Urban Safari: SOLSTICE
Reflections on Winter Light
Mount Auburn Cemetery
“…Since 1831, Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge has been a place to commemorate the dead, console the bereaved, and inspire all who visit here. Nearly two centuries later, more than 100,000 people have come to be buried and remembered here while countless visitors have entered our gates seeking the healing and inspirational powers of this sacred space…”
If we were ghosts, this is what we would look like.
Recently, the RainyDayMagazine crew experienced this favorite local spot of ours: in a whole new light; at night; and in the cold.
Solstice
SOLSTICE: Reflections on Winter Light is an annual event at Mount Auburn Cemetery that includes an outdoor stroll through light and sound artworks. There is also an indoor experience with live music and candle lighting.
“Solstice: an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere.” An illuminated cemetery at night is definitely celestial.
Entry to the event was time-slotted and parking inside the cemetery was free. There were a lot of cars in the cemetery when we arrived, but the crowd was pretty spread out, both inside and out.
The crew – solstice-ing our (cold) noses off.
The Eclipse – a very dark darkness
“…The term is derived from the ancient Greek noun ἔκλειψις (ékleipsis), which means “the abandonment”, “the downfall”, or “the darkening of a heavenly body”, which is derived from the verb ἐκλείπω (ekleípō) which means “to abandon”, “to darken”, or “to cease to exist,” a combination of prefix ἐκ- (ek-), from preposition ἐκ (ek), “out,” and of verb λείπω (leípō), “to be absent”…”
A projected illumination – but sobering nonetheless.
One of the light sculptures at Solstice suggested a giant total eclipse. Even though we knew it was made by combining big ring, strategic lighting, and back-lit smoke, it very much felt like a mini eclipse.
The installation evoked the dramatic push-pull tension between darkness and light of those events. Like everyone there who saw it, we too, were immediately drawn to it.
Photographic evidence that we were there – in case it turns out to have been a giant worm hole.
The Chapel
“…Bigelow Chapel, a prominent facade on the grounds, is painted with site-specific animation and light composed with metaphors and poetry of seasonal change and illuminated motifs that embody the release of light and darkness…”
In person, not so much scary as intriguing.
There were two site-specific light-compositions (Binate and 2-Flowered) which looped over the course of the evening. We didn’t get to see the entire sequence (it was really cold out), but what we did see was quite beautiful.
Part quiet contemplation, part acid trip.
“…the interior of the space hosts the candle lighting service and timeless live music, which is the core of the Winter Solstice tradition at Mount Auburn…”
Candles, in a chapel, with live string music: f that’s not Solstice-y i don’t know what is.
Each guest was offered small unlit candle upon entering Bigelow Chapel. With assistance from Mount Auburn’s staff, guests then lit their candles before placing them in designated areas of the Chapel.
The brightest spot in event.
Final Thoughts
SOLSTICE: Reflections on Winter Light is a perfect opportunity to commemorate a memory, connect to the beauty of the season, or contemplate some intentions for the new year.
This year’s event takes place December 10 – 21 and tickets went on sale to the general public on November 2nd.
Catch the SOLSTICE if you can, but BUNDLE UP for the experience. It gets COLD walking around the cemetery in the dead of Winter:-)
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