For most of us, a trip to Stonehenge or Scandinavia is not part of the plan. But what better time to invite friends over for a radiant summer soiree than on the longest day of the year?
Several years ago, Joanne Keim and her husband, Bryan Van Sweden, were looking for an excuse to host about 30 friends for an outdoor party. They turned to June 21 for its significance.
The menu changes from year to year and usually incorporates a grilled main dish such as jumbo shrimp with prosciutto and basil. Guests are asked to bring a favorite summer dish.
One of the highly anticipated events of the evening is the burning of the wicker or Wicca man, a 18-inch to 2-foot-high rendering of a human constructed out of twigs or dried lily stalks. Jim Caufield, a Harrisburg architect, has the honor of creating the Wicca man. (He and his wife, Mary, often co-host the party.)
The party tradition is done in good fun and is not meant to be taken too seriously. The creature plays off a Wiccan summer solstice ritual paying tribute to the Wiccan sun god.
Guests are asked to write a bad habit or thought or something they wish to rid themselves of on a piece of paper, which is attached to the creature. The statue is burned in an indoor fireplace as everyone gathers to watch.
''It is a distinctive thing. It's the thing that most relates to the theme of the party. There is that kind of symbolic thing you do when you give your worries to the Wicca man," Van Sweden said.
Throughout the evening, guests play games, answering questions about the solstice or naming quotes from writings associated with the time of year, such as William Shakespeare's romantic comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
Another game requires guests to see how many words they can create using the letters from the phrase "a midsummer night's dream."
Of course, a lovely evening, preferably one not too hot or humid, helps. "We always hope for a wonderful 70-ish evening," Keim said.
Check out the link for recipes!
- added June 20, 2008
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Any excuse for a party...
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Who needs excuses?
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- Dmitri_Molotov
- 1 year ago
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Ancient Celebrations
—The solstice is commemorated in stone on Egypt's Giza plateau. The summer solstice sunset, as viewed from the Sphinx, sets precisely between the two Great Pyramids.
Egyptian adepts were attuned to the solstice because it often coincided with the annual Nile River floods that were so critical to agriculture in the river valley.
They learned to predict this annual event by tracking astronomical signs, including the rising of the bright star Sirius.
—North American Indians celebrated the solstice at sites such as Toltec Mounds Archaeological State Park near Little Rock, Arkansas. There the solstice sun sets directly behind a ceremonial mound constructed some thousand years ago.
—The Nazca Lines, a mysterious series of shallow trench designs dug in the Peruvian desert between 500 B.C. and A.D. 500, include features aligned with both the summer and winter solstice sunsets. This discovery gave rise to the disputed theory that the massive designs, which include the figures of animals, plants, and other beings visible only from the air, were dedicated to astronomical observation.
—The solstice was particularly meaningful for the Inca, who believed that they were descended from the sun god Inti. Their two major religious ceremonies were held during the solstices.
The famed ruins at Machu Picchu also include a semi-circular structure called the "Temple of the Sun" that was constructed around a large boulder. During the June Solstice, the sun shines through a temple window and aligns with both the boulder within and the tip of a nearby mountain peak.
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- celestialceiling
- 1 year ago
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What would Litha, or midsummer, be without a torch lit cookout & a bit of revelry to kick off the summer in proper fashion? We work too hard & life is too short to not stop & relax while reflecting on where we’ve been-hopefully with some gratitude, & where we’re heading-thus ensuring we’re still on the path of our choosing.
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- darkhorsejim
- 1 year ago
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