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We entered a bulky candlelit range, a dusky crepuscular light of shadow, faces slenderly distinguishable. Those already gathered were humble, creating consecrated space as they encircled a vast alabaster bowl positioned on the put a floor on in the center. The bowl was a potent presence settled about two feet towering and with equal periphery. It reflected the candlelight, both absorbing and giving off a semi-transparent aura that complemented its reverberation. A young man sat before it, son of Russian immigrants, one a Jew, the other Russian Sound. He struck the bowl with a cover covered rod and drew the switch around the circumference of the bowl again and again to tease the vibrations from its fountain. As the sound waves intensified and the vibrations penetrated material substance, soul, and every permeable molecule of that play, he began to carol a low, gutteral entire in the style of a Natal American shaman. Others pointed up musical instruments or added their own vocal sounds to his.  Pretty soon, there were soft tympanum beats, palm and fingers claps, a tambourine and maracas adding to the harmonious flow.

I listened, closed my eyes, leaned back, felt at calmness. I wondered where was the bound and the overlap between immateriality and organized science of obligation? Is there some immutable all-reaching force that was beyond what defined me in the traditions of my parents, their parents, my lineage? Were the voices of the others next to me uncorrupted or contrived, attempting to fit into being what this agriculture was promising that they could not find gratification in from the culture into which they were born?  This cluster is a mixture, raised in the traditions of west occidental religion:  General, Quaker, Meridional Baptist, Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Judaic.

At the close, participants were invited to medium of vision candles and present a prayer. Their wishes are without exception: harmony, calmness, sustainability, well-being, joy, stewardship of the world. Some asked for nerve to find their own voice, to enunciate up, to take a stand, to give clearly and respectfully, to bring into being a difference in the creation, to walk softly and respect the earth. Some expressed wishes in stillness.

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