Pagans.net Blogs

Pagans litter Stonehenge as 35,000 celebrate the summer solstice

mirror.co.uk: “The summer solstice passed off peacefully at Stonehenge with only a few arrests and litter proving the biggest bugbear from the record 35,000 crowd.

There was a carnival atmosphere as pagans, Morris dancers and others gathered at the ancient stone landmark on Salisbury Plain to celebrate the longest day of the year yesterday.

Druid Jim Saunders, 33, from Reading, said: ‘It is upsetting to see so much litter, and some people can be disrespectful. But it is nice to see a lot of people here. There is no better place to learn about our culture and history.’

Crowds began to gather at 7pm on Saturday.

There was music and dancing all night and cheers to greet the 4.58am sunrise.”

Proud pagans party for magical time

ajc.com: “The annual Atlanta Pagan Pride festival draws hundreds of Wiccans, witches and other earthy worshippers to Decatur’s Glenlake Park. Last weekend, the fourth celebration brought together 800 colorful characters.

As in Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream, ’ fairies showed up —- the youngsters wearing synthetic wings made of wires and see-through cloth. ‘Lords’ and ‘Ladies’ walked amongst commoners. Children danced the maypole.

Pentagram amulets, ponytails and tattoos —- the quarter-moon on the forehead —- were everywhere. Vendors hawked Doritos, detachable horns and magic potion —- actually bath salt that promises to spike your income for $3.”

The Silent Sermon

The Silent Sermon: “It is a fact that if an organ is somehow severed from its body, it will shrivel and die. It cannot exist on its own, and neither can we. Disconnected and cut off from the life blood of our faith, our spiritual life will wither and eventually cease to exist. This is why the fist symptom of spiritual decline is usually inconsistent or infrequent attendance at worship services and the life enhancing gatherings of fellow believers.

Isolation into the self…into the I…me…mine, cuts off the oxygen supply line that is provided in community. We become isolated; in a sense surround ourselves with ‘mirrors’. All we see is ourselves. When we are connected to a community, we surround ourselves with windows. We look through a window, but at a mirror.

We look in a mirror to see how we look, but we look through a window to see how others are. ‘Mirror people’ look at themselves a great deal. ‘Window people’ look beyond themselves at others. They are open to enjoy fellowship, shared lives and growth, which can be encouraged in a loving community.”

(Via The Huffington Post | Raw Feed.)