Other Side of Summer

Celestial Rhythm Celebrations’ Summer SolstiCelebration began as a poet’s roundtable that met regularly at Club Dada in Deep Ellum. One of the nights fell on the same day as the summer solstice–known to most folks as the first day of summer–so Dallas literary fixture and poet Joe Stanco, who passed away June 5, penned a lighthearted poem for the occasion called “Pagan Poets.” Stanco’s inspiration in turn inspired attendee Amy Martin to begin organizing public celebrations for both summer and winter solstice.

Summer SolstiCelebration has changed a lot over the years, mainly moving outdoors in observance of the Native American tradition of outdoor worship. “We are a social people, and we need cues for gathering,” Martin says. “And when you celebrate the solstice you are part of a tradition that goes back thousands of years.”

Beginning with yoga to loosen everyone up, the event moves on to dancing, labyrinth walking (meditation through walking circular paths), picnicking, a procession and a drum jam by the group Constellation, then cleanup and shutdown before midnight. Yes, even the cosmos must adhere to a curfew, it seems, or at least public park rules.

“People start to get the fact they are living on a planet,” Martin says. “Most of us go through every day thinking that we live in a novel where we just turn the pages. For the four or five hours we are there at the celebration, we create a community where spirituality is a big part of our lives and we can all live together and get along. For one evening we say that life can be this way.

“No matter what the newspapers say, we are a good people. We create the world that we wish to be on this one day, and we try to carry this with us for the next six months when we can dip into the solstice well and remind ourselves again that life is not about collecting the most toys.”