Autumn Equinox and the United Nations International Day of Peace

ASubmitted by Kim Prangley

celebration of the Autumn Equinox and the United Nations International Day of Peace will take place at the Stone Circle in Stanstead, Quebec, on Saturday, September 23rd at 2:00 pm.

This bilingual event will begin with a short session of chanting followed by Dances for Universal Peace led by Heather Webster and Munira Avenger. Dances for Universal Peace are simple dance steps done to live music combined with different mantras from various cultures and belief systems from around the world. The dances are taught on the spot so no previous experience is necessary. They are done in a circle (representing Unity), sometimes interacting with the other dancers and sometimes not. This is a slow, reflective and deeply personal experience as we summon up peace in ourselves and for the world at large. You will leave the event a changed person.

On display within the stone circle will be several examples of “Les Soldates de la Paix” (Soldiers of Peace), a terracotta ‘army’ of female figures each holding a votive candle. These 9-inch high clay figures are the soul-project of Claude Desjardins, an artist and peace activist from the Eastern Townships, whose life-long mission is world peace. Her inspiration for this particular project came after Sept 11th, 2001, and a need to do something to make a difference. She set herself the goal of creating 6000 soldiers of peace to counterbalance the war energy of the 6000 terracotta soldiers buried in the ground surrounding China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, accidently discovered in 1974.

Also on display will be 1000 origami Cranes of Peace created by local school children and others. Cranes of Peace are associated with Sadako, a young Japanese girl who lived in Hiroshima during WWII and was diagnosed with “atom bomb disease” at the age of 12. Knowing she was terminally ill, her wish was to create 1000 paper cranes for peace before she died.

Filming will take place at this event for an upcoming short documentary film about the “Soldates de la Paix”.

Please dress in white, bring a cushion or meditation bench for the chanting and water to drink.

In the event of rain, the celebration will take place in The Hangar Building at the Weller Farm, 4945 Chemin Stage, Stanstead East, QC, J0B 3E0, ten minutes from Stanstead.

The Stanstead Stone Circle is a Circle for World Peace. It was installed on the equinox on Sept 23/24 in 2009. At that time, written intentions and pictures for world peace from local children and beyond along with other significant objects from every continent, were buried under the Peace Stone.

Aligned with the Autumn Equinox (when the length of day and night are in balance), this is the time of year to experience the sunrise aligning with the stones on the hillside to the east IF the weather is clear! Sunrise is at at 6:36 am and should rise above the hill at the circle around 7:00 a m.

Donations to defray transportation costs etc are welcome. Volunteers to help with set up etc would also be greatly appreciated. For more information contact Kim Prangley at 819 876 7492 or by email at stansteadstonecircle@gmail.com