Events

Honor the Waters Global Ceremony and Celebration

Patagonia

Photo by Mary Beth Leisen

For the Autumn Equinox and World Gratitude Day, we invite you to our first Honor the Waters Global Ceremony and Celebration on Sept. 21. We will gather over 1,000 people in community and celebration to collectively offer deep gratitude and to increase our consciousness and appreciation of the incredible beauty, power, and importance of water in our lives and our world.

Locations and details of hosted events will be added below. You are invited to join any one of these – and bring friends! Contact the hosts directly for more details.

You can also host your own gathering. If there is no ceremony near you, you can create one, and we will spread the word so people can find you. It doesn’t need to be anything formal or fancy – just a group of people expressing appreciation for the water in whatever way feels best – offering flowers, music, spoken word, meditation, art – anything. We’ve shared some ideas in the Ceremony section to get you started.

Last but definitely not least, if you don’t want to host a group, you may simply spend time with the water alone – or do so with your family and friends. It’s a great way to show children that both water and gratitude are important.

However you decide to celebrate, we would love to hear about it, so please share photos, video, and recaps in the comments section below and on facebook.

Spread the word!

We want to reach as many people as possible. What if we could get 10,000 people to celebrate? Mother Earth would certainly enjoy that celebration!

To have your event details added to this page, please use the Contact form and include the following information:

  1. Your name
  2. Your email address – or your website page if you’d like to direct them there for all the information
  3. Time of your ceremony on Sept 21 (in your local time)
  4. Location and where to meet (any and all details that will help people find you that day)
  5. Alternate location in case of rain (if you live somewhere that actually gets rain)
  6. What they should bring (if anything)
  7. Whether you’d like them to RSVP to you

If you don’t want to host but are doing your own ceremony, let us know where it is and what body of water you’re honoring, so we know where the celebrations will be taking place.

SCHEDULED EVENTS

This list is organized by country and state. It starts with a general list of ceremony locations.  To find the specific information for that location, scroll down to find it in the detailed list.

Events with an asterisk next to them will be led by someone from the original Honor the Waters group.  Those locations marked ‘Private’ are those where ceremony will take place, but it is a personal, rather than a hosted event.  We will update this list as more ceremonies are finalized.

UNITED STATES

  • Arizona – near Tucson*
  • California – Auburn (near Sacramento)*
  • California – Berkeley
  • California – Campbell
  • California – Carmel*
  • California – Laguna
  • California – Palos Verdes*
  • California – near Santa Cruz
  • California – Vallejo
  • California – Watsonville*
  • Colorado – Lousiville
  • Florida – Sarasota*
  • Hawaii – Kapiolani
  • Hawaii – Manoa
  • Hawaii – Palolo
  • Illinois – Chicago*
  • Iowa – Dubuque*
  • Maine – Falmouth
  • Massachusetts – Boston
  • Minnesota – Minneapolis
  • Missouri – Kansas City*
  • Montana – Livingstone
  • Pennsylvania – Lake Erie
  • Washington – Seattle

Canada

  • Ontario – near Toronto*

China

  • Hong Kong – Sai Kung

France

  • Brittany

Peru

  • Cusco – Sacsayhuaman

Switzerland

  • Lake Zurich

DETAILED LIST

UNITED STATES

Arizona – near Tucson*

  • Led by Darcey Blue and Josephine Thomason – please RSVP to  or
  • Time: September 20, 11am – please note the earlier date
  • Location: ​Santa Rita Mountains/Madera canyon- YOU MUST RSVP to get location details.
  • Event details at https://www.facebook.com/events/267675260088744/
  • Please bring contributions for the offering: flowers, rice, grains, seeds, beans, chocolate – snacks to share with others

California – Auburn*

  • Led by Abby Cole – please RSVP to
  • Time: Sept 27 at 3pm – note the different date
  • Location: the confluence of the American Rivers
  • Please bring a blanket to sit on, a drum or rattle, flowers, shells, or seeds for your own offering. Snacks to share if inclined.
  • More details can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1554145411473932/?context=create&ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming&source=49#

California – Berkeley

  • Led by Ji Hyang
  • Exact location and time TBD

California – Campbell

  • Led by Linda Churchill
  • Time: 8am
  • Location: Vasona Creek
  • More details TBD

California – Carmel*

  • Led by Mary McKenna and Judith Mostyn – please RSVP to
  • Time: Sept. 21, 10am
  • Location: Carmel River Beach
  • Please bring a small assortment of light colored flowers, seeds, pods, small shells for making your own mini offering, if you wish. There will be plenty of materials on hand as well. Please RSVP.

