bread and roses spiritual nurture invites you to
the 25th Annual

Winter Solstice Celebration

A Celebration of the Darkness and the Light
with Songs and Stories

Saturday, 18th December, 2021
On-line
7-9 pm GMT

To confirm time in your location, click here or here

Please note: the Celebration lasts one hour and fifteen minutes; we are allowing time for technical issues as well as for fellowship after!

A time of quiet reflection in the midst of the hectic festive season
Songs, stories, candle-lighting, silent meditation, singing, and more
All ages welcome

Registration required

Tickets available via Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/winter-solstice-celebration-on-line-tickets-214893802147

Programme

You will receive a copy of the programme when you register.
If you'd like to view the programme in advance, please click here.

Donation

We are requesting donations to cover our costs and pay our event organiser for their time.

Any funds after expenses we will donate to Stonewall UK and Gendered Intelligence in support of trans lives.

How to tell which ticket to get:

£10:

"If you have access to financial security, own property or have personal savings, you would not traditionally qualify for sliding scale services. If you are able to pay for "wants" and spend little time worried about securing necessities in your life, you have economic privilege and power in our community. This price is for you."

£5:

"The middle cost (when there is one) reflects the practitioner's acknowledgement that paying the full cost would prevent some folks from being able to attend, but who do not honestly find themselves reflected in either descriptions for the highest cost or the lowest. If you are struggling to conquer debt or build savings or move away from paycheck to paycheck living but have access to steady income and are not spending most of your time thinking about meeting basic needs such as food, shelter, medical care, child care, etc., you belong here."

Free:

"The bottom cost represents an honest acknowledgment by the teacher and practitioner that there are folks whose economic circumstances would prevent them from being a part of classes if there was not be a deliberate opportunity made for them to access services at a cost that is reflective of their economic realities. If you struggle to maintain access to needs such as health care, housing, food, child care, and are living paycheck to paycheck or are in significant debt, you belong probably belong here and you deserve a community that honors your price as equal an economic offering as the person who can pay the highest tier."

~ Adapted from "The Sliding Scale: A Tool of Economic Justice" by Alexis J. Cunningfolk, with gratitude

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Find out about future song-learning sessions and Celebrations

If you aren't already on our mailing list and would like to receive updates about future Song-Learning Sessions and Celebrations, please fill out the form here: https://bit.ly/WinterSolsticeSignUp.

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On-line Winter Solstice Singing starts in early October!

Sign up here:
https://forms.gle/pi7i1GephusuArJh8

Starting on the first Sunday in October, I'll be hosting on-line song-learning sessions / rehearsals for an on-line Winter Solstice Celebration (a presentation of A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual).

There will be regular sessions from October to December that build on each other, leading up to the Celebration on 18th December.

You are invited to participate in the Winter Solstice Celebration whether you sing or not -- but if you'd like to learn the songs in advance, including harmonies, please sign up!

You also do not need to commit to the Celebration to come learn songs. Maybe you just want to come learn songs and sing! (You can also decide later.)

We will meet once a week. If needed or preferred, I will record rehearsals for those who can't join us live and for anyone who wants to go back over the rehearsal during the week; these will be shared privately. There will also be a variety of learning resources available between sessions for your work on your own.

Everyone is welcome, regardless of experience singing or ability to read music. There are easier pieces and more challenging pieces -- a little something for everyone.

== Song-learning sessions ==

...will run on Sundays from 3rd October through 12th December, each week building on the week before.

We'll cover the sing-along songs, of course, including harmonies, but also the "performance" songs as well. (If you'd like more information on the specific songs, please go to https://bit.ly/WinterSolsticeCelebrations and click on "Songs.")

* Song-learning sessions will run from 7-9 pm Edinburgh/UK time, and are open to anyone, regardless of geographic location.

* You can check what time that is for you here:
https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html.

* You don't need a copy of the book or CD in order to participate, although they're helpful to have. More on that below.

