Published: June 23, 2006 02:18 pm      

Local Pagans celebrate summer

Singing, dancing mark Summer Solstice celebration

EDMOND — Most Oklahomans probably don’t pay much attention to the Summer Solstice, or the “longest day” of the year — except maybe to notice that it’s the first official day of summer.

But one group of about 20 local girls and women, members of the Channing Spiral Circle Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS), celebrated the upcoming Solstice, or “Litha,” Sunday evening with singing, dancing and making summer wreaths.

To Pagans, the event is one of eight Sabbats, or holidays, observed through the year. Each Sabbat marks a season of the sun and the rhythm of life and death.

The local women represent a broad array of beliefs, but share a common focus on Earth-centered worship and a respect for feminine spirituality.

Member Sharon Huey of Oklahoma City is a practicing Wiccan in the Dianaic tradition. One participant, who chose to identify herself only as Belina, calls herself a “spiritual pilgrim.” Others follow different forms of Paganism.

“There are all kinds of schools of thought,” said Betty Rasmussen, one of three founders of Channing Unitarian Universalist Church, which welcomes people of all belief systems. “For me, the processes of the earth are primary. The earth and everything on it are living organisms, and we honor the earth and its seasons.”

Rasmussen said Pagans also honor the feminine aspects of spirituality, and many Pagans follow a Goddess-based religion.

Huey said beliefs vary widely among Wiccans, too.

“You ask 10 Wiccans what they believe and you’ll get 10 different answers,” she said. “There are a lot of different traditions, but we recognize that there is a core of truth in all religions.”

All Wiccans are Pagan, Belina said, but not all Pagans are Wiccan. Paganism may include many types of historical, ethnic and newly created spiritual practices, with a common celebration of nature.

The word Pagan comes from the Latin “paganus,” meaning a country dweller. When cities were Christianized, the people in rural areas continued to practice older, Earth-based observances, so the term came to mean any folk or tribal religion that was not “of the book,” such as the Bible, the Koran or the Torah.

Pagan spirituality originated in a time when people lived close to the land, Belina said, and therefore reflects an awareness of the cycles and seasons of life.

An Old English version of the Golden Rule is the guiding principle for both Wiccans and Pagans, Rasmussen said. Simply translated, it says, “So long as you harm none, do what you will,” meaning people are free to choose their own spiritual path, as long as no harm is done to themselves, to others or to the Earth.

The CUUPS group observed the Solstice by making wreaths, participating in a spiral dance around a deciduous tree and invoking the positive energy of the Earth.

“Life is a spiral dance of endings and beginnings,” Rasmussen read as part of the ceremony. “May the power we have raised be used for good in the world.”

Participants included women from many backgrounds and professions — investors, accountants, professors, writers and others.

“They’re just people coming together, a celebration of connectedness,” Huey said.

“A lot of people are turning back to spirituality and less toward religion,” Huey said. “People feel really disconnected from the natural world. They need meaning in life — connecting to people and connecting to the Earth.”

Rasmussen said the church is bound together by honoring every member’s individual path, their religious searching and their journey.

Belina said she was reared as a Baptist but turned to the Unitarian Universalist church as an adult. She observed the upcoming Solstice out of reverence for the seasons of life, she said.

“I believe that nature is sacred and holy. It’s just a respect for nature, for life, for the passing of time and ancient history. The Solstice has always been here, as long as there’s been life.”

Melody Joyce of Edmond was one of the facilitators for the celebration.

“You come to the divine however you can,” she said. “Every opinion and every belief is sacred.”

The church also sponsors a monthly Gaia Circle, exploring the myths, legends and celebrations of Earth-based traditions; a Spirit Drum Circle, offering everyone a chance to take part in a rhythmical experience of unity; and a Taste of Music group, sharing the food and music of other cultures.

“We are all normal people with huge hearts, people who just realize that life is an ever-turning wheel of beauty,” Joyce said.