Theatre of the Seasons: Minnesota Midsummer

May 31, 6:02 PMMinneapolis Paganism ExaminerMurphy Pizza

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Minneapolis Paganism Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Sacred Harvest Festival, August 2004. Photo by the author.

An priestess in Paganistan told me years ago in an interview: "Paganism is a religion that celebrates the theatre of the seasons. What better place to be a Pagan than Minnesota?"

Summer festival season is fast approaching in Paganistan; the dramatically changing weather in Minnesota inspires many a local Pagan to reflect on the Wheel of the Year. The Wheel of the Year is a modern Pagan name for the cyclical calendar of holidays and seasonal observations that are marked by rituals and celebrations. The names of particular holidays, what deities or participating spirits are honored by them, and the metaphoric applications to human existence vary from tradition to tradition, but they all typically land on the same days: the Solstices and Equinoxes, called the quarter-holidays, and the Interstices, the halfway points between the quarters, also called the cross-quarter holidays. The differences in names and attributions are the result of cultural and linguistic differences in contemporary Pagan traditions. The similarity is the result of all Pagans' reclamation of the agricultural year, its cycles, and its ascriptions of meaning. The days, though named differently, are the same.

The quarter holiday coming up is the Summer Solstice (June 21). Typically, the catch-all word used for this holiday is Midsummer, and it is the honoring of the longest day of the year as well as the shortest night. It is a time of re-enchantment, celebration, romance, rest, and play, when farmers were between planting and harvesting, and there was time for leisure during the longer days.

In Paganistan, it's the height of Summer festival season. After Minnesota's legendary brutal winters, Pagans that are practically climbing the walls with cabin fever pack up their tents, canopies, sleepsacks, and head outdoors into the sun and wind and wildlife to celebrate the turning of the year. Fests are typically held on private properties, last about a week or so, and are temporary inentional villages where Earth-reverent folk can have large-scale rituals, engage in educational workshops on topics like health, personal practice, or Pagan family life, then eat together, make music and dance together. A few scholars of contemporary Paganism have documented that from fest to fest, when the sun goes down, the drum circle starts up, and the community fire is lit, where some of the most sacred work of Pagan community and religious experience is had by participants.

It makes sense, really -- one celebrates the planet, and the Summer sun, and the cycles of the moon, the warmth, plentiful food, green trees, full flowers, and the emergence of Summer wildlife by being out in it, and remembering that one is part of it. For sure, Pagans are as human as anybody -- plenty of them need to camp in air-conditioned RVs and bring some of the comforts of home -- but the acknowledgement that the separation between people and their environment is flimsy and arbitrary is a holy truth that Pagans resolve to reclaim in Midsummer.

So, right about now, folks in Paganistan are practically bouncing off the wall to pack up and hit the road for their favorite Summer festivals -- I certainly am. The tents and RVs are getting packed and prepared, the festive ritual and summer wear is being selected (typically it's fun wear like sarongs or costumery that is not worn everyday), and the Summer meads, wines, and beers are brewing. A few attendants are expecting, hoping, for a spiritual shot in the arm and a life-changing experience. All are looking forward to being with community and chosen family again.