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Secular Solstice - Wikipedia
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Tangentially relevant to AI safety wiki as the Secular Solstice is a cultural tradition closely associated with the rationalist and EA communities from which much AI safety work originates; provides background on community culture.
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Importance: 12/100wiki pagereference
Summary
Wikipedia article describing the Secular Solstice, an annual secular humanist event started by Raymond Arnold in 2011 that is celebrated by rationalist and secular communities around the winter solstice. The event involves songs, candles, storytelling, and reflection, and has grown from a small gathering to organized events in multiple countries.
Key Points
- •Founded in 2011 by Raymond Arnold in New York City as a secular humanist alternative winter gathering
- •Celebrated annually by rationalist and secular humanist communities including Sunday Assembly
- •Largest observances held in the Bay Area and New York City, with events worldwide
- •Rituals include singing, candle-lighting, storytelling, and reflection on human values and the universe
- •First official event in 2013 was crowdfunded via Kickstarter
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American secular humanist event
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The **Secular Solstice** is a [secular humanist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_humanist "Secular humanist") event started in [New York City](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City "New York City") in 2011 by Raymond Arnold.[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_Solstice#cite_note-1)[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_Solstice#cite_note-2)[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_Solstice#cite_note-wapo-3)[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_Solstice#cite_note-huffpo2016-4) It is celebrated annually on the [winter solstice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice "Winter solstice") (or a nearby convenient date) by secular groups such as the [Sunday Assembly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_Assembly "Sunday Assembly")[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_Solstice#cite_note-5) and the [rationalist community](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationalist_community "Rationalist community"). The largest observance is held in the Bay Area, with the second largest in New York City, though additional solstices are held in a wide range of other locations, such as Maryland, Kansas, Texas, Washington, Illinois, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Russia.[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_Solstice#cite_note-6)[\[7\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_Solstice#cite_note-:0-7)
## Background
\[ [edit](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Secular_Solstice&action=edit§ion=1 "Edit section: Background")\]
The origin of the secular solstice began after Arnold invited 20 friends to his house in 2011 for a holiday gathering.[\[8\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_Solstice#cite_note-8) There, they "ate some food, sang some songs, and lit some candles" and "told stories about why the universe was the way it was and about what kind of people we wanted to be".[\[9\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_Solstice#cite_note-kickstarter1-9) At the end of the gathering they extinguished the last candle in the room and sat for a moment in darkness. The first official Secular Solstice event was held in 20
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