Friday, June 20, 2008

Summer Solstice Marked With Fire, Magic, Yoga

Sure looks like a scene out of the second Matrix movie to me (just need to zoom in a little tighter to see Neo) but, according to National Geographic, this is a festival held in a cave in Zuggarramurdi, Spain, during a 1998 Aquelarre, or Witch Coven.

Held on or near the summer solstice, the festival commemorates the alleged witches who used the cave in centuries past—many of whom died by fire during the Basque witch trials of the 1600s.

For millennia the summer solstice has been embraced as a time of rebirth and hope, and as a herald of abundant food and warm temperatures to come (summer solstice facts).

Falling this year on Friday, June 20, in the Northern Hemisphere, the longest day of the year is still regarded by many as a day of mystical and religious significance—and the cause for many a celebration.

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