What exactly did you do with the candles? I’ve seen pictures and read posts mentioning the fact that candles are used at solstice events, but I’m having trouble imagining how it works without being logistically awkward. E.g.:
Where are the candles stored before they’re passed out to the audience?
At what point are the candles passed out? Do people get up from their seats, go get a candle, and then return to their seats, or do you pass around a basket full of candles?
When are the candles initially lit? Before or after they’re distributed?
When are the candles extinguished during the “darkening” phase? How does each person know when to extinguish their own candle?
Is there a point later when people can ditch their candles? Otherwise, it must be annoying to have to hold a lit candle throughout the whole “brightening” phase.
Someone walked around and distributed them at the beginning of the second half
We lit them during “Brighter than Today”, with people passing the flame to the people around them, but as in the post I think lighting them not the beginning of the second half would have been better.
We didn’t extinguish them as part of the darkening phase this year, but I would rather have done that. There are a bunch of different ways you could do it, but I think the most straightforward would just be for the leader to tell people to?
This isn’t something people seem to have found annoying. There are holders to catch any drips. I think if someone didn’t want a candle they would likely refuse during the initial distribution?
At the very end people extinguished their candles and then we put them back on the tray.
What exactly did you do with the candles? I’ve seen pictures and read posts mentioning the fact that candles are used at solstice events, but I’m having trouble imagining how it works without being logistically awkward. E.g.:
Where are the candles stored before they’re passed out to the audience?
At what point are the candles passed out? Do people get up from their seats, go get a candle, and then return to their seats, or do you pass around a basket full of candles?
When are the candles initially lit? Before or after they’re distributed?
When are the candles extinguished during the “darkening” phase? How does each person know when to extinguish their own candle?
Is there a point later when people can ditch their candles? Otherwise, it must be annoying to have to hold a lit candle throughout the whole “brightening” phase.
What happens to the candles at the end?
In another room, on a tray
Someone walked around and distributed them at the beginning of the second half
We lit them during “Brighter than Today”, with people passing the flame to the people around them, but as in the post I think lighting them not the beginning of the second half would have been better.
We didn’t extinguish them as part of the darkening phase this year, but I would rather have done that. There are a bunch of different ways you could do it, but I think the most straightforward would just be for the leader to tell people to?
This isn’t something people seem to have found annoying. There are holders to catch any drips. I think if someone didn’t want a candle they would likely refuse during the initial distribution?
At the very end people extinguished their candles and then we put them back on the tray.