Getting copies of A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual in the US

 

Hello, friends,

This post is an update about getting copies in the US of A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual book and CD, which Julie Forest Middleton and I co-authored:  

There are exactly ZERO completely new copies of A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual that are available legally and ethically in the US.  

Julie has none left.  Emerald Earth Publishing ceased trading some years back.  Julie as co-author still had some copies left, which she was making available at a reduced price.  I recently got a request from a congregation in the US to buy enough to host this in December -- about 12 books -- but Julie said all her stock is gone now.  

There might be some new or like-new copies available through re-sellers such as A Libris.  (Be warned, I've been told the ones available on amazon and Ebay are often scams.)  

But if anyone, and I really do mean anyone, no matter how reputable or plausible, offers you a brand-new copy in the US, not a re-sold new copy or an otherwise pre-owned copy, it's a bootleg, and it's both illegal and unethical.  (And neither I nor anyone who contributed to the book or CD would be getting paid.  It would be stealing our work.)

As far as I know, Julie bought Emerald Earth's books and CDs and was the last person or business to have any completely new copies.  She now has none left.  

If she offers you a photocopy for cost plus postage -- which in her recent email to me, she said should be well under $10 for the photocopying -- that *might* be legal; I don't know enough to say, and I have advised her to get a legal consult.  It should absolutely not cost you more than $10 per copy without postage; if it does cost more than that, I do know that's definitely not legal.  Or ethical.

And if anyone offers you a re-print?  Definitely not legal or ethical.  It's out of print and the publisher is out of business, so no one can legally re-print it, *including me and Julie*.  

I am not involved with selling photocopies or re-prints in the US, and I have not given permission to anyone to do so on my behalf.  

Re-publishing it would be legal, with my permission and Julie's.  However, Julie and I have not reached an agreement, much less signed any contracts, for anyone to re-publish it, including me.

  

Re-publishing: 

As you know, I had been hoping to re-publish in 2022 for the 20th anniversary of the original release of the book and CD.  

It's been hard knowing US stock has been getting lower and lower for several years without us making any progress on this.  I get requests from individuals all the time for the book and CD, and I get requests every year from congregations in the US, especially Unitarian Universalist ones, for enough books for their groups to host this.  

Re-publishing is very much something I am willing to do.  

Since 2022, I've done more research around re-publishing AWSSR, and it has the potential to be really, really exciting to take this forward now, both in terms of practical publishing tech and in terms of revising and updating some of the problematic parts of the original.  

(E-books! Print on demand in both the US and the UK as well as Europe!  E-sheet music for tablets!  Digital sound files!  Commissioning Inuit artists!)

It's been very frustrating knowing the US stock is running out when Julie and I haven't made any headway on a re-publishing agreement.  

I really hope that now that our backs are against the wall -- now that our two clearest choices seem to be let A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual die, or re-publish it, with updates -- that Julie and I will reach an agreement to re-publish.  

I wish I could tell you how to get copies of the book and CD in the US in the meantime.  I'm really sorry I can't.  

(If you bought a copy of the CD and have lost it, get in touch; I might be able to help.) 

I would very much appreciate it if you all would hold all of this in your spiritual care, whatever that looks like for you.  Many thanks. 

Blessings,

Stasa

Three more Winter Solstice Celebrations!

 Hello, folks,

If you missed the Winter Solstice Celebration I led, it turns out there are three more communities, all in the US, who are presenting A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual this year.  

• Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church had their Celebration over Zoom on Saturday night, but will have a recording available for about a week on YouTube.  More here:
  https://ocuuc.org/events/winter-solstice-singing-ritual-2/
  

• On Monday, December 21st, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane will present theirs on-line at 7 pm Pacific / 10 pm Eastern.  More here:
  https://www.uucj.org/2020/12/17/a-winter-solstice-singing-ritual-with-uucs/

• On Tuesday, December 22nd, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Huntsville will present theirs on-line at 4 pm Pacific / 7 pm Eastern.  More here:
  https://uuch.org/events/winter-solstice-virtual-service/
  https://uuch.org/services/8856/
  

 

I am so grateful to everyone who is using this to help build and strengthen community during these (it's such a cliché to say it) challenging times.