== Schedule: ==

* Song-learning sessions/rehearsals Sundays, 3rd October - 5th December, 7-9 pm Edinburgh/UK time; not sure yet about 28th November

* Complete read-through and sing-through, Sunday, 12th December, 7-9 pm UK time

* Winter Solstice Celebration, Saturday, 18th December, 7-9 pm Edinburgh/UK time

== Copies of the book and CD ==

You do not need to own a copy of this in advance, but the book contains all the sheet music, and the CD contains full recordings of all 15 pieces, as well as teaching tracks for 8 (as well as the text for the full Celebration), so it's very, very useful.

If you live in Europe and would like a copy for £14 + postage, you can get one from me.

If you live in the US and want a copy, the person to contact is my co-author Julie Forest Middleton; I can put you in touch.

== How do I know without knowing more about the music itself? ==

The songs are a mix of rounds, well-known songs, spirituals, feminist spirituality chants and Pagan chants, and a couple of choral pieces.

There's detailed information about every song at
https://bit.ly/WinterSolsticeCelebrations; click on "Songs."

I'm looking forward to singing with people from a wide range of places in the Northern Hemisphere!

== Open to people of all genders ==

Both the choir and the Celebration are open to people of all genders. Transgender, non-binary, genderqueer, and agender people are explicitly welcome.

* The music I have is written mostly in treble clef and is labeled for sopranos and altos, but I've worked with tenors and basses in addition for several years, and these pieces adapt well for lower voices as well. I teach "Line 1," "Line 2," "Line 3," etc.

* Anyone can sing any part that works for their voice on any song. You might sing one line for one piece, and a different line on another. You can also choose to sing the same line on all the songs if that's what works for you. We have lots of flexibility.

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

If you'd like to sign up for the song-learning sessions, please click here:
https://forms.gle/pi7i1GephusuArJh8

Please share widely!

16 September, 2021

Dear friends,

I am excited to share a few bits of news!

Three pieces of news to share:

• Winter Solstice Celebration (on-line): Save the date!

• Winter Solstice Singing (on-line song-learning sessions)

• possibly an on-line Samhain celebration?

Winter Solstice Celebration (on-line): Save the date!

This year I am hosting a presentation of A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual on-line again.

Saturday, December 18th

11 am Pacific / 2 pm Eastern / 7 pm UT / 8 pm Central Europe

Presented by Stasa Morgan-Appel (bread and roses spiritual nurture) and friends

Live Narration, Readings, and Song-Leading; pre-recorded music; available in real-time only

Pre-registration required to obtain links

If you're already on the email list, you'll receive email updates; if you'd like to receive updates, you should go to the website for more information and the link: https://bit.ly/WinterSolsticeCelebrations

Winter Solstice Singing (on-line song-learning sessions)

If there's enough interest, I will host on-line song-learning sessions again this year, starting in late September.

• Sessions will be on Sunday evenings from 7-9 British Time. (You can check what time that usually is for you here: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html)

• If enough people are interested but can't attend live, I will make arrangements for video recordings to be available.

• Other song-learning resources will available outside live sessions (sheet music, audio teaching tracks, audio recordings).

• Each week will build on the week before.

To sign up or register your interest, please fill out this form:

https://forms.gle/pi7i1GephusuArJh8

These sessions are explicitly welcoming of all women and all other gender minorities, especially transgender, non-binary, genderqueer, and questioning people.

Possibly an on-line Samhain celebration?

I may be hosting an on-line Samhain celebration again this year. This would be a participatory experience honouring those who have gone before, losses from the past year especially, and new babies and new beginnings from the past year.

If this appeals to you, is something that would be helpful for you, or that you'd be interested in, please let me know.

Websites

Just a reminder that the websites are:

• bread and roses spiritual nurture: https://bit.ly/StasaMA

• Winter Solstice Celebrations: https://bit.ly/WinterSolsticeCelebrations

That's all for now

I hope this email finds you as well as possible during these interesting and challenging times!

All best,

Stasa

Upcoming events

In development for 2021 are:

• more on-line singing and song-learning workshops

• more small-group on-line workshops and rituals around the Wheel of the Year

• moving Handwork As Spiritual Practice workshops to small, on-line groups

If you'd like to find out about these as soon as they're available, please sign up for my email list.