Where:  Battery Wallace at Marin Headlands Picnic Area

When:    Sunday, March 22, 2009

                        4:30 am:  Fire is started.

                        7:00 am:  Ceremonial Drum begins at sunrise.

                                            Prayer and introductions

                                            Words about the Drum

Please be aware that these ceremonial songs are held sacred so the drummers request that you refrain from photography or recording during this time

                        8:00 am:  Morning Refreshments

                        9:00 am:  Ceremony around fire

                        10:00 am: Drumming Circle

                        11:00 am: Food and Refreshments

                                             Dana and Kandy will be at fire site until mid-afternoon.

Who:     Dana is of Cherokee extraction and presents a Ceremony consisting more of ritual actions than words, which many find particularly refreshing and comforting.

                Open to the public

                Please ask those invited to rsvp if possible to:

                                   moonfire@sonic.net

                 Dana has also invited First Responders, in anticipation of a ceremony to be developed in honor of all who have responsibilities around keeping the bridge safe.

                 Dana expects perhaps 40 people, twice as many as at the Winter Solstice Ceremony.         

Purposes of the Ceremony:

·        –honor the landform of two peninsulas nearly meeting and the place created, the Golden Gate.  This rare and dramatic landform commanded first the awe and honor of Native Americans, then the awe of the world from 1759, when Juan Manuel de Ayala was the first European to sail through it, for 178 years until 1937, when the bridge first began to overshadow the landform.

·        –honor and remember those lost from the bridge.

·        –honor the creator and his creation.  This sensitivity to the power of places in the natural world is a consistent theme in Native American traditions.  It is appropriate that a Native American ceremony on the turning point of a season should be the vehicle to foster a renewed public appreciation of the Golden Gate, along with a remembrance of those lost from its bridge.

·        –honor all the people who are Stewards of the Golden Gate Bridge and it’s surroundings.

  Process of the Ceremony:

            People are encouraged to bring any sacred objects and/ or   mementos of lost loved ones.

            There will be a time during the Ceremony for each to speak  and offer something to the fire. Speaking out loud will not be mandatory, and prayer ties will be available for those who do not  have a personal offering.

The Ceremony is a drug and alcohol free event, and we leave no trace.

Be Prepared…for cold weather and possibly rain.

Bring: 

            –firewood of any sort, including purchased boxes of oak

            –any sacred objects and/ or    mementos of lost loved ones.

            –water to drink