November Nights @ the Anchor: a month of Ancestor Tending and Embracing the Dark
w/ artistic offerings from Gavin Bernard, CC Sunchild, Melissa Word, Chaunesti Webb-Johnson and more
organized by Helen Hale & Margaret Ginestra
Please join us for a long pause while the ancestors are near. We are illuminating the Anchor sanctuary with candles only, a rest from the unceasing artificial lighting that surrounds us, while we gather into a month of collective listening, contemplation, reverence for the unseen and the gone-before.
Our dear friend Gavin Bernard is working here for the next few weeks with plant material from his father’s garden, hands echoing how his father’s hands moved amongst that very garden not long ago. We’re generously invited to gather around the living/dying altar/sculpture that emerges from his grief-tending and tend to our own.
Amongst spacious quiet times, several special offerings will be made: three sonic portals by CC Sunchild, two drawing workshops with Melissa Word, a death café with Chaunesti Webb-Johnson, ancestor playlists from Lama Rod Owens and Sudie, and perhaps a few later additions. And, in significant devotion to a new ancestor, we will read Widening Circles, the autobiography of Joanna Macy, aloud together over the course of the month. Please explore our Schedule of Nights. (below)
Whenever doors are open, come on in and spend deep time. Only a few experiences are by rsvp only (see Schedule of Nights). To better stay a while, bring comforts (cushion, blanket, tupperware dinner, snacks), as well as your own mug and spoon for the complimentary tea station. Our house tea for embracing the dark is Nettle with Black Mangrove Honey. You can also bring teabags to share. Social support will be present, please let someone/use know if we can help you connect with additional resources. If you have accessibility requests or concerns, please email: anchor.gac@gmail.com.
We open this space with a prayer-wish that the silence we keep and the nourishing darkness be a balm for our weariness and a spark for transformation. And that our attending presence, what we offer into these nights, be food for our ancestors.
Donations are welcome throughout the month – 30% of donations to the artists, 70% to benefit the Anchor.
THE READING: How the Widening Circles reading works ~ Anyone may sit in THE READING CHAIR and read, as long as they like. We’ll collectively strive to keep THE WAITING CHAIR filled so each reader may swap out at any time, with continuity maintained. No commentary; just reading. We’ll pick up each night where we left off.
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“...Our Ancestors wouldn’t recognize a world made entirely of light, and wouldn’t want to go there if they could. They’d tell us to get ready for a rough ride—that you can’t fight the cosmos, that you can’t survive without the night. Actually, they are telling us that. It’s just that we’ve lost the ability to hear them, because they only speak in the dark.” -Clark Strand
“May our sincere participation in this ceremony serve all beings and strengthen us for the Great Turning.” -Joanna Macy
Location: The Anchor is located at 645 Grant St., SE Atlanta. Entry is through the main front doors on Georgia Avenue.
Schedule of Nights* :
Nov 1 (sat) open 7-midnight:
7:00-8:00 – quiet hours
8:00 – appearance: CC Sunchild as IS
9:30-midnight – reading Widening Circles
Nov 2 (sun) open 4-8 pm:
4:00-5:00 – quiet hours
5:00-6:30 – workshop (rsvp): Drawing in the Dark w/ Melissa Word
6:30-8:00 - reading WC
Nov 5 (wed) open 7-11pm:
7:00-9:00 – quiet hours
9:00-11:00 – reading WC
Nov 8 (sat) open 7-midnight:
7:00-10:00 – quiet hours
10 – music. Ancestor playlist by Sudie
Nov 9 (sun) - pause
Nov 12 (wed) open 7-11 pm:
7:00-9:00 – quiet hours
9:00-11:00 – reading WC
Nov 15 (sat) open 7-midnight:
7:00-8:00 – quiet hours
8:00 – appearance: CC Sunchild as IS
9:30-midnite – reading WC
Nov 16 (sun) open 4-8 pm:
4:00-6:00 - activation (rsvp) : The Blooming End Death Café w/ Chaunesti Webb-Johnson
5:00-6:00 – quiet hours
7:00-8:00 – reading WC
Nov 19 (wed) open 7-11 pm:
7:00-9:00 – quiet hours
9:00-11:00 – reading WC
Nov 22 (sat) open 7-midnight:
7:00-8:00 – quiet hour
8:00 – music. Ancestor playlist by Lama Rod Owens
10-midnight – reading WC
Nov 23 (sun) - pause
Nov 26 (wed) open 7-11 pm
7:00-9:00 – quiet hours
9:00-11:00 – reading WC
Nov 29 (sat) open 7-midnight
7:00-8:30 - workshop (rsvp): Drawing in the Dark w/ Melissa Word
8:30-9:30 – quiet hours
9:30-midnite – reading WC
Nov 30 (sun) open 6-9 pm
3&5 pm - acupuncture circle (rsvp) : Moody Acupuncture w/ Margaret Ginestra & special guests Deisha Oliver and Chabelly Batista
6:00-8:00 – quiet hours
8:00 – appearance : CC Sunchild as IS
*Last updated 10/14. Revisit for potential updates and additions.