December 18th Solstice at Coldwater Spring

Freely flow, Coldwater, clean water
Freely flow, carry forth our prayers

CELEBRATE
WINTER SOLSTICE at COLDWATER SPRING
Sunday, December 18, 2005 2 PM

THE MAGIC OF WATER. Water can hold our prayers. Water can carry our prayers down the Mississippi River and out into the world. The lively, awake, and ready water of Coldwater Springs invites our human hearts to send prayers that will heal and restore the world.

TWIN CITIES RECLAIMING COMMUNITY will lead a ceremony honoring the beauty and magic of water as we engage in alliance with Coldwater Springs so that we may heal and restore the world. Please come and add your vital prayers to the work.

EARTH TONES, a 17-member women's choir will sing.

You may bring a gift for the spring—sage, tobacco, flowers, or a good-sized rock or interesting piece of wood to add to the labyrinth. We also need wood for the fire & you may want to have a folding chair & maybe a thermos of hot coffee. If you wish to collect spring water bring a container.

DRESS for being outside. CHILDREN welcome.
Please leave your beloved pets at home.

You may arrive early. The gate will be open at 12:30 pm.

DIRECTIONS: Coldwater Spring is south of Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. From Hwy 55/Hiawatha, turn east (toward the Mississippi River) at 54th Street, take an immediate right (south) & follow the frontage road for a half mile past the pay parking meters, through the fence gates, & past the aqua brick building where you can park.

COLDWATER SPRING is on the National Register of Historic Places and is the last remaining acknowledged sacred spring in the Twin Cities. Flowing for 10,000 years, even under the last glacier, Coldwater's current 100,000 gallon-a-day pristine groundwater flow has been reduced by construction of the Hiawatha reroute. Considered the Birthplace of Minnesota, Coldwater was home to the soldiers who built Fort Snelling & the site of a pioneer settlement that serviced the fort. Before European settlement, Coldwater was a traditional gathering place for upper Mississippi indigenous nations who came together for "great religious, spiritual events."

SPONSORED BY: Friends of Coldwater, a Minnesota non-profit educational organization & Twin Cities Reclaiming.

INFORMATION: www.friendsofcoldwater.org