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Halcyon Arts brings
​the world of music and spirituality ​
to ​New England by presenting
programs ​that enrich and transform. ​

Photo by Robert Bowler taken from Dun I, the highest point on the Isle of Iona, Scotland.

Featured  Programs

  • The Tao of Daily Life
    The Tao of Daily Life
    Friends Discount
    Sun, Nov 03
    Five weekly sessions online via Zoom.
    Five weekly sessions online via Zoom.
    Exploring Taoist Practice
  • Duo Balalaika
    Duo Balalaika
    Friends Discount
    Sat, Nov 09
    All Saints' Episcopal Church
    All Saints' Episcopal Church , 7 Woodbridge St, South Hadley, MA 01075
    “. . . explosive talent . . . see these dazzling musicians in action . . .” -Hartford Advocate, Connecticut
  • Depth Over Time
    Depth Over Time
    Friends Discount
    Sun, Jan 12
    Five twice-monthly sessions via Zoom.
    Five twice-monthly sessions via Zoom.
    Exploring the Kundalini Path
  • Lost Christianity
    Lost Christianity
    Friends Discount
    Tue, Jan 14
    Five twice-monthly sessions via Zoom.
    Five twice-monthly sessions via Zoom.
    A Journey of Rediscovery
kingfisher photo by llee_wu.jpg
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Our logo depicts the kingfisher

Watercolor
by Sarah Stribbling

The word "halcyon" is from a Greek myth about the Kingfisher.

According to Greek mythology, Alcyone, the daughter of the god of the winds, became so distraught when she learned that her husband had been killed in a shipwreck that she threw herself into the sea and was changed into a kingfisher. As a result, ancient Greeks called such birds alcyōn or halcyōn. The legend also says that such birds built floating nests on the sea, where they so charmed the wind god that he created a period of unusual calm that lasted until the birds' eggs hatched. This legend prompted people to use halcyon both as a noun naming a genus of kingfisher and as an adjective meaning either "of or relating to the kingfisher or its nesting period" or "calm."      --from Miriam Webster

Thus, the phrase "halcyon days" owes its origin to this beautiful myth of Alcyone, when, for two weeks around the winter solstice each year, Aeolus, Alcyone's father, calms the winds and the waves so that Alcyone, in the form of a kingfisher, can safely make her nest, lay her eggs, and care for them until they hatched and fledged. Hence, the term "halcyon days" comes to signify a period of great peace and calm. 

Background Image: photo by llee_wu

Halcyon Arts New England
is grateful to all our sponsors and partners, including:

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