Summer Solstice
June 21
The Summer Solstice
Welcoming the Summer Solstice
The Summer Solstice shines a bright light on our success and growth. You made space for growth and planted seeds. This is the time to celebrate the fertility of the intentions you nurtured over the past months. Celebrate the places you are seeing growth in both the world and your own life.
Earth Cycle and Workings
Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year when the Earth is closest to the Sun. In the northern hemisphere it occurs on June 21st (20-22nd) and sits opposite of Winter Solstice in the calendar, which is the shortest day of the year. The word solstice comes from the Latin “sol” for sun, “sistere” for standing still as the sun seems to pause in its position at this time.
The focus of Summer Solstice is nourishment and growth. Fire and Sun are celebrated in many cultures during this time. At this point in the earth’s cycle the crops we planted are beginning to mature and we are starting to see what kind of harvest we might expect. It is a time of encouragement, a moment of rest and celebration before we look around at what needs to be done next to propel us forward.
How the World Celebrates
Midsummer
Midsummer (sometimes known as Litha) was celebrated widely in many parts of Europe, especially Nordic and Celtic regions. It was a welcome to summer and celebration of growth and fertility around us. The name midsummer is Old English, (coming from “midsumor”) and was used to describe this time surrounding the solstice.
Midsummer was considered a magical time when it was possible to commune with faeries and receive healing by visiting sacred wells. Celebrations were held with bonfires, fireworks, and dancing. Some places held their maypoles traditions on Midsummer instead of earlier on Beltane. Bonfires and wells held sacred importance during this time, and the sacred fires were often lit with wood from an Oak tree, symbolizing strength and endurance.
With the introduction of Christianity, many Midsummer traditions were merged into the St. John’s Day feast celebrating St. John the Baptist. But Midsummer is still celebrated by many today including in Sweden where people celebrate much as they always have, with beer and schnapps, new potatoes with dill and sour cream, and pickled herring. Other common foods are strawberries, cheese, and breads.
In Norway, Midsummer is still celebrated with giant bonfires, stories and songs, and eating fish, cucumbers, dill, strawberries and cream. During this time of year due to this tilt of the Earth’s axis, the sun remains above the horizon for 24 hours giving it the name, Midnight Sun. People come from all over the world to experience the natural phenomena.
In Bulgaria, Midsummer is known as Enyovden. This marks the start of summer in Bulgarian folklore. Some traditions are picked herbs before dawn with intensified healing power from the solstice, throwing a wreath into the river as a health ritual, and eating
Vestalia
Vestalia was an ancient Roman festival in honor of Vesta, goddess of the earth, hearth and the sacred fires of Rome. The celebrations were exclusive to women, who went barefoot and visited the Vestal Temples making offerings to Vesta and the Vestal Virgins. They celebrated with garlands of flowers, decorated donkeys (a symbol of Vesta), and purified her circular temple.
Summer Solstice is still seen as a time of new beginnings and many traditions from Vestalia are carried over in traditions for La Festa fi San Giovanni today such as collecting herbs with the morning dew.
Feast of St. John the Baptist
The Feast of St. John the Baptist is a Christian feast day established in the 4th c. CE, celebrating John, the cousin of Jesus whose birth announced Jesus’ coming. There is a lot of evidence that regional midsummer solstice celebrations were combined and brought under the church’s guidance, reimagined as a celebration to St. John, who announced “the light” (Jesus) coming into the world.
The Feast of St. John is said to be a good day to cut divining rods and that the healing power of herbs are especially potent when gathered this day. St. John’s Wort is traditionally harvested on this day. The night before the feast, people lite Saint John’s across Europe. People celebrate with religious processionals, fires, and feasts with grilled meats, bread, and honey which is associated with St. John.
In Puerto Rico they celebrate the night before the Feast of St. John as Noche de San Juan. People celebrate on the beach by plunging into the water backward between three and twelve times which is said to remove the negativity from life. This tradition is believed to come from pre-christian practices and carried through to their current belief systems.
Festivals to Ra and Osiris
In Egypt this time celebrated when the Nile River began to flood and start the wet season that brought growth to the area. They held celebrations for Ra, the sun god and Sirius, the rising star and birthplace of the goddess Isis who’s tears were said to make the Nile rise. This was such a long-standing celebration in Egypt that the Sphinx was built to align the solstice sun sets over its head, and directly between the two Great Pyramids. A temple to Osiris, god of the underworld, is built to be illuminated by the setting sun on the summer solstice.
Haji Farmers, Unknown Artist, Korea
Haji
Haji is the summer solstice celebration in Korea and means “summit of summer”. At this time of year harvests can shift from floods, droughts, and pests so the people perform rituals asking for beneficial rain. They would sow buckwheat, rice and chilies and this holiday was near the time to harvest potatoes, so on Haji it was customary to eat a potato in steamed rice and make potato cakes to offer to the deities in order to bring an abundant potato harvest to come. People today celebrate sharing food and enjoying the outside together.
Mayan Solstice Celebrations
In the Mayan culture, the solstices were a time of celebration to Ajaw, the god of the sun, for the earth and sun, and the planets movements and renewal of the seasons. Astronomy and watching the movement of the stars and planets was important in their culture as well as building architecture that interacted with the solar bodies. One of the places celebrations were held was at the Temple of Kukulean, in Chichen Itza, where the solstice sun casts a shadow on the pyramid making it look cut in two.
