Trusting the Path
a summer solstice ceremony honoring Land and Process
at Arterra Wines; Delaplane, VA
June 19th, 2026
6:30pm || 2-2.5hours
$75
Great Mystery abounds.
Yet much of modern life has become about controlling variables, rendering outcomes predictable and reliable. Enough so that we can often forget about Mystery all together.
Until it reasserts itself in our lives.
Sometimes it reasserts itself through jaw-dropping, heart-stopping beauty and wonder. Or magic-seeming synchronicities.
Often it arrives through things we never would have chosen.
Things like:
early buds, late freeze, and losing a percentage of your crop;
a sculpture exploding in a kiln;
sudden losses of jobs, identities, relationships, etc;
unexpected medical diagnoses;
a car that won't start when you just need to get going;
children asserting independence and resisting both your ideas of who they are and your routines and schedules;
... etc
So how do we work with those moments - not as tragedies to be fixed or punishments to rail against, but as invitations deeper into our humanity?
How do we befriend feeling out of control? How do we become more sure-footed again in dancing with uncertainty? Can we trust it's not a rug being pulled out from under us, but a different path waiting to unfold beneath our feet?
And could this be part of how we navigate not just the upheavals of our individual lives but also of our times? Could this provide an antidote to epidemics of violence, anxiety, and disconnection? Provide a way to re-enchant our minds, connect deeper with our bodies and souls, and reconnect with the Earth in a more nourishing way?
Join us at Arterra…
…for a special summer solstice ceremony as we explore those questions while honoring the Mystery that turns the Wheel of the Year - that animates the land and gives us everything we need to craft our lives.
We'll have a small, celebratory sip as we toast the land and the vines (non-alcoholic option available), make offerings to the elements, and gather around fire - much as our deep-time ancestors might have. And we’ll look to old folk traditions like myth, craft, ritual, and land stewardship for time-tested wisdom on how to let Mystery enrich, not deplete, our lives.
A note on preparing for a ceremony:
Ceremonies are not things to passively receive or observe. They are co-created events, spaces where we invite Mystery to join us around the fire. This means they function best if we prepare a bit beforehand.
To that end:
Please bring something beautiful and biodegradable/ naturally-occurring (flowers, stones, etc) to give to the land.
And in the days and weeks leading up to the ceremony, please pay attention to how Mystery might be showing up in your life. Specifically, if there's a place in your life where Mystery is asking you to make a change (whether you know what that change will be or not). The day of the ceremony, bring something representing that threshold/ challenge point that can be burned in the fire.
Other Logistics:
Please bring/ wear whatever you need to sit comfortably in outdoor conditions. (Remember: we'll be gathering in evening, outdoors, around a fire. Bugs will likely be coming out. Temperatures might cool a bit. If you want a camping chair or blanket to sit on, bring one. You may wish to have a water bottle nearby if it’s hot.)
Wear shoes you can walk in on natural/ uneven terrain - we'll be making a small pilgrimage to several sites in the vineyard, making offerings along the way.
Don't forget the offerings requested above in the PREPARE section (the flowers, etc for the land, and the object to burn).
We will begin promptly at 6:30pm and will wrap 8:30-9pm. We both welcome and encourage you to arrive as early as 6pm so you have time to get settled in, choose your wine (or non-alcoholic option) for our toast, etc. *** If you’d like to explore the winery and what they have to offer, you’re welcome to arrive even earlier (say, around 5pm) and explore their native-yeast fermented wines and beautiful art, all honoring terroir. They have snacks for sale or you can bring your own picnic dinner. Just please remember that while, traditionally, summer solstice ceremonies were fun gatherings and alcohol was surely a part of it, it was also a time for reflection and being in sacred relationship. Please don’t over-imbibe. You’re always welcome back at the winery another time, too.
RAIN DATE: the following weekend - Saturday June 27th or Sunday June 28th, same time - in case we can’t run it on June 19th, due to weather, we hope you’ll be able to join us the following weekend. We’ll let you know which date exactly closer to the time, if we have to reschedule.
Your Hosts and Guides:
Sandy and Jason Murray
(owners and operators of Arterra Wines and Hawkmoth Arts)
Kate
(founder of Wild Sacred Journey)
Kate grew up trying to give everyone the stability and support she hungered for - being everyone's else rock, keeping everything together. But perfection and over-giving failed to guarantee meaningful connection and left her soul sobbing: “when do I get to just be?!”
So she stopped trying so hard and let it all burn, waiting to see what emerged from the ashes. What followed was an almost two-decade journey of increasing depth into the ancient wisdom which supported our long-ago ancestors in living like human-creatures, not super-human machines.
Kate now weaves together shamanic/ animist practices, movement, storytelling, and nature connection to meet clients in their own moment of cracking. Inviting them to let false selves burn away and re-emerge as their creature self instead - more alive, more human, and more connected to the mysterious and wondrous world.