dcseain | Summer Solstice, Take 2

Today is a special service honoring the importance of the Neopagan community within Unitarian-Universalism. UU pagans were instrumental in pushing the UU General Assembly to adopt both the Seventh Principle – “Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.”, and the Sixth Source – "Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature"; both of which were added to explicitly include members with Neopagan, Native American, and other natural-theist spiritualities.
So even if you did not know it, UU pagans have had a tremendous influence on our denomination.

Just as UUs honor Jewish and Christian holidays within our liturgical year, so too do we take time to honor the eight holidays that make up what is called “The Wheel of the Year.”

The Wheel of the Year includes traditional agricultural holidays plus well-known sun position oriented holidays. The agricultural-oriented holidays are Imbolc, corresponding to our Groundhog Day, Beltane or May Day, Lammas, the celebration of the first grain harvest, known as Procession of the Cross to the Orthodox, and Samhain, or Halloween. In addition, the Wheel includes the solar holidays of the Spring and Fall Equinoces and the Winter and Summer Solstices.

Unlike the God-centeredness of the Abrahamic tradition, Neopaganism honours the Goddess, as well as the God. This Summer Solstice, I wish to introduce you to two of those Goddesses, Pele of the Hawai'ians, and Brighid of the Britannic Celts.

Pele is the fiery-tempered creator-destroyer, and protector of the Hawai'ians. She lives in Mauna Kea on the Big Island, ever creating land as she destroys flora, fauna, homes, and businesses. Exiled by her father from her home, Honua-Mea in Tahiti because of her temper, and specifically for seducing the husband of her elder sister, Na-maka-Kaha'i, goddess of the water, Pele fled in an outrigger, chased by her sister and guided by her brother, Kā-moho-ali'i, the shark-god, eventually arriving in Hawai'i.

Brighid is the Celtic Goddess of the Forge, high dimensions such as high-rising flames, highlands, hill-forts and upland areas, as well as Goddess of wisdom, excellence, intelligence, poetic eloquence, and craftsmanship, particularly blacksmithy. With the coming of the Christians, she became Saint Brigit.

Today we are celebrating the Summer Solstice through a ritual centered around understanding and honoring the element Fire.

What is the sun, but of Fire; purifying, bleaching. What are the summer winds, but of Fire; eroding, transforming. What is passion, but of Fire; unbridled, transfiguring…

Fire in the core of the Earth keeps the Earth healthy and vibrant and living. Fire from the core of the Earth burns and buries and blots out the sun. Fire from the core of the Earth heats springs in which we relax. Fire from the core of the Earth flows and creates new land.

Fire warms us, when we are cold. Fire dries us, when we are wet. Fire cooks our food, when we are hungry. Fire pierces the night, when our eyes fail us in the dark.

Fire and the Sun warm our environment. Fire and the Sun dry, so most things do not rot. Fire and the Sun provides the energy for our food to grow and be cooked, Fire and the Sun stay with us and shorten our nights.

Fire and the Sun - both enduring, radiant, pure, and life-sustaining. Today, as you may have surmised, it’s all about the Fire, right down to the casting of the circle. Last year, flower petals of the Earth made our circle. This year, I will smudge the circle in the Cherokee tradition with this bundle of sage and piñón, a type of pine. We ask you to sing the calypso chant you’ll find in your Order of Ritual while circle is smudged.