AUBURN - Prayer, meditation, dance and music merged to ignite the feminine force behind “A Weekend of Light” at the Auburn Public Theater on Friday night.
A spiritual experience celebrating female energy and healing, the event was conceived by Melina Carnicelli as an extension of the “A Room Full of Sisters” event, which took place during the day at the Holiday Inn in Auburn.
“These were two separate events designed to be in the same time frame,” Carnicelli, of Treble Associates in Auburn, said.
About 30 people registered for “A Weekend of Light.” The events Friday evening and all day Saturday include
spiritualists, belly dancers, and a sound healer/harpist, Ani Williams, who is performing at the APT for the public at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Friday's after-dinner seminar began at about 6:45 p.m. with nationally known spiritualists Sheila Applegate, of Lafayette, and Mary Schechter, of Tully. Guests gathered in a dimly lit alcove off of the main dining area and listened to Applegate's words.
“It's a journey of the imagination, but it's also a journey of the spirit,” she said. “People often ask me if it's just their imagination. It doesn't matter. Imagination is the spring to the spirit.”
She continued with a description of channeling.
She began the prayer and meditation, a story about a garden that led to channeling. Her guided meditation is “an almost hypnotic state. Meditation usually takes between 10 and 30 minutes, with 15 to 20 minutes of short channeling, opening up to receive messages from spirits,” she said.
“I guide them,” she said. “I bring forth a common message which touches everybody in his own way.”
Applegate's technique, “silence with closed eyes,” helps people totally relax, envisioning a secret garden with angels or a spirit guide.
“They feel, then get in tune. The messages they get will all be personal. I'm not someone who was ever able to meditate using other techniques,” she said.
“It's an opportunity to quiet your physical presence so that you can be open to your higher self,” said first-time participant Terry Quigley, of Schenectady. “We are too busy to pay attention and have a tendency to get caught up in our heads and not listen to our hearts.”
“The Weekend of Light is new to me, but I'm not new to meditation,” said Kathie Falgitano, who has practiced transcendental meditation. “I would describe this as guided imagery and visualization more than even meditation.”
“I get it a little better now,” said Lisa Sacco, of Fayetteville, who has attended many of Applegate's sessions. “I've started using her CDs.”
Mary Schechter, of LifeWorkNow Empowerment Practice, conducts LifeKeys seminars and Visions of Heaven Lessons in Light series to help people find their true life work purpose and passion. She facilitates personal change using universal principals and intuitive practice as part of everyday life.
Schechter said she receives information from guardian angels or those who have crossed over.
After the spiritualists, sound healer Ani Williams' harp solo began at 8 p.m.
“I like the idea of not a performance but more a community event,” she told the group.
She said she was chanting on Thursday next to the Auburn Correctional Facility for the inmates.
“Ahala Ahala Gonah Sha,” went the refrain from “Shenasha,” a Navajo Beauty Way chant. In “Dieu et la Magdeleine,” she set lyrics from a 15th-century wedding chalice to her own music. Other songs included “Garden of Blue Roses,” “Beloved's Flute,” “Burning Wish,” “Gypsies of Rosslyn,” “Bride of Avalon,” “Sa Ra” and “Fragrance of Fire.”
In “Gura Malaho,” an African Borana tribal song, she brought attention to a few lines: “Oh ancient one who speaks the language of the birds, / Show me where the place of spirit is / So I can go there and strengthen my prayers.”
“Let that be a prayer for our whole weekend,” she said.
At 9 p.m., Adi Shakti, a belly dancing troupe of 10 women from Madison County, performed to a wide range of music - from traditional Middle Eastern drum solos to New Age to Arabic pop/hip-hop. The women, ranging in age from their 20s to 60s, came from Canastota, Chittenango, Wampsville, Oneida, Stockbridge, Munnsville, Morrisville and Cazenovia to dance in the American Tribal Style/World Fusion Bellydance. Its origins are pre-Christian Judiaic tribeswomen's dances intended to encourage and honor a woman in labor. Over time, influences from the Far East to North Africa affected the style.
American Tribal Style Bellydance emerged in the 80s, with many variations on the original, but the common thread remained - empowerment of the feminine spirit. AdiShakti, a Sanskrit term, describes the creative, evolutionary life energy derived from the all-encompassing, omnipresent divine feminine.
