A Winter Evening Under the Stars with Olivia Woodford

Friday, February 21 @ 7:30 pm

(Cloud date: Saturday, February 22)

Let the water settle and you will see 

the moon and the stars mirrored

in your own being.”

Rumi

Please join us for an experiential evening that provides an intimate, educational and communal experience of the Winter Night Sky. The evening will begin sitting around the fire as we welcome and connect with those who have come to stargaze with us.  We will then move out to lay beneath the stars and Olivia Woodford will talk of the movements of the sky, identify the constellations and the ancient stories told about them. Others will be welcomed to tell the stories they have come to know of these stars.  The council house fire will remained lit for those who need to warm themselves by the fire for a spell. 

  • Dress as warmly as possible
  • Bring a pillow, a heavy warm blanket and, if at all possible, a sleeping bag and mat. 
  • Coming prepared will allow us all to be as comfortable as possible beneath the beauty of the winter night sky.
  • Suggested Donation:  $ 10-30

From the dawn of humanity, peoples worldwide have watched the movement of the heavens, embedded their stories and wisdom in the star configurations, and engaged the cosmic mystery by sitting beneath the canopy of the night sky and watching the drama unfold, much like people sit around a television screen do now – except these stars do not win Oscars; these stars emanate something that evokes an ancient and timeless presence.Gathering at the dark of the moon, the features of the night sky are not diminished by the moon’s light. In this darkness, the sky is revealed in all its splendor.  The Winter Night Sky, which the Lakota people referred to as the Sacred Hoop, is inspiring in its brilliance and beauty.  

In contact with the night world, the mountain at rest and the crispness of the air, we will identify constellations and planets and the stories that have been told about them by peoples that came before us.  Orienting to the North, South, East and West directions we will observe and experience the procession of the planets and stars that cross the landscape of night. For our ancestors, the constellations and movements of the heavens provided a calendar for when to hunt, farm, travel, and set festival dates. It functioned as their Wikipedia, with all the wisdom of their culture embedded into the stars through stories that could be told and passed on to their children. By coming into relationship with the stars, we come into relationship with our ancestors, the soul of humanity and feel the imaginal connection between heaven and earth. We deepen this connection with the natural order of all life and the feeling of being part of something larger and more vast than we could ever dream.  Bypassing the rational mind, we come into the language of the soul and awaken to the beat of our ancestral heart.  

About Olivia

Olivia has been a practicing astrologer for 34 years and is certified in several forms of astrology including AstroMythology a methodology that explores how our distant ancestors saw and interpreted the movements of the night sky at the dawn of civilization.  She is also a Storyteller and Founder of Healing Theatre. Olivia lives in Burnsville and is a member of the Sacred Fire Asheville Community.  For more on her astrology practice:  livbydesignastrology.com