Mid-Summer 2007 'Festival News' by Sarah Partridge

Contents of Festival News

About Summer Solstice
Summer Solstice poems
Ideas to help you mark Solstice
Advance notice of Lammas and Autumn Equinox celebrations
Orchard Barn update

About Summer Solstice ..... 'Life flows fully and freely around the Summer Solstice. Communities gather and celebrate together. At this peak of the year, life can be very rich and it can be a relief to acknowledge where we are in the wheel of the year. As we 'fast-forward' towards the first harvest, the days start getting shorter. Nature's energy has peaked, and now we can relax and begin to taste something of what we have grown since Imbolc.' Sarah

Advance notice of festival celebrations

Lammas celebrations

Saturday 28th July Hearth 12 - 3pm 8 miles NW Ipswich, small gathering includes Heart-centred Council, Ceremony, shared lunch, no cost

Sunday 29th July 5 - 8pm Lammas larger community ceremony in beautiful meadow to honour the ripening grain, North Suffolk, shared supper, no cost, email Kaaren for more details

Kaaren writes ...... 'This Lammas ritual was created several years ago specifically for outdoor enactment. It has previously happened in Brightlingsea UK, Connecticut USA, Cratfield UK and for the last two years at Fromus Valley in North Suffolk. It brings out the aspect of first harvest, the honouring of Lugh as the spirit of the sun which is sacrificed for the earth, the continuity of the Earth Mother in her fertility and the sharing of the people and their harvest. The Lammas ritual is beautiful in words and symbolism.

Lammas, the time of first fruits, is also the time of sharing those fruits: all our gifts and talents, some of the learning and experience we have gathered up until this point in the year's cycle. It is when we can look back at the intention/s, seed/s sown in the dark of the year and see the beginning results coming to the fore. Nice to be with friends at this time.'

Autumn Equinox celebrations

Friday 21st - Sunday 23rd September Autumn Equinox Dance Journey Camp, in beautiful field in North Norfolk. A Shamanic Quest in Nature - 'Gathering your Harvest' - Sweat Lodge, dancing, creating ceremony and community, Wood Henge, 30' Teepee, Roundhouse. Weekend guided by Graham Joyce, Peta Jane, Sarah Partridge. Early bookings before 1st September £110/80 (bring own tent, food included)

Sunday 30th September afternoon community ceremony to celebrate Autumn Equinox, in beautiful meadow, North Suffolk, shared supper, no cost, email Kaaren for more details

About this festival .... 'The Autumn Equinox is a fuller receiving of the harvest of our endeavours. We need to look closely at the abundance and acknowledge the whole harvest - the tasty crops and the troublesome weeds that inevitably are part of the process. In this way we become clearer about what we will sow in the future. It is all a matter of rejoicing because at least we are now conscious of what we do.' Kaaren



	Contents of Festival News About Summer Solstice Summer Solstice poems Ideas to help you mark Solstice Advance notice of Lammas and Autumn Equinox celebrations Orchard Barn update About Summer Solstice ..... 'Life flows fully and freely around the Summer Solstice. Communities gather and celebrate together. At this peak of the year, life can be very rich and it can be a relief to acknowledge where we are in the wheel of the year. As we 'fast-forward' towards the first harvest, the days start getting shorter. Nature's energy has peaked, and now we can relax and begin to taste something of what we have grown since Imbolc.' Sarah Advance notice of festival celebrations Lammas celebrations Saturday 28th July Hearth 12 - 3pm 8 miles NW Ipswich, small gathering includes Heart-centred Council, Ceremony, shared lunch, no cost Sunday 29th July 5 - 8pm Lammas larger community ceremony in beautiful meadow to honour the ripening grain, North Suffolk, shared supper, no cost, email Kaaren for more details Kaaren writes ...... 'This Lammas ritual was created several years ago specifically for outdoor enactment. It has previously happened in Brightlingsea UK, Connecticut USA, Cratfield UK and for the last two years at Fromus Valley in North Suffolk. It brings out the aspect of first harvest, the honouring of Lugh as the spirit of the sun which is sacrificed for the earth, the continuity of the Earth Mother in her fertility and the sharing of the people and their harvest. The Lammas ritual is beautiful in words and symbolism. Lammas, the time of first fruits, is also the time of sharing those fruits: all our gifts and talents, some of the learning and experience we have gathered up until this point in the year's cycle. It is when we can look back at the intention/s, seed/s sown in the dark of the year and see the beginning results coming to the fore. Nice to be with friends at this time.' Autumn Equinox celebrations Friday 21st - Sunday 23rd September Autumn Equinox Dance Journey Camp, in beautiful field in North Norfolk. A Shamanic Quest in Nature - 'Gathering your Harvest' - Sweat Lodge, dancing, creating ceremony and community, Wood Henge, 30' Teepee, Roundhouse. Weekend guided by Graham Joyce, Peta Jane, Sarah Partridge. Early bookings before 1st September £110/80 (bring own tent, food included) Sunday 30th September afternoon community ceremony to celebrate Autumn Equinox, in beautiful meadow, North Suffolk, shared supper, no cost, email Kaaren for more details About this festival .... 'The Autumn Equinox is a fuller receiving of the harvest of our endeavours. We need to look closely at the abundance and acknowledge the whole harvest - the tasty crops and the troublesome weeds that inevitably are part of the process. In this way we become clearer about what we will sow in the future. It is all a matter of rejoicing because at least we are now conscious of what we do.' Kaaren Click here to Do you have any news, photos, images, poems you would like to contribute? If so, please contact Sarah
Summer Solstice poems Solstice Blessing by Joanna Read 2007 Becoming One by Kaaren Whitney 2007 Summer Light in the Labyrinth by Kaaren Whitney 2006 Mid-summer Fertility by Kaaren Whitney 2005 Passing the Hat by Kaaren Whitney 2003 Light Lines by Kaaren Whitney 2002 Solstice Oak by Heather Shackleton 2001 The Midnight Vigil by Kaaren Whitney 2001