Celebrating Summer Solstice June 20 2025

Tonight, we celebrate the Summer Solstice with a gathering of our friends.  We begin with a potluck supper followed by ceremony and meditation activities inviting in the light.

Summer solstice is the longest day of the year and the time of the most light.  The feeling is glorious! 

Each of us in the circle brings an energy of happiness and light that can be shared with the others in the circle, and then can be broadcast out to where ever we wish the light to go.

Part of our activity tonight will include this beautiful poem by Chandra Levy.  It begins with the words, “O Radiant sun”. The Sun pushes the light to Earth.  It is a great message for summer solstice.

A Nature Lover’s Ode

O Radiant sun

The pure light that you are, that I am

Bathe me, anoint me with the purity of your beam

I am Blessed and enlightened by our ecstatic union

Reflecting and enriching my inner realm

O playful, delicious breeze

Play me as a sacred flute

Accompanied by the strings of my delighted heart

Calling forth the Divine and harmonious notes so dear

Tantalisingly sweet, pure and clear

O creatures of creation

Delight and invite and entice me

With your myriad colours and manifestations of beauty

Sing with me that I may know your song

That we may harmonise and realise we all belong

O dearest Planet Earth

Our devoted Mother

Our precious physical home

May our frequencies align

With the sweetest and deepest of tones

May we peacefully respond, rejoice and revel

In our loving interconnection

Grateful for this life

Grateful for this love

Grateful for this resplendent reflection

By Chandra Levy

Blessings,

Judy

The Spiritual Bully

When someone constantly badgers us with their ideas about what they are hearing and need to  tell us, whether they have our permission or not, I call the person a “spiritual bully”.  This means that they believe they have some divine right to tell you what ever they think about you and what you are doing, even if it is only their opinion, and typically, they get angry at you if you don’t take their advice.

One of the first laws of the universe is “harm no one (none)”.  This means that you do not violate a person’s physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual space, without permission.  To do so is to set out to intentionally harm them.  This happens so often with teachers and mentors with their students or followers.  It happens when someone feels that they are more powerful than someone else, and that power is used to force the “someone else” to take on tasks that they might not otherwise do.

Some ideas for coping with spiritual bullies are:

• Set boundaries to take back your power.   “Boundaries are not walls, they are safety markers to keep you safe.  You have a right to protect yourself when someone comes into your space uninvited.”
• Stand in your power and show your confidence by saying “no, I can’t do that right now.”  This means that you need to feel good about yourself and your abilities.  
• Make plans to avoid the bullying relationship.  You cannot change other people; however, you can change the environment.  You can choose to be in a healthy, safe environment.

Blessings,

Judy

The Sound of OM

Before Covid I was teaching a beginner’s meditation class, and as part of the workshop, explained the concept of the word/sound “OM” to the participants.  Then we did some experiential learning with the sound, both with only me saying the sound, and then with all of us saying the sound.

Students felt the vibration from the sound whether I did it or whether they did it. And, they were profoundly moved!

 

Picture of OM from omgayatri.com

'ॐ' is a kind of shortcut of the word 'ओम' in DevaNagari and other Indic scripts – from omgayatri.com

 

 

Here is part of a slide that I presented on “OM”.  

Mantra repetition simply means  repeating a sentence or group of words that have a phonetic significance. 

Mantra is intrinsically related to sound. Mantra is sound, and sound is reverberating in everything in this universe. When water flows, the gurgling sound it makes, is mantra. When wind blows through the trees, the  rustling sound it produces is mantra.  When we walk on the earth, our footsteps produce sound, and that too is mantra. 

According to ancient Indian belief  in the beginning there was sound, which  reverberated as Om and from that sound everything came into existence.

I believe that the sound OM, pronounced A-U-M and strung out (Pronunciation: aaaaauuuuummmmm), really is the the sound of Divine creation.  I have seen people chant this for a while, and then suddenly break out in hard sobbing, because, through the chant, they have been reconnected to The Divine, and the person feels an incredible blessing and release.  I know that when I have an issue that I can not seem to move with other tools, that I can generally move it within ten minutes by using the OM chant.

 

OM or Aum is a Sanskrit root word or seed-sound symbolizing the creative divine intelligence which creates ands sustains all things: It is also known as the cosmic vibratory intelligent word of God that sustains all the created universes. Aum of the Vedas became the sacred word Hum of the Tibetans; Amin of the Moslems; and Amen of the Egyptians Greeks, Romans, Jews and Christians. OM symbol  and info from www.astrogems.com

One of the stories that I shared in the workshop was about using OM out in Nature. Quite a few years ago, before our park got so busy, my husband, Roger, and I walked out in the park almost every evening during the summer.  Often, we would find a big log beside the river sub-channel, and sit and OM.  Often while we sat there chanting, the beavers would bring their supper of sticks, and come and sit on the river bank, close to where we were sitting, and chow down and listen to the concert.  When we were done, they would swim off.  The beaver’s actions told me that they, too, enjoy the sound of The Divine.

If you have never tried to say the sound “OM”, I invite you to try it now.  Try it several times a day.  It is a wonderful pick-me-up!

Many Blessings,

Judy

Serenity

"Serenity At The Bow River at Bankside"  

Photograph copyright Judith Hirst-Joyeux

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my clients asked me how to find serenity. I was taken aback! Serenity, to me, is a state of being - not a destination.  I wondered if I misunderstood the concept. I looked it up.

serenity   The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | Date: 2008 

se·ren·i·ty / səˈrenitē/ • n. (pl. -ties) the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled: an oasis of serenity amidst the bustling city. ∎  (His/Your, etc., Serenity) a title given to a reigning prince or similar dignitary.  Â© The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2008, originally published by Oxford University Press 2008.

I realized that it is a state of being. However, it is a destination as well.  I thought about where in the world I go to find serenity. I came up with "my list of serenity sites".  These are my places of oasis of serenity.  Here they are, in no particular order.

• The spot along the Bow at Bankside
• The angel sanctuary in my back yard
• The Fairy Tree along Fish Creek
• The secluded picnic table along Fish Creek
• The bench on our deck at 9:30am when it is cool in the summer
• The top of the rock pile at Moraine Lake when others are not around
• The hidden trail along the river close to Kananaskis Lodge
• The log by the beaver lodge on Pine Island
• The flat rock saddle on Cathedral Rock

These names will not resonate with most people.  And, that is okay.  These are my spots for serenity.  Because each person has a unique idea of what serenity is, their destination will be quite different. It may be a beach, a park bench, a library, a cathedral... it doesn't matter.  

When you are in serenity, it seems easier to feel The Divine.

Wishing you moments and places of serenity.

Many Blessings,

Judy

I Choose What I Become

 

I was thinking about all the different steps in my life that were part of the journey to get where I am now.  I was wondering if I was making the choices or if choices were made for me.  I was really contemplating “free will”.

 I looked up free will at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/free+will-and found that there were two definitions.

1.    free and independent choice; voluntary decision:    You took on the responsibility of your own free will. 

2.    Philosophy. the doctrine that the conduct of human beings expresses personal choice and is not simply determined by physical or divine forces. 

 I looked at some of the things in my life that I considered to be a bad choice.  As I examined the circumstances around the choice, I concluded that I did make the choice and that it was the right choice for that set of environmental factors.  If I had not made that choice, I would have made a much bigger mistake down the road.   I decided that we have free will and with it we exercise compassion, give ourselves the ability to change dramatically, and help ourselves mature.

What do you think?

Many blessings,

Judy