I grew up in the Catholic Church, where the seasons are celebrated with what is called the liturgical calendar. Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost…the markers of the year, held together with Ordinary Time (the time when the days are counted but it is not a season of The Big Solemnities and Feasts. The cycles of a calendar are imprinted on my heart and soul.
When I was eighteen, I began my conscious transition to Paganism, and ultimately to Wicca. In Wicca, we celebrate the Wheel of the Year, eight holidays, four that are based strictly on solar events—the equinoxes and the solstices—and the four fire festivals or Cross-Quarter Days—Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lammas. So every year is a circle, a wheel, the shape that leads to the spirals of a life.
This June 13th, my colleague Deanna Vandiver and I are hosting a Zoom-enabled celebration of the coming of Midsummer. Gifts of the Light: Midsummer Ceremony and you are most cordially invited. Mystic storytelling, art, poetry, music, and the sharing of the gifts we find reflected in the strength of the long light (in the Northern Hemisphere).
Perhaps most important, most motivating for me in hosting this event is the strong desire to get out of the news cycle, the assault of world events. A day of restoration, celebration, and remembering who we are and how we fit into our various communities. Check the link above for details about the day, the two rituals we’re going to share, and more about why we’re offering what we’re offering.
Come and be welcome!
