THE DANCE OF REMEMBRANCE
an evolutionary ritual to invoke a gentler human presence, to commemorate lost species and reorient human culture
with author and evolutionary educator,
Rev. Dr. Carol Kilby
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As species continue to disappear - at 1000 times ...the rate of natural extinction processes - the need grows for compassionate ways to confront this violence and reorient ourselves towards life. On the International Day for Remembrance of Lost Species, we will join in ritual as an expression of sacred activism and in loving intention for a future of reconciliation and respect in the Earth Community.
Join us on Nov. 30, 2025 as we commemorate, through ritual, the lives of those species now extinct in the Great Lakes Bioregion, making visible the reality of living during the Sixth Mass Extinction, and offering an opportunity to embody a loving relationship to the earth community.
Bring any size of embroidery hoop or a bent wire coat hanger, 12 – 15 coloured yarns, raffia, or strips of cloth stretched across and attached to the hoop, a pair of scissors.
An opportunity to explore, name, and express the grief of Earth’s loss. Beings of Earth, we are pschoterratic beings: we feel Earth-pain. The Wisdom of Science confirms the web of life is collapsing at 1000 times the usual rate of extinction. While extinction is largely invisible in our daily lives, this ritual strives to make visible our reality and inspire our transition into a future of regeneration.
Rev. Dr. Carol Kilby is the author of Evolutionary Dancer, Out, In, and on the Fringe of the Church
Ordained in the United Church of Canada (1991), she holds a Masters of Divinity from the University of Toronto, and a Doctor of Ministry from the University of Creation Spirituality (2004). Responding to the planetary crisis, Kilby stepped out of ministry to found and coordinate the Gaia Centre for Eco-Spirituality and Sustainable Work (2005). When she returned to offer supply ministry at Kinmount United Church, she found herself in an experiment in Evolutionary Spirituality which inspired her to write.
She is also author of Our Cosmic Beatitudes - A Code of Being for this Evolutionary Moment. Kilby is a contributing member of the Deep Time Network, Creation Spirituality Communities, and host of a webinar program: Evolutionary Ritual Community. She resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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Ritual & Community for “One Universe” Storytellers:
Relevant Practices and Paths Through and Beyond Uncertainty with Rev. Dr. Carol Kilby
Rituals are essential. They are integral to the human journey. What is needed are “celebrations of the stupendous moments of transformation in the time developmental story out of which we’ve emerged.” Thomas Berry
A monthly series for 2025! Come for one or all ten. Our gatherings in ritual space will be an adventure in symbol and language, light and darkness, stillness and movement, reflection, conversation and surprise.
This is for you!
When the stories that shaped us no longer fit, and the rituals that sustained us leave us wanting more,
we find ourselves on yet another threshold.
for those in, out, and on the fringe of religion with a New Universe Story.
When the new story that calls us is cosmic and unfolding through, and as us we long for rituals that celebrate our becoming more, and we find there are others at the threshold.
a new consciousness is breaking through in individuals all around the world, and they will find one another.
Teilhard de Chardin
When the humpty-dumpty world that held us is cracked wide open and the visions and values that united us are no more, we find ourselves to be the threshold.
for
Earth-lovers, empaths, activists, and co-creators navigating the collapse of Modernity.
When the future is breaking-in and the vast cosmic communion that seeded us calls for more, we find a ritual-community for becoming the change we were born in this time to become.
novel
rites of passage, celebrations, and ceremonies integrating spirituality and science to express our awe, transform our grief, and rekindle our gratitude.
2025 Program Calendar
1. January 8, 2025 - Dance of Cosmos’ Genesis (10:00 am PST | 1:00 pm EST)
Begin the new calendar year with a celebration story! Just as all rituals tell stories, this is a UNIQUE retelling of the new sacred story celebrating the deeply personal nature of Universe and the profoundly cosmic nature of our person, purpose, and place in this evolutionary moment. A new beginning, this Story-ritual is the heart and soul of this series. This gathering pays tribute to the work of PIEL and all those New Storytellers working for Earth literacy and a sustainable future. Registrants will receive an attachment to download and print. Bring Red, Green, and Blue markers/pens. A Journal, Candle, lighter, glass of water.
2. February 14, 2025 - Valentine’s Day (10:00 am PST | 1:00 pm EST) Dance of Allurement
Alter-Altar Building. Reclaiming the virtue of love from the human-centric consumerism, this ritual celebrates it as a cosmic energy. You will build an altar that alters and deepens our understanding of this power as the potential in our lives with which to seed a future of human-planet mutuality. Bring a collection of talismans from nature, a tray, candle, match, water.
