Winter Solstice Drum Circle (In Person and Live Stream)

The Winter Solstice Drum Circle is a one-hour spiritual gathering at the Sacred Stream Center in Berkeley, California, held in person and by live stream. It marks the turning of the year at the winter solstice with group drumming, and it suits anyone in the Bay Area who wants to gather with others around the drum. People elsewhere can take part from home online. It is connected with Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D., founding director of the Foundation of the Sacred Stream.

What to Expect

The circle runs from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm, a single hour at the close of the day. It belongs to a rhythm of seasonal drum circles at the Sacred Stream Center, which also holds circles for the summer solstice and the spring and fall equinoxes. The winter circle is the one that marks the longest night of the year.

You can join in two ways. In person, you sit in the room with the other participants. By live stream, you take part in real time from wherever you are.

About Isa Gucciardi

Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D., is the Founding Director of the Foundation of the Sacred Stream, a non-profit school for consciousness studies in Berkeley, founded in 2002. She created Depth Hypnosis, a therapeutic model, and is the author of Coming to Peace.

Her path began early. She spent most of her early years in other countries before moving to the United States as a teenager, and she was struck by how little people around her wanted to talk about death. Reading Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's On Death and Dying in the early seventies came as a relief. She later volunteered for years in hospice settings, including the Zen Hospice Project, and came to hold a view she still keeps: everyone grieves in their own way, and the most helpful thing is often to sit quietly and offer a non-judgmental space.

The Setting

The Sacred Stream Center is in Berkeley, California, and is the home of the Foundation of the Sacred Stream's in-person workshops, retreats and seasonal gatherings. Many of its programs are offered both in the room and online, and the drum circle follows that same pattern.

Before You Go

The circle is offered in person and by live stream, so you can choose whichever suits you. Anyone planning to attend online should watch for the registration confirmation email, and check the spam or junk folder if it does not arrive right away.