Peace Pole Dedication Ceremony
at the rural retreat of The Unity Center in San Diego, California
Click here to see another peace pole ceremony
This
peace pole, and the labyrinth built for it, was a surprise for the people who had been brought to
the ceremony. It was hidden under this wrap until the 450 people attending had
gathered. Metal peace poles are shipped in wooden crates. After secretly
planting their peace pole, they removed one end and the top from the crate so
that they could slide the crate over the peace pole to hide it. Then they put this
drape over it so that the pole could not be seen through the one open side
of the crate.
The
crowd met down a trail out of sight of
the peace pole. They were led walking to its location. There a
guitar playing singer with a cordless microphone directed them into a circle
around the perimeter of the labyrinth. Everyone held hands. After a few words
had been sung and spoken, they were invited to move in close. The drape and the
box covering the peace pole then were removed.
Around the top
of the pole was a wooden embroidery ring to which were tied
lengths of ribbon. There was one ribbon for each of the 33 translations, one for
the images of the earth at the top and one for the animal tracks around the bottom. 35
ribbons in all were tied to the ring and let to dangle down the sides of the pole.
To keep the
ends of the ribbons from hitting the ground, each was coiled with a rubber band
before hitting the ground. Each time the name of a translation was
spoken a rubber band was removed. As the translation of that language was recited, the ribbon was
unrolled and passed
over the heads of the crowd to the people
behind them, who passed it back further until it extended beyond the outer edge of the gathering.
During this a
few words were said about the language and the
people who spoke that language and their being one with all of the people in the world. Then there was thirty seconds of
silence before doing the same thing for the next language.
By the time all of the ribbons had been unwound, the ribbons attached to the peace pole at one end were held aloft by the crowd out to the other end uniting all the people and all the languages and, in a way, all the peace poles in all the countries of the world through the thoughts of peace and harmony so present in that gathering that day.
This peace pole is at the center of a labyrinth that was built for it.
"May Peace Prevail on Earth," could be handwritten on the ribbons with each person carrying away his or her piece of the collective message.
There also are strings of flags available for peace pole dedication ceremonies. Tie them to the top of your peace pole similar to the way the ribbons on this page were, but have them flying overhead when people arrive. Click here for more on that.