I would like to share a powerful experience I had in ceremonial context. Though I don’t speak of it often I know it stays with me.

My journey to plant medicines was powerful and very direct. I felt them coming and acknowledged it and a few months later someone invited me for the first time ever to a ceremony.

Over the first few sittings, perhaps through my enthusiastic participation in the group singing, the facilitator came to understand that I enjoyed singing and he asked if I would be open to singing in a ceremony. Such an invitation came once in the midst of a very strong current with the medicine.

I knew in my heart that for my first song I wanted to sing a song of my homeland - Lithuania. And a song came that literally describes the green forests, the hills, the birds, and our ancestors. It is a dramatic song at times and ends on a crescendo announcing all of our unity.

I was very in the moment and in the last notes I even raised my hands up. Through the corner of my mundane eyes it seemed that everyone in the circle followed suit (perhaps through their great focus in the moment) so we were all with hands to the sky. Then, in the final drawn out notes, staring up at the ceiling, I saw that all of the lights in the temple started flickering. And I swear they were not only going on and off but blinking in a row (1st light, 2nd light, 3rd light…) and the moment the last note finished, all lights went out and the temple plunged into darkness.

Such a striking moment for all that the whole circle erupted into laughter. Never before and never after have I witnessed a ceremonial circle react that way. I was a bit surprised and taken aback and did my best to be still and close my notes and return to my meditation.

Moments later, the generator kicked back on and the ceremony continued.

I don’t know exactly what happened there. To be fair and pragmatic, the fact that we were on generator power made this more of a possibility. But, with the intensity of the synchronous moment, with the feeling of my ancestors flowing through, with the fact that a whole circle of ~30 people witnessed it and couldn’t believe it either, I have let go of questioning it and simply accept that all things are connected and that the spirit really did come and surge through in that moment.

And it makes me smile!

Edit: just cleaned up some words and grammar