Area residents can enjoy a day of contemplative and educational activities at Serpent Mound on June 18 with a summer solstice celebration, featuring an archaeological presentation, music and poetry, and a feast of food native to the Americas.
Park manager Tim Goodwin said in a press release, “Summer Solstice is an excellent time to reflect on our Native American legacy in this country.”
Many ancient earthworks were created to point with alignments to important astrological events. The Serpent Mound is aligned to the point on the western horizon where the sun sets on the summer solstice, making the park a location for contemplation, meditation and relaxing as the sun sets over the Great Serpent.
The feast will be catered by the Arc of Appalachia. Dinner includes Lima bean, mushroom and turkey stew (turkey optional); cornbread, cranberry-sunflower seeded fresh green salad, and pumpkin-pecan bars. Dinner is $15 per person and pre-registration is required.
The Ohio Poetry Association will be doing poetry readings throughout the day. Live music will be performed by Steve Free and John De Boer and archaeologist Dr. Jarrod Burks will be doing a presentation on Animal Motifs in Woodland Culture Art. The day will end with an hour of silence around the coils of the serpent, with a lighting of torches at the exact moment of sunset.
Organizers said that in many ancient cultures around the world, people sought to align their daily earthly lives with the “grand impersonal rhythms of the cosmos,” as revealed in the night sky.
The two celestial events that most closely align with the earth’s seasonal cycles are the summer solstice and the winter solstice – the summer solstice being the time of the year “when the cold has the least power over our lives, and light reigns over darkness,” said organizers.
To learn more about this event and to register for the dinner, visit www.arcofappalachia.org/solstice. For any questions you can call 937-365-1935 or email [email protected].
Article submitted by Kayla Hanning, Arc of Appalachia Visitor Services Coordinator.