"A year like no other," indeed.  (from A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual)

For more information about A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual project, please see:
https://sites.google.com/view/winter-solstice-celebrations/home

 

a spiral labyrinth, outlined by candles, in the dark
(c) 2004 Laura Treadway, used with permission

How to use "A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual" for a Winter Solstice Celebration of your own

I've had a couple of conversations again recently where people seem to think the only way to use A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual is with a big group, a choir, etc., etc.

Definitely not, I promise! 

When my co-author and I put together the book and cd, one of the things we thought could be useful would be if groups of different sizes could use it to put on these Winter Solstice Celebrations.

We'd only worked with large-ish groups, with Celebrations open to the community, but what if individuals and solitaries, and isolated Covens, and small groups who weren't Covens and maybe didn't know each other well, and groups we hadn't even thought of yet, could use the book and cd to do this Winter Solstice Celebration?

From the feedback I've received, and from the experience I've had during the time I lived in different parts of the US and now in Scotland, it works as we'd hoped.

I've used (experienced!) A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual in a bunch of different ways:

• with small and medium-sized vocal groups and volunteer narrators and readers, in Celebrations open to the community
• with a group of drummers and the cd, narrating myself and with all of us sharing the reading
• with 13 people who sight-sang it in an unheated gazebo and no artificial lights, passing reading around the circle
• by myself in my living room in the dark
• with four other adults and a preschooler in my living room during a snowstorm, with the cd, with one narrator and the rest of us sharing the readings
•  in an open community Celebration, using the recording for some pieces, with one person leading group singing for the other pieces, about four people who'd learned songs ahead helping to anchor the singing, and one person anchoring drumming (everyone was invited to use other percussion as moved)

Who has done this?  Not an exhaustive list, but:

• individuals
• families
• many Unitarian Universalist congregations, either with their own choirs or in partnership with community choirs
• community choirs, especially feminist and LGBTQ choirs
• Pagan community groups 
• private covens
• Christian churches
• Quaker Meetings
• YM/YWCAs
• LGBTQ community centers
• peace centers
• community groups that aren't Pagan or religious at all, who have wanted to do some multi-faith community-building around/during the winter holidays, and/or have wanted to escape the commercialism of the season
• music therapy groups
• drumming groups

Okay, that sounds like fun!, you say.  How do I do it?  How do I use A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual for a Winter Solstice Celebration? 


Host an event on your own or with some family or friends. 

• You can do it by yourself, using the book and cd.
• You can do it with a small group of friends and/or family, using the cd for music, and asking people to narrate and do readings.
• You can get together a group of friends to learn the songs, and do it at one of your homes, either for family and friends or just for yourselves, and ask people to narrate and do readings.

Partner with an organization.

• Find out if a choir or chorus you know is interested in doing this as an alternative to a Christmas concert, as a community-building event, and/or as a fund-raiser.  (For example, a women's choir, LGBTQ choir, peace choir, or some other kind of community group you or somebody you know sings in.) 
• Find out if your spiritual community or congregation is interested in doing this as a service, as an multi-faith community-building event, or as a fund-raiser.

If you're part of a Unitarian Universalist congregation:

• ... and your congregation has a music program, talk to your music director or some of your musicians to see if they're interested in this as a service.  My co-author and I are members of the UU Musicians Network, and we can put you in touch with other UU folks who have done this. 
• ... and you have a CUUPS group (Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans), ask them if they're interested in doing this. 

Start your own singing group. 

• You can do this with a group of friends, or cast a wider net in your community.  

For some examples, see the Past Locations pages: https://bit.ly/WinterSolsticeCelebrations. 

Feel free to contact me directly for encouragement, advice, practical assistance, and spiritual support. You can also join our Facebook group. 

We have a Facebook group for anyone who's been part of A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual in any way -- Been to a Celebration or a workshop, participated as a singer, reader, congregation, behind-the-scenes organizer, etc. -- or is interested in hosting it.  http://www.facebook.com/groups/AWSSR/

There are lots of practical suggestions in the second half of the book.  If you need to order books and cds for your group, please contact the publisher: https://secure.tradenet.net/emerald/order_form.htm. (EDITED:  Emerald Earth Publishing has ceased trading.  You can contact me or Julie to buy books/CDs in the US, UK, and Europe.)

For lots more information, see the main Winter Solstice page at my website: https://bit.ly/WinterSolsticeCelebrations. 


But most of all, have fun!  Enjoy the music, sing along, take time for the silence, and appreciate both the gifts of the sacred Darkness and the rebirth of the Light.