A Gathering Grove Bookstore
June 16, 2009, 7 - 9 p.m.
2820 Oakes St.
Everett, WA 98201
425-512-8845

Wheel of the Year - Summer Solstice Lecture

Respected Pagan Elder Haragano will present the fifth in a series of lectures entitled The Wheel of the Year. The Wheel of the Year is the greatest of all Teachers. Each of us is born somewhere on it and as we spiral through it on our life's journey, our understandings deepen. This series of lectures draws on history and folklore to highlight the rich context of each of the eight major pagan holidays. Each lecture is given at the time of the year in which each holiday is set to assist in developing a personal understanding of each of the celebrations. Even if you miss a lecture you can still attend the series, while each lecture does build on the last one, they are also independent of each other. The term solstice can also be used in a wider sense, as the date (day) that such a passage happens. The solstices, together with the equinoxes, are connected with the seasons. In some languages they are considered to start or separate the seasons; in others they are considered to be centre points (in English, in the Northern hemisphere, for example, the period around the June solstice is known as midsummer, and Midsummer's Day is the 24 June, about three days after the solstice itself). Many cultures celebrate the summer solstice, for the June solstice; Christian cultures celebrate the feast of St. John from June 23 to June 24 while Neopagans observe Midsummer.