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On Sunday 21 December 2014, the Solstice Global Healing Event was held at Catani Gardens in St. Kilda. This event is a gathering for people mainly from within St Kilda and the wider City of Port Phillip community.

Different religions and faiths, ethnicities, cultures, and socioeconomic and political backgrounds come together to share and celebrate their diversity with the community. This interfaith event aims to add to and enhance “cooperative and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions, at both the individual and broader level with the aim of deriving a common ground in belief through a concentration on similarities between faiths.” Presentations by representatives of different faiths and community groups, as well as discussions in and around the marquee enabled interfaith dialogue and understanding.

Speakers from different faith groups

This year’s annual Solstice Global Healing Event was a great success with over 600 people attending the presentations as the programme unfolded or passed through the marquee and the immediate area where some received Christmas parcels or had photos taken with event participants. The Planetary Healing Artists’ Association (PHAAA), which has organized these events for the last three years, celebrated the very positive outcome of the occasion. 

The theme was 'Healing the Family' and was chosen because of the enormous pressure that families are constantly facing. Families have to deal with economic, social, political and cultural issues that interweave with their religious and faith beliefs and practices. They are in need of healing. In addition, the deaths of children and family members in Cairns and in Peshawar in the week leading up to the event demonstrated the real need of healing for the whole human family as well.

Unveiling the Mandala, Prayer flags, Sun Goddess, entertainment, and so much more

The Solstice Global Healing afternoon was indeed an event of celebration that was done through music and entertainment, through serious messages and addresses were given. There certainly was a joie de vie where new friendships were made and old ones affirmed, where people enjoyed the companionship of people they knew and also with strangers. The diversity of peoples was evident not only in the ethnicities and cultures present but also in the religious faiths, philosophies and ideologies that were expressed by those who participated. The event demonstrated that there is something valuable and precious that people have in common and should be celebrated, and this is their humanity.

Doves released to mark a peaceful year ahead

By Father Turi Hollis
Vice President of Planetary Healing Artists

For a complete report, visit the Planetary Healing Artists Association website.