HOULTON, Maine – For Holli Nicknair, the significance of the eclipse is not just about the astronomy, it’s the energy the event creates that inspires her.
“I feel like this is a very powerful time and can touch our planet in a very positive way,” said Nicknair, who has co-organized the Unitarian Universalist Church’s Eclipse Fair in Houlton.”The eclipse, energetically, is the end of the old patterns and the beginning of the new. The eclipse is the planet’s way of giving us this experience.”
The total solar eclipse on April 8 will pass through a large swath of totality in the U.S. from Texas to Maine. Ending in Houlton before crossing the international border, the small Aroostook County town is projected to draw 40,000 visitors to view the eclipse.
In planning for this cosmic rarity, Nicknair and other church leaders, including David Hutchinson, UU minister, believed this was a time to help facilitate healing journeys and to come up with offerings of interest to their members.The UU Church believes in the dignity of all people and the Houlton congregation is made up of members from many religious traditions. The church supports each member’s spiritual journey, regardless of the path.
Nicknair said there is so much division and separation in our world today that the eclipse offers people an opportunity to find a way to unify.
When the head of the Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce, Jane Torres, approached church leaders about providing a spiritual component to the town’s slated events for the April 5 to 8 town festival, the path was clear.
They would host the UU Eclipse Fair, an umbrella for a host of church created events. It is the biggest thing the small Houlton church has ever done.
“The whole fair is an act of social action in hopes it helps our community and the planet at large come into more balance,” Nicknair said. “One of the first events is the planetary moment of silence. An opportunity for us to come together regardless of how you believe and hold three minutes of silence for the sake of our planet’s healing.”
The UU Eclipse Fair, part of the larger Houlton townwide Eclipse Festival, includes a weekend of music, blues and rock concerts, healing foods like warming curries, a 100 by 40 foot metaphysical tent, speakers, daily chanting and children’s events.
A sound healing offering on Sunday, April 7 and a complete day of mindful movement on Monday, April 8, includes healing energy practices like mindfulness meditation, tai chi, qigong and ecstatic dance.
“For me, it is all about a healing journey we are all in together,” Nicknair said.
Monday’s Day of Mindful Movement introduces the practice of mindfulness and cultivating an awareness of all that is in our bodies, hearts and minds, said Nicknair, who has been a mindfulness practitioner for over 20 years.
The practice of mindfulness, introduced decades ago by Jon Cabot Zinn, helps people appreciate and recognize what they are experiencing in the moment instead of worrying about the future or regretting the past.
Today, Zinn says that mindfulness can help heal the planet and help counter technology addiction and isolation.
“The concept of mindfulness is the practice of letting what arises in us come to the surface and be with it and let it pass like the clouds,” Nicknair said. “The value of mindfulness comes when we learn to say, ‘oh I notice myself feeling really angry.’ I can notice that, I can be as opposed to acting on all these feelings.”
The Day of Mindful Movement will be held in Houlton’s Monument Park at the amphitheater on Military Street. It opens with kids’ mindfulness at 9 a.m. and continues with meditation, yoga, qigong, tai chi, ecstatic dance every hour until totality at 3:32 p.m.
The Sound Healing Sunday, features Windham healers Jason and Rebecca LaWind, owners of Ways to Wellness in the UU church sanctuary.
“They will be bringing all their bowls, gong instruments and tools used on a regular basis and will lead the way and cultivate a relaxed state within us,” she said. “It’s about cultivating deep relaxation.”
The events, whether concerts or mindful movement, are offerings that nourish our spiritual journeys, Nicknair said.
“ We did not want to serve food just because people want food, we wanted to create an offering that truly nourished people’s spirits and brought people together in a unified way,” she said. “This whole eclipse is much larger than us. It’s not just about us as human beginnings, it’s about something greater.”
All UU Eclipse Fair events are open to everyone at no charge, although donations are welcome.