3. March 22, 2025 - Earth Hour
(6:00 pm PST | 9:00 pm EST)
The Dance of Darkness
Vigil with the Black Madonna. We will join in or prepare for the global ritual of turning off lights at then enter a vigil exploring the cosmic and planetary powers, gifts, and opportunities of darkness. We will end using chant and movement. Bring a noise maker/drum, symbol of the Black Madonna (optional).
4. April 22, 2025 - Earth Day (1:00 PM PST | 4:00 PM EST) The Dance of Synergy
The meal is an ancient ritual form of transformation. Participants can invite others or do this alone. Honouring the Wisdom of Women, this practice acknowledges the grief and suffering we share with Earth due to global warming; it offers hope from the new story -- peril and promise are one. Bring 7 tea candles, matches, your utensils, plate(s), a placemat(s), a plant, a pitcher or glass of water, a dish of food.
5. June 5, 2025 - World Environment Day (10:00 am PST | 1:00 pm EST) Dance of Identity
To embrace our cosmic power of love we must free ourselves from limiting labels. Using the ritual form of procession and recession, and based on the “I am” sayings, this dance is about unmaking the identity shaped by Modernity and reshaping it in the context of One-World Consciousness. The ritual begins at the threshold to the future. Bring a small mat, length of rope, etc to represent a threshold.
6. September 7, 2025 - International Day of Clean Air (Time TBD) Dance of Deepening Kinship
Explore humanity as part of an ever-deepening kinship with all that is and will be; In an evolutionary breathing practice we will experience how we can be positive cocreators of the Noosphere through which we are even now shaping the future. Download or draw your own 6 circle mandala.
7. October 1st, 2025 - World Habitat Day (10:00 am PST | 1:00 pm EST) Dance of Home
Drawing on the Wisdom of Indigenous, we will dance and chant in the four directions on the paths of creation celebrating our own bioregions, and designing our personal intentions for the health of the ecosystems.
8. November 30, 2025 - Remembrance for Lost Species (10:00 am PST | 1:00 pm EST) Dance of Remembrance.
An opportunity to explore, name, and express the grief of Earth’s loss. Beings of Earth, we are pschoterratic beings: we feel Earth-pain. The Wisdom of Science confirms the web of life is collapsing at 1000 times the usual rate of extinction. While extinction is largely invisible in our daily lives, this ritual strives to make visible our reality and inspire our transition into a future of regeneration. Bring any size of embroidery hoop or a bent wire coat hanger, 12 – 15 coloured yarns, raffia, or strips of cloth stretched across and attached to the hoop, a pair of scissors.
9. December 20-21, 2025 - Winter Solstice (TIME TBD) Dance of Unmaking
Bringing a raw egg for this ritual we will honour Earth’s season of emptying using the ancient and relevant symbol of the Cosmic Egg. Bring a raw egg, a sharpie marker or pen, and a bowl.
10. January 1, 2026 (10:00 am PST | 1:00 pm EST) The Dance of Emergence
Honoring the wisdom of Science, In this candle lighting ritual, we celebrate ourselves within the new story of the Universe – “We are here at just the right time and place.” Participants will need 7 Stones, 7 tea lights, 2 feet of yarn, rope, and / or a cake with 7 birthday candles, and matches. The last in the series.
2025 Program Series:
Ritual & Community for “One Universe” Storytellers:
Relevant Practices and Paths Through and Beyond Uncertainty
Program Name:
Session 8 - Remembrance for Lost Species: Dance of Remembrance.
Session 7 - World Habitat Day - Dance of Home
Session 6 - International Day of Clean Air: Dance of Deepening Kinship
Session 5 - World Environment Day: Dance of Identity
Session 4 - Earth Hour: Dance of Synergy - On-Demand
Session 3 - Earth Hour: Dance of Darkness - On-Demand
Session 2 - Dance of Allurement - On-Demand
Session 1 - Dance of Cosmos’ Genesis - FREE
Program: The Dance of Remembrance, an evolutionary ritual to commemorate lost species and reorient human culture
Facilitator: Rev. Dr. Carol Kilby
Dates: Sunday, November 30th, 2025
Time: 10:00 AM Pacific | 1:00 PM Eastern
Cost: $25.00 (Canadian)
(Please do not let cost deter you from attending. Ask us about our funding for programs.)
Location: On-line – Streaming Video
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