Wiccan, Carrier spiritual energy not eclipsed

Photo: atomicshark

Waiting at the bus stop, I began chatting with two women. We spoke of the dearth of bus benches, the weather and the coming lunar eclipse.

They looked as if they might be retired. One's hair was silver gray; the other's was salt-and-pepper. I mistook her for a Filipina until she spoke; then I recognized the soft accents of a member of a BC native nation.

"Having the eclipse at the same time as the solstice is very unusual," I remarked. "An astronomer on CBC radio said that these two phenomena have not coincided for nearly five hundred years."

"The moon has a lot of power," said the woman with the salt-and-pepper hair. "I am a Carrier. We believe the moon can take away our sickness. We use ritual to expose ourselves to its light."

Also on CBC. a spokeswoman for the Wiccans expressed excitement that the eclipse coincides with the winter solstice. It was beautiful from the porch -- from the Dark Sky Preserve would be even better.

May the positive power of the human spirit reign; may our hopes of a bright future for ourselves and our planet never be eclipsed.