Summer solstice, the longest day of the year, inspired Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream" and is associated with the exile of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Solstice festivals abound in the United States, from Norwegian bonfires to pagan candlelight labyrinths and American Indian drumming rituals.On the summer solstice, as the sun reaches its highest point directly over the tropic of Cancer at an angle of 23 degrees 27 minutes north, countless festivities will start to heat up.Known variously throughout Europe as the Feastof Epona, Gathering Day, Johannistag, Litha, Vestalia and Midsummer, the summer solstice was viewed across cultures as a period of peak fertility and a time for weddings.
The term
"honeymoon" sprang from Celtic tradition and referred to the June moon
and 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 Tolkien'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 revelrywith deep pagan roots as tourists and religious
groups gather to dance, drum and chant at Stonehenge, a 4,000-year-old
stone structure in England.
In North America, the
holiday has become a melting pot of sorts, with celebrations
crisscrossing the continent, mixing European traditions, American
Indian 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 foothills. Now in its 26th year, the eight-day
event is expected to draw 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 theCi......
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Do atheists know more about religion ?
Count Saint Germain
Richard Dawkins and the new age fakers
Baby with abnormal features deified in Jharkhand
Techno-animism
Can we really transplant a human soul ?
Creationist museum challenges evolution
The forever gods
Iron age slab shows belief in soul seperation
