Summer Solstice at Orsigna: A Sacred Gathering in Tiziano Terzani's Homeland

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We are in Orsigna, in the Pistoia region, not far from Pracchia and the renowned ski resort of Abetone. Among these mountains, nestled between verdant slopes and generous chestnut and beech trees, stands the village where the great writer Tiziano Terzani chose to make his home.

After a lifetime spent travelling the world, writing, questioning, photographing and engaging with world events, Terzani chose to live in close contact with nature, immersed in welcoming land to seek understanding of his most intimate and personal self.

He had travelled much of Asia, searching for meaning and driven by the necessity to write and pursue true journalism. He had experienced vastly different realities and peoples: from Cambodia to Vietnam, from China to Japan, from Thailand to India. He had retreated for extended periods to the Himalayas, in meditation.

He returned to Orsigna to complete his earthly journey.

And it is here, in the night between 20 and 21 June 2018, that this year, Terzani's son, Folco, decides to organise a major event and celebrate the summer solstice.

The summer solstice at Orsigna

From the village square, one sets off on foot along a trail towards Paoluccio. You arrive at a vast green space, where a "base camp" has been specially prepared for the night.

At the centre stands an enormous central bonfire, prepared at sunset with a precise lighting ritual. The brazier is overlooked by a wooden totem positioned deliberately so that, the following morning as summer's first sun rises, its shadow would fall upon the fire.

Meanwhile, vegetarian dinner is being prepared inside a small shelter along the trail.

Singing, dancing and moments of profound spirituality alternate around the fire throughout the night.

Representatives of the Lakota Sioux, invited by Folco Terzani, speak of their continuous efforts to defend their territory, Standing Rock, and the American government's attack to build a petrochemical pipeline. Deeply moving and evocative are their songs around the fire, in the silence of the night, within the embrace of the forest: the rediscovery of nature, the ideal sense of humanity and the genuine, tangible possibility of living by sharing the simplest happiness.

Walking through the forests at night, turning off our torches and stopping to listen to the flowing of a stream or the voices of wildlife, makes us feel like guests in a realm we have forgotten but once belonged to. We should remember who we truly are and what our origins are.

And so these words of Tiziano Terzani come naturally to mind:

"Today's economy forces so many people to work at terrifying speeds to produce mostly useless things, which others work at terrifying speeds to buy, because that's what makes money for multinational corporations and big businesses, but it doesn't bring happiness to people. I find there's a beautiful word in Italian that fits far better than the word 'happy', and it is 'content', someone who is content is a happy person."

The night passes peacefully, a cool and light sleep in a tent, with our heartbeat synchronised with the pulsing of the stars. When you are serene and relaxed and ready to listen to your own spirit, the body follows this burning flame and everything ignites and works beautifully.

Waking just before dawn for the greeting to the sun is also marked by ceremony: the succession of seasons, a new beginning, gratitude for this life that has been given to us.

True searching lies in the rediscovery of simple things, of everyday and common gestures, in giving value to the quotidian and giving thanks for all that we experience, whether it's a sunrise, a laugh, a serene moon cradling our dreams.

Life should be an opportunity to seek happiness, not accumulate things, objects and mostly illusions.

Spending the summer solstice at Orsigna, in the lands that once welcomed Tiziano Terzani, is always a transcendent experience. These forests truly know how to offer priceless emotions.

I invite you to visit this magical village, to embrace nature, to cherish it and never stop marvelling together with it.

"This world is a wonder. There is nothing more to do, it is a wonder. And if you can feel yourself part of this wonder – not just you with your two eyes and your two feet; if You, this essence of you, feel you are part of this wonder – what more could you want, what more could you want? A new car?" (Tiziano Terzani)

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