California – Laguna (private ceremony)

California – Palos Verdes*

  • Led by Barbara Swift
  • Time: Sept 21 at 2:30pm
  • Location: Abalone Cove, on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, near the tide pools. We will be making a traditional despacho, filled with leaves and flowers infused with our prayerful intent.
  • http://www.pvplc.org/_lands/abalone_cove.asp
  • So that I can get an idea of how many people will attend, and how many supplies I will need, please drop me an email to RSVP ~ barbara@swiftwellnessandhealing.com

California – near Santa Cruz

  • Led by Lorraine Stern,
  • Time: Sept. 21, 5:30pm
  • Location: Moss Landing Beach
  • Please bring a flower or other offering to the ocean and $2 donation for the despacho ingredients

California – Sacramento*

  • Led by Abby Cole
  • Time: Sept 27 – please note the later date
  • I will be hosting from Sacramento at the confluence of the American Rivers a week after on Sept. 27 for I will be in Peru for the equinox!. I will post details closer to the date. All are welcome in ceremony and celebration!

California – Vallejo (private ceremony)

California – Watsonville*

  • Led by Bill and Jennifer Francis. You must RSVP to – and check www.billfrancisacademy.com for further details.
  • Time: Sept 21, 8:30am
  • Location: 25 Nunes Road, Watsonville, CA. 95076. Ceremony will be at the ranch starting at 8:45 A.M. Please park near horse corral, followed by a pilgrimage/drive to the ocean for the offering. (Seascape Resort Beach Path, One Seascape Resort Drive, Aptos, CA 95003)

Colorado – Louisville (private ceremony)

Florida – Sarasota*

  • Led by Natalia KW – please RSVP to
  • Time: Sept 21, 11am EST
  • email Natalia for location details.

Hawaii – Kapiolani (private ceremony)

Hawaii – Manoa (private ceremony)

Hawaii – Palolo (private ceremony)

Illinois – Chicago*

  • Led by Mary Beth Leisen – please RSVP using the Contact form on this website
  • Time: Sept. 21, 10am
  • Location: Foster Beach, Lake Michigan
  • Please bring a towel or blanket to sit on.  After the ceremony, we will hang out for awhile, so bring a snack to share if you’d like.  You are most welcome to bring friends and friends – and I look forward to sharing this celebration with you!

Iowa – Dubuque*

  • Led by Mary Beth Leisen – please RSVP using the Contact form on this website
  • Time: Sept 13, 10am – please note the earlier date
  • Location: Mississippi River, exact location TBD so please RSVP

Maine – Falmouth

Massachusetts – Boston (private ceremony)

Minnestoa – Minneapolis

  • Led by Carey Allen, details TBD.  Please contact Carey at allen.carey@gmail.com.

Missouri – Kansas City*

Montana – Livingstone

  • Led by Mary Wolk-Agnew
  • Location: Yellowstone River
  • For more details, please see Mary’s post on the Honor the Waters Facebook page

Pennsylvania – Lake Erie (private ceremony)

Washington – Seattle

  • Led by Emily Downward – please RSVP to get2emily@gmail.com
  • Time: Sept 21, 9:30am
  • Location: Golden Gardens beach
  • Please contact Emily for more details

CANADA

Ontario – near Toronto*

  • Led by Jacquie Hanley, please RSVP to
  • Time: Sept 21 at 4pm – meet at the west end of the parking lot at 3:45
  • Location: Bluffer’s Park, Scarborough (Brimley Road, South of Kingston Rd.)
  • We will make a special water offering of flowers and sweet foods into which you can place your prayers of request, gratitude or whatever is most important to you. You can bring light coloured flowers if you like, but we will have plenty. Or you can make a donation of $5.00 towards materials.
  • https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bluffers+Park,+Scarborough,+ON+M1M+3W3,+Canada/@43.7022695,-79.2376002,274m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x89d4cfaf2d98cecf:0x575c355306e67b6

CHINA

Hong Kong  – Sai Kung (private ceremony)

FRANCE

Brittany (private ceremony)

PERU

Cusco – Sacsayhuaman (private ceremony)

SWITZERLAND

Lake Zurich

Switzerland

  • Led by Sabine Schacke and Moitz Pfister – please RSVP to
  • Time: Sept 21, around 3pm (RSVP, as time may change)
  • Location: Lake Zürich, Rapperswil, near Stampf Badi; if it rains, then at Vitalzentrum, Raperswil
  • If interested, please send an e-mail to us for more Information

Thank you!

Banner photo by Mary Beth Leisen.

4 comments on “Events

  1. I will be hosting a local gathering at Abalone Cove, on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. We will be making a traditional despacho, filled with leaves and flowers infused with our prayerful intent. If you live nearby, please join us September 21 at 2:30 PM, near the tide pools at Abalone Cove.

    http://www.pvplc.org/_lands/abalone_cove.asp

    So that I can get an idea of how many people will attend, and how many supplies I will need, please drop me an email to RSVP ~

Leave a Reply to Ji Hyang Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *