Early Saturday, the morning after the summer solstice, a group of nearly 20 people gathered to greet the new season with songs, rituals, prayers and blessings.
The Native American-inspired ceremony, held under the branches of a massive pine tree in a remote spot inside Gate 11, was led by Village resident Zahir Movius, a healer, astrologer, yoga instructor, mystic and shaman.
With the solstice on June 20 – the longest day of the year – marking the start of summer, the ceremony was about “honoring the season, nature, growth and fertility,” Movius said. “Acknowledging that we are one with nature and building relationships with each other and the trees and birds.”
To the slow, gentle beating of a drum, the ceremony began with a smudging, a cleansing ritual to purify individuals of negative energies using smoke from burned sage and cedar.
“You never go into prayers without a smudging first,” said Village resident Shining Eagle, a descendant of the Pequot tribe of Connecticut.
As each participant stood to receive the cleansing, Shining Eagle used eagle feathers to waft the smoke from head to toe.
Prayers followed, with the blowing of a conch shell, then a set of Native American songs: a Chumash welcome song, a Lakota song of thanks and a Yaqui good luck song.
Then each participant received a blessing with sacred water, spritzed with an eagle feather.
Anna Kupernov, originally from Bulgaria, drove from Yorba Linda to take part in the ceremony.
“I felt the energy, the presence of my ancestors,” she said. “I tried to connect to them and ask for forgiveness and pray for healing.”
Movius has been holding summer solstice ceremonies in the Village for about 10 years, he said, always at the same site in Gate 11, though the original tree died and he had to choose a new one.
“Certain spots generate an energy that stays,” he said. “Also, it’s a little way away from others – we’re not disturbed, and we’re not disturbing anyone. There’s a sense of remoteness.”
The old pine tree, wrapped with a red ribbon, is special, Movius said.
“There’s just been a lot of prayer under that tree. That’s what makes it special to me, and maybe to a lot of other people,” he said. “To me, all trees are special. They’re a sacred part of nature, and all of nature is special.”