Events

Biospheric Communionists celebrate Solstices and Equinoxes with special feasts and activities. The celebrations are based on dividing the year into four quarters which map onto the four major periods of the Great Story: Winter= pre-Ediacaran time, Spring = the Ediacaran to the advent of human civilization, Summer = the brief candle of human civilization and the development of the ideas necessary to The Destiny and Fall = the future and the reaching of The Destiny.

Ground Hog Day

Half way between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox (about Ground Hog Day) we go skating and remember Snowball Earth about 600 million years ago when the Ediacarans (the first complex multicellular life forms) formed, hidden below the frozen ice, probably near oceanic volcanic vents and began the diversification of life on Earth. After skating we eat things that combine hot and cold like hot chocolate with whip cream or deep fried ice cream.

Spring Equinox

At the Spring Equinox we eat sushi especially the Nori (dried algae paper) in order to celebrate, one last time, the single celled creatures who toiled through the aeons before the Ediacarans to create the conditions necessary for complex life, especially free-oxygen and photosynthesis. After eating we turn our attention to the multicelular life of the Phanerozoic and tell stories about life forms of the Phanerozoic. Each member tells a story, often which they have written. They may have written it in realistic Day Language or in symbolic Night Language. Often they have written the same story in both styles.

Summer Solstice

At the Summer Solstice we hold a triathlon: Swimming, Running, Bicycling. The move from Swimming to Running symbolises the earlier Destiny when life moved onto land from the sea. The move from Running to Bicycling symbolises the invention of technology. Before we run we will eat plain fruits and vegetables to symbolize food before technology. After running we have fresh fruit dipped in chocolate fondue because having a chocolate fondue on the table is symbolic of 'high tech food'.

Mid Summer

At mid summer we go camping and discuss which minds have contributed the most to the development of our religion. For instance Goddard, the father of modern rocketry is usually mentioned because rocketry is our current road into space.

Fall Equinox

At the Fall Equinox we have a zero-G themed dinner in which we have placemats with velcro tabs on them and all of our cutlery and food packs also has velcro tabs on them so that during the whole meal we can keep our food velcroed to the placemats to keep them from 'floating away'. After we are done we give presentations about cultural contributions to Biospheric Communionism.

Winter Solstice

At the Winter Solstice we launch rockets and fireworks to celebrate the launch of life into space.