“We strive to honor and convey this energy through performing our interpretation of this ancient dance,” Beth Yazell, Adi Shakti's director said.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
“These were two separate events designed to be in the same time frame,” Carnicelli, of Treble Associates in Auburn, said.
About 30 people registered for “A Weekend of Light.” The events Friday evening and all day Saturday include
spiritualists, belly dancers, and a sound healer/harpist, Ani Williams, who is performing at the APT for the public at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Friday's after-dinner seminar began at about 6:45 p.m. with nationally known spiritualists Sheila Applegate, of Lafayette, and Mary Schechter, of Tully. Guests gathered in a dimly lit alcove off of the main dining area and listened to Applegate's words.
“It's a journey of the imagination, but it's also a journey of the spirit,” she said. “People often ask me if it's just their imagination. It doesn't matter. Imagination is the spring to the spirit.”
She continued with a description of channeling.
She began the prayer and meditation, a story about a garden that led to channeling. Her guided meditation is “an almost hypnotic state. Meditation usually takes between 10 and 30 minutes, with 15 to 20 minutes of short channeling, opening up to receive messages from spirits,” she said.
“I guide them,” she said. “I bring forth a common message which touches everybody in his own way.”
Applegate's technique, “silence with closed eyes,” helps people totally relax, envisioning a secret garden with angels or a spirit guide.
“They feel, then get in tune. The messages they get will all be personal. I'm not someone who was ever able to meditate using other techniques,” she said.
“It's an opportunity to quiet your physical presence so that you can be open to your higher self,” said first-time participant Terry Quigley, of Schenectady. “We are too busy to pay attention and have a tendency to get caught up in our heads and not listen to our hearts.”
“The Weekend of Light is new to me, but I'm not new to meditation,” said Kathie Falgitano, who has practiced transcendental meditation. “I would describe this as guided imagery and visualization more than even meditation.”
“I get it a little better now,” said Lisa Sacco, of Fayetteville, who has attended many of Applegate's sessions. “I've started using her CDs.”
Mary Schechter, of LifeWorkNow Empowerment Practice, conducts LifeKeys seminars and Visions of Heaven Lessons in Light series to help people find their true life work purpose and passion. She facilitates personal change using universal principals and intuitive practice as part of everyday life.
Schechter said she receives information from guardian angels or those who have crossed over.
After the spiritualists, sound healer Ani Williams' harp solo began at 8 p.m.
“I like the idea of not a performance but more a community event,” she told the group.
She said she was chanting on Thursday next to the Auburn Correctional Facility for the inmates.
“Ahala Ahala Gonah Sha,” went the refrain from “Shenasha,” a Navajo Beauty Way chant. In “Dieu et la Magdeleine,” she set lyrics from a 15th-century wedding chalice to her own music. Other songs included “Garden of Blue Roses,” “Beloved's Flute,” “Burning Wish,” “Gypsies of Rosslyn,” “Bride of Avalon,” “Sa Ra” and “Fragrance of Fire.”
In “Gura Malaho,” an African Borana tribal song, she brought attention to a few lines: “Oh ancient one who speaks the language of the birds, / Show me where the place of spirit is / So I can go there and strengthen my prayers.”
“Let that be a prayer for our whole weekend,” she said.
At 9 p.m., Adi Shakti, a belly dancing troupe of 10 women from Madison County, performed to a wide range of music - from traditional Middle Eastern drum solos to New Age to Arabic pop/hip-hop. The women, ranging in age from their 20s to 60s, came from Canastota, Chittenango, Wampsville, Oneida, Stockbridge, Munnsville, Morrisville and Cazenovia to dance in the American Tribal Style/World Fusion Bellydance. Its origins are pre-Christian Judiaic tribeswomen's dances intended to encourage and honor a woman in labor. Over time, influences from the Far East to North Africa affected the style.
American Tribal Style Bellydance emerged in the 80s, with many variations on the original, but the common thread remained - empowerment of the feminine spirit. AdiShakti, a Sanskrit term, describes the creative, evolutionary life energy derived from the all-encompassing, omnipresent divine feminine.
“We strive to honor and convey this energy through performing our interpretation of this ancient dance,” Beth Yazell, Adi Shakti's director said.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
