Longest Day of the Year is Party Time for Many Religious, Ethnic Groups

[Guest guest]

June 17, 2006: As the sun reaches its highest point directly over the

Tropic of Cancer at an angle of 23 degrees 27 minutes north on the

summer solstice, countless festivities will start to heat up.

 

The summer solstice, known variously throughout Europe as the Feast of

Epona, Gathering Day, Johannistag, Litha, Vestalia and Midsummer, was

viewed across cultures as a period of peak fertility and a time for

weddings. The term "honeymoon" sprung from Celtic tradition and

referred to the June moon after the fermented honey mead drunk at

wedding celebrations.

 

As the sun reaches its highest point directly over the Tropic of

Cancer at an angle of 23 degrees 27 minutes north on the summer

solstice, countless festivities will start to heat up.

 

The summer solstice, known variously throughout Europe as the Feast of

Epona, Gathering Day, Johannistag, Litha, Vestalia and Midsummer, was

viewed across cultures as a period of peak fertility and a time for

weddings. The term "honeymoon" sprung from Celtic tradition and

referred to the June moon after the fermented honey mead drunk at

wedding celebrations.

 

Shakespeare's romantic comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream" commemorates

the magical pairings of the solstice, and Aragorn and Arwen hold their

nuptials on that night in Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

 

But romance isn't the only reason to party on the summer solstice,

which arrives on or about June 21. For numerous religious and ethnic

groups, it is a time to pay tribute to nature and express cultural pride.

 

In Europe, the first day of summer involves revelry with deep pagan

roots as tourists and religious groups gather to dance, drum and chant

at Stonehenge, the ancient stone structure in southern England.

 

In North America, the holiday has become a melting pot of sorts, with

celebrations crisscrossing the continent, mixing European traditions,

Native American spirituality and New Age environmentalism.

 

One such festival is the Pagan Spirit Gathering in Wisteria, Ohio,

held each June at a 620-acre nature preserve in the Appalachian

foothills. In its 26th year, the eight-day event draws hundreds of

people from across the country and abroad to commune with nature.

 

"Though there are variations, we start every summer with an opening

ritual and follow with a potluck festival, workshops and a parade with

torches and candles," said Selena Fox, senior minister of the Circle

Sanctuary, a pagan spiritual group that hosts the event.

 

"It is a very diverse celebration, combining Druid, Wiccan, Native

American, Celtic, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Baltic and Swedish

traditions," she said.

 

Ancient customs that honor the sun meld with modern feminism as

festival-goers offer herbs and flowers to the sun, a symbol of what

Fox calls "the divine feminine" and stroll through a labyrinth created

by 1,000 candles forming a pattern from pagan Crete.

Picture

 

For many New Age religions, the summer solstice is like Christmas,

Hanukkah and Easter rolled into one.

 

"Today we see a lot of reinvented religions of nature," said Philip

Lucas, professor of religious studies at Stetson University in

Florida. "Pagans, neo-pagans, Wiccans, hedge witches, neo-druids and

groups like the Goddess Spirituality movement all celebrate the solstice."

 

While the summer solstice is possibly the highlight of the pagan

calendar, Jews and Christians have traditionally downplayed it, even

though other holidays like Yom Kippur, Passover, Easter and Christmas

intersect with the changing of seasons.

 

But some modern Judeo-Christian groups are reviving solstice worship.

 

"Many of those who grew up in Jewish and Christian religion want to

see the modern holidays in their agrarian origin," Lucas said. "These

green Jews and green Christians are incorporating the solstice into

their current practices."

 

Some religious groups point to biblical passages that may have

occurred on the summer solstice, including the verse in Joshua 10:12

in which Joshua stops the sun in the sky. (The term solstice is

actually from two Latin words meaning "sun stands still.")

 

"There is also a legend that Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden

of Eden on the summer solstice," said Rabbi Jill Hammer, director and

cofounder of Tel Shemesh, a Jewish organization focused on the

celebration of nature. "In the Jewish tradition, the summer is always

about this trade-off: abundance but also danger. The summer is about

exile and sorrow and loss."

 

For the last three years, Tel Shemesh has honored the solstice with

immersions in water, dancing and discussions of casting off past

regrets. Last year the event took place in New York's Central Park and

featured a large sun made out of wood and cloth.

 

In other parts of the country, Native American groups view the

solstice as a time of rebirth and regeneration.

 

The Pan American Indian Association's Thunderbird Clan of Red River

Lodge hosts an annual sweat lodge in Eureka, Calif., featuring a

drumming circle and potluck dinner on the summer solstice. "It is a

very sacred time of year for indigenous people," said Skyhawk, the

clan leader. "In the summer, we give thanks because we couldn't be

here without the sun."

 

Now known as National Aboriginal Day, June 21 is also a time for

honoring native cultures in Canada.

 

"It's a day for Aboriginals to be proud of themselves and for all

Canadians to celebrate their achievements," said Jean Ouellet,

outreach manager for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

 

The 10-year-old celebration includes potlatches, powwows, fashion

shows and panel discussions on native life. "Last year we had 180

activities that went on around the country that we funded," Ouellet said.

 

Many communities in the United States that rely on summer tourism

start the season with an annual solstice celebration. The population

of Ephraim, Wis., jumps from 353 to more than a thousand when local

residents and vacationers host the Fyr Bal Festival the weekend before

the solstice.

 

"The festival's name, Fyr Bal, is a Scandinavian term meaning

fireball, which symbolizes the sun," said Sue Sherman, a member of the

Ephraim Business Council and owner of a local bed and breakfast called

the Village Green Lodge.

 

The festivities honor community leaders through the annual crowning of

a town chieftain who will arrive on a boat wearing a Viking hat to set

the first bonfire. Afterward, whitefish is cooked over the fires while

children perform Norwegian dances.

 

The giant flames set along the waterfront of Eagle Harbor near Lake

Michigan hark back to the gala's roots in the ancient Norwegian

practice of using summer bonfires to burn winter witches.

 

"Back in Viking times, the fires represented burning somebody,"

Sherman said, "but now it is a celebration of summer, and it really

draws a lot of tourists."

 

SOURCE: The Ledger, Florida, USA. SOLSTICE CELEBRATION

Longest Day of the Year is Party Time for Many Religious, Ethnic

Groups, By RACHEL BREITMAN, Columbia News Service

URL:

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060617/NEWS/606170318/1326