(RNS) Bonfires, drum circles, dancing, candlelit meditation and other ceremonial rituals help usher in the summer solstice at the annual Pagan Spirit Gathering, now in its 30th year in the United States.
Along with celebrating the longest day of the year on Monday (June 21), this year’s weeklong festival at a campground in Salem, Mo., will also feature prayers to help the Earth recover from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
“We always do planetary healing prayers, meditations, and ceremonies on Solstice day itself, and we will be continuing our prayers about the oil disaster,” said Selena Fox, a high priestess at Circle Sanctuary, a Wisconsin-based pagan resource center.
“We will explore ways that the various organizations and traditions represented at our gathering can support relief efforts.”
The most famous Solstice celebration draws tens of thousands of revelers to England’s ancient Stonehenge monument every June; the Missouri festival, which runs June 20-27, will be the largest organized event in the U.S., Fox said.
Nearly 1,000 people are expected to attend from North America, Europe and Asia, including practitioners of Wicca, contemporary pagan, Druid, Celtic, Native American, Afro-Caribbean, and Taoist faiths.
The main Solstice ritual will feature chanting from 18 Circle Sanctuary ministers, intended to “help heal the wound in the earth,” Fox added.
– Nicole Neroulias
Copyright 2010 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.
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posted June 18, 2010 at 5:56 pm
Wish I could go. I stopped going to my mainstream Presbyterian church at least for a while partly because for 2 weeks in a row there was absolutely no mention of the oil spill. I thought: the biggest environmental catastrophe in the history of this country & NOTHING was said? Have to think that God & Jesus has noticed.
posted June 18, 2010 at 6:54 pm
Oh! to be there! That would be fantastic. Even more ideal? To be back at Stonehenge. In 2006 I did view the Druids at the 12:00 noon ceremony at Stonehenge during the week of celebration there. A wonderful memory.
posted June 18, 2010 at 7:03 pm
ps y’all are confusing the issue! If you do your thing and the oil disappears, sure as the world some Christian outfit will step in and claim it was their prayers.
I don’t mean to make light of the seriousness. This is a deadly serious problem.
posted June 18, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Yes, nnmns….if it actually works…(doubtful)the Christians couldn’t possibly allow the fact that those “heathans” had more pull, with a divine being. They would have to claim the “victory”. Since there are more gods and goddesses to help…why count on just one super power?
And yes, it is a serious issue and I know that you weren’t making light of it, nnmns.
posted June 18, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Check Belief Beat on Monday (Solstice Day) for photos from the gathering.
http://blog.beliefnet.com/beliefbeat/
posted June 19, 2010 at 9:25 am
ps
I just got back from Scotland/England. We visited three henges including Stonehenge. It was awe inspiring. It would have been great to be there for the solstice, but it was not in the plan. All prayer is worthy – regardless of the witless remarks of other Jesusites (Christians? Not really) If prayer helps clear the Gulf waters, I am all for it. We have prayed every week since the whole thing started.
Peace
posted June 19, 2010 at 10:05 am
Welcome back j. We missed you. I hope it was a great trip.
posted June 19, 2010 at 3:52 pm
PS, it would be great if someone’s prayers would work! Nobody ever knows whose prayers are answered in group prayer, and that is the way it should be. But when you pray pray beliving in what you ask or it’s just a waste of time to pray. The Pagans have their Gods and Goddesses, and we Christians have God and our league of Angels. When everything is for the good of all it can’t miss whoever it is.
posted June 19, 2010 at 5:32 pm
jestrfyl……WELCOME BACK! Have missed your words of wisdom and enlightenment.
Am ever so slightly jealous that you were in what I also describe as totally awe inspiring…..Stonehenge. I’ve had the honor and priviledge of seeing it 4 times,the last being June 22, 2006, and on July of 2006, my 2 sisters and I went INSIDE at 6:15 in the morning …for an hour. Naturally it was raining, but getting wet was not a problem. The other times it was sunny and windy. The spiritual feeling I had while there is hard to describe. My ancestory is from that part of the world, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and England (family history has a member who owned Stonehenge but had to sell it so I have an even closer tie to it.) Scotland is truly beautiful, Ireland as green as they say, and Wales…great. I felt very at home in all of those places.
Henrietta…I totally agree…Nobody ever knows whose prayers are answered, no matter who those prayer/thoughts are addressed to!
posted June 19, 2010 at 9:26 pm
I didn’t want to say anything here, I also wanted pagan to enjoy this wonderful news but when folk start spouting mis-information about Christians and Christianity I cannot be silent. Jesus had a lot to say about prayer and none of it is anywhere near what jest has said here or H22. I can as a person be happy for pagan and all of the pagans this news brings joy. But to all the folk who take this opportunity to attempt to compare Christianity or criticize Christianity, not a good idea or in good form.
posted June 19, 2010 at 9:56 pm
cknuck: Thank you for wanting me to enjoy the wonderful news this article brought. As much as we tend to disagree on some (OK, many) things, you are a good guy at heart.
)
posted June 20, 2010 at 2:05 pm
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to those that those words apply to.
posted June 20, 2010 at 2:22 pm
Yes! Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads!
posted June 21, 2010 at 6:13 am
ps and the other pagans here, head over to today’s Astronomy Picture of the Day. I think you’ll enjoy it.
posted June 21, 2010 at 7:17 am
And let me just add, that’s a temple worth worshiping at!
Btw if you click on the picture there you’ll get a nice enlargement, which I now have as my background page. And every day they have some sort of astronomy-related picture (if only a little) and some of them are really awesome. Go to http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/
I don’t think a god created the universe, but when I look at pictures illustrating myriad galaxies of billions of stars each, like this one and then think about the gods some imagine, with their biased interest in some people over others and their psychotic need to be worshipped I really see the disconnect between a god invented long before people realized how immense and majestic the universe is and what a new god, taking account of what we know now, would be like.
posted June 21, 2010 at 10:44 am
Joyous solstice to everyone – pagan, Christian, and all. As the sun rose over the Heel Stone – and the Son rose on Easter – let every word and action be filled with hope. That is God’s desire for all people.
Peace be with us all, whatever we believe and who ever we are.
posted June 21, 2010 at 12:19 pm
jestrfyl, And a joyous solstice to you as well as all here, no matter their beliefs (as you so beautifully stated above).
nnmns: BEAUTIFUL picture! It is indeed a sacred place to me as well as others. Thanks for the site reference. I have saved it in my Stonehenge documents file.
posted June 21, 2010 at 1:05 pm
Beautiful scene nnmns. Just think that same scene was seen 4500 yrs. ago, same sun, same stones. Same God gave it to us, as well.
posted June 21, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Yes, Henrietta, it is rather amazing that that structure has been there, with the same sun raising over the heel stone FOREVER!
posted June 23, 2010 at 8:12 am
cy30w72roc
http://002evolves.blogspot.com