstice Parade. I am unbelievably excited! I’ve like an undercover priestess there, secretly blessing people and floats, but now I get to give everyone a blessing! I feel like kissing the whole damn crowd! (Hmmm…blessings include appropriate touch – maybe I’d better rein it in on the kissing.) Anyhow, the space opens tomorrow night, with food, music and perhaps a little boogying. The monks and I are going to craft the blessing ritual tonight. Here are the things I’d like to include:

Group Involvement: I hate going to religious service where all you do is sit there and watch things unfold up front. I want to have some piece in the blessing rite where the members of the community all get involved.

No single officiant: Although I rarely plan ahead enough to achieve this, I prefer it when I’m not the only “leader” of any given event. I’m hoping someone from Monkfish will be a co-blesser with me.

Invocation/Pledge: I’d like to invoke the presence of the Light and/or invite people to pledge to be Light-bearers.

Filling the Powerhouse: The workshop space is in the city’s old powerhouse. It’s a midsized brick building with concrete floors jammed full to the rafters with raw materials for public-art sized pieces. It’s actually a pretty dark place, being half windowless and largely cold stone. Thankfully the giant masks and yards of maypole ribbons help add color and creative energy. I’d like to find some way of filling the space up with sound and/or light as part of the ritual.

Inviting Peace: Sometimes tempers get a little heated in the Powerhouse – especially at 1am the night before the parade when someone has run off with your power drill , AGAIN! Liz, workshop mom extraordinaire, has asked that we invite a spirit of peace and cooperation into the space.

Rootedness: I’d like whatever we do to be connected to some sort of existing community tradition. They use a loaf of bread to kick off the Winter Solstice feast…maybe something with that?

Physical Symbol: I can’t help it, I’m a cheese monger. I like people to walk away with some sort of physical symbol. I think it helps some people remember the moment and hold on to any experience of the transcendent that might have occurred there. I’m thinking candles with ribbons and bells….or maybe trailing flowers?

Whenever I give the monks a stack of art supplies and the kernel of an idea they always amaze me. It’s a good reminder that my own creativity is limited in scope, but together we can create many more signs and symbols of kingdom.