I went to a peace candlelight vigil tonight. It was my first time as I have not been able to attend any of the peace demos so far.
There were to be vigils all over the world tonight. In Montreal there were many different ones. I chose one held in a park not too far from where I live and where I knew I could park the car easily.
I saw them from the street standing in a gazebo with their candles. I parked the car and headed towards the tiny pavilion. The snow was deep and soft so I sank into it up to my knees. I got there out of breath but was greeted with smiles. I got my little votive candle out but noticed everyone else had long candles pushed through a plastic tumbler to protect the flame from the wind.
There were almost dozen people, men and women old and young, looking serene.
After a few minutes the girl who seemed to be the leader proposed a plan for the vigil. We would gown down the steps and gather in the snow for a grounding activity ( I was a bit worried as I had never had such an experience before) and later would walk around the park.
A young lady took out a flute from her bag, stepped outside our circle and started playing. The moon was almost full and the sky was a strange shade of blue, between gray and charcoal. Very light clouds veiled it briefly at times . It was so beautiful. Everyone looked up.
It was a magical moment…very peaceful.
After she was done we walked down, and again stood in a circle. The young leader talked briefly of her reasons for doing this, explaining that expressing our opposition to war was a meaningful gesture, that more and more people were doing it and that it was having an impact. Then we were silent. Being on the ground rather than on the floor of the gazebo made it feel different. I dug my heels in, first for balance but then because I wanted to feel in contact with the earth as if I could be in touch with all the other people standing all over the globe holding candles for peace like I was. I guess this is why they call it “grounding”. I stared at the tiny flame, almost hypnotized , I could feel the heat, smell the sweetness of melting wax I thought of my friends all over the world…I am not sure if that is called praying…but it was wishing very hard for peace to prevail…
After a while we set out on our walk. We walked for about 30 minutes, first on the park grounds and then along the street. We stopped in another smaller park and again the flutist played for us…There is something shy and vulnerable about the sound of a lone flute…similar to the flicker of our candles in the wind.
We later dispersed in different directions walking in small groups, everyone seemingly happy, as I was, about this experience.
