Nicholas Quirke was taken to a world he never thought he would go to on 21st June, the longest day, the summer solstice. Bizarrely after weeks of waking before day break he did not on this day wake to see the sunrise. This may have been because his subconscious knew he was not starting work with his client till 9.30. It did mean though that the fitful sleep left him feeling quite perky and the 4 hours of gardening, washing up and shopping seemed to pass quickly by. He prepared for the rigours of the next day and Betty’s funeral before setting off to meet Aaron and his friends from the Men’s Therapy group he was a member of. They were on an outing to some woodland to hold their meeting and to take part in a Solstice Cremona. It was a beautiful summer evening and Nicholas was already feeling inspired by the scenery and company. Their meeting was revelling and he was so absorbed by their conversation he completely forgot about the pain in his glutes. The ceremony they were attending involved fire and it was suggested that they take something in their lives, psyche, they wanted to get rid of and conceptualize it in something from nature to be burnt in the fire. It did not surprise him that his offering ended up being a tightly knitted ball of bitterness. The event was an introduction into a totally hippy world with Shamanistic roots. They invoked spirits, made music, he was delighted with the green/black maracas he was handed, sang, made offerings and Nicholas engaged fully with the magical happening. The ceremony reached its crescendo as the sunset echoed the fires flames and it was then home to bed to nurse his sciatic leg.