Midnight Sun Festival
In Alaska, one of the biggest celebrations is the Midnight Sun Festival, when the sun provides 22 hours of direct sunlight! Festivities start with a footrace bearing a gold nugget as first prize. They also have parades, polar bear plunge, raft race, midnight baseball game and BBQ cookoff.
National Indigenous Peoples Day
In Canada, the Summer Solstice is National Indigenous Peoples Day and is celebrated with the Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival in Ottawa, Canada. This date was chosen because so many indigenous communities celebrated the summer solstice and they found it a good day to come together to teach and celebrate the heritage of the Inuit, Métis and other First Nations peoples. The celebration includes a marketplace with indigenous artisans, celebrations of culture and heritage, and foods like smoked salmon, Bannock loaf, chokecherry jelly, and maple walnut cookies.
Solstice Architecture
Looking through history we see the solstices and equinoxes celebrated in our architecture, creating calendars and measuring the seasons. The care and purpose that it took for these to be built in incredible and it’s clear this tracking of time and seasons is something fundamentally important to us as humans. Here are a few of the structures around the world that were constructed specifically with the summer solstices in mind.
Serpent Mound photo credit: Roadrunner Travel
The Great Serpent Mound, Ohio
One of the greatest examples of solstice architecture in the world is right here in Ohio. Serpent Mound was built by mound-building native peoples in the Ohio River Valley. It appears that construction may have started with the earliest group, and then reconstructions and renovations by later ones. The three groups believed to contribute to the mounds were the Adena peoples (800 BCE-100 CE), the Hopewell (300 BCE-1500 CE) and the Fort Ancient peoples (1000-1500 CE). It is the largest earthwork effigy, (a mound in the shape of an animal), in the world and is the shape of a large snake swallowing an egg. The snake winds to a whopping 1,376 feet long.
The mound works as a calendar, marking the solstice and equinoxes. Time keeping and studying the movement in the sky were important in agrarian societies and likely contributed to the success of the Ohio Valley region’s food production. To mark the passing of time, the builders created the snake’s head to faces the sunset on the summer solstice and the spiraling tail to align with the winter solstice sunrise. The coils of its body were also markers showing the summer solstice sunrise, and equinox sunrises.
Today it is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is undergoing further study to learn more about the mound and the people who built and lived with it. I had the privilege to visit a few years ago and it was incredible, I’d love to go back for a solstice or equinox event.
Exersteine Rock Spires photo credit: Hub Pages
The Exersteine Rock Spires, Germany
Exersteine is a sandstone rock formation in Germany with a human-made grotto carved into the rock sometime before 1000 CE and modified through the years. In recorded history, the formation has been used as a hermitage, for pilgrimages, as a Christian chapel, in pre-christian religions, and some histories say that witches worshipped there. It is believed to be an archaeoastronomical site since there is a temple in the highest spier that has a hole above the altar that aligns to the sun on the Summer Solstice.
Fajada Butte photo credit: NPS
Fajada Butte, New Mexico
In New Mexico, a natural rock formation called the Fajada Butte contains the ruins of cliff dwellings from the 900-1200 CE believed to be created by the Chaco Anasazi people. Native peoples used this as a calendar and tracked the passage of the sun through a hole in the south wall in the direction of petroglyphs which create sun daggers and show a line formation during the summer and winter solstices as well as both equinoxes.
Pyramid photo credit: Isopolis.com
The Great Pyramids and Sphinx, Egypt
Two of Egypt’s Great Pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex highlight the summer solstice. Khufu and Khafre have the summer solstice sun set between them and just over the head of the Sphinx. The ancient peoples in Egypt used this time to celebrate the rains that flooded the Nile and watered the crops bringing good harvests in coming months.
Hovenweep Memorial, Colorado
The Hovenweep National Monument is in the ancestral lands of the Pueblo peoples on the modern-day Utah-Colorado border. The site contains the remains of six Puebloan villages, and evidence of people there since the Archaic period (10,500 – 7,500 BCE). There are several archaeoastronomical alignments at this site including at the Square Tower where the sunset on the summer solstice follows a channel through the openings in the buildings.
Ajanta Caves, India
The Ajanta Caves in India are a series of 30 manmade caves, carved out of the cliff, containing shrines to Buddha. They were created around 2 BCE and expanded between 400-650 CE and served as a retreat for monks during the monsoon season. They contain beautiful paintings and murals depicting stories. On Summer Solstice the cave was designed so the light at dawn shines into Cave 26 and illuminates the statute of seated Buddha
Alatri photo credit: The Ancient Connection
Alatri, Italy
In the Lazio region of Italy, the town of Alatri has walls and buildings cut in a polygonal technique that creates a geometric castle in the center of town. These were believed to be built by the Romans in 5-3 BCE. The town and central castle have many different points where the light is aligned from the solstices and equinoxes.
Alatri, Italy Solstice and Equinox Allignments
Diagram: Archaeoacoustic Analysis of the Ancient Town of Alatri in Italy by Debertolis and Gulla
Deities for the Summer Solstice
Deities are physical representations of the forces and energies we see interacting in our world. They give human, relatable images for spiritual ideas and are often imbued with stories and traditions that tell the history and culture of a people. Deities give us something to interact with and enact energy upon. Depending on your background and culture deity worship could include more solemn expressions like closed rites or could be as casual as putting up a picture of Beyonce to invoke her energy to bring into your life.
Venus and Anchises, William Blake Richmond, UK
European Deities
Aine - Celtic
Aine is the Celtic goddess of the sun. She is considered the queen of the faeries and is associated with the summer solstice. On the evening before the solstice some would lite torches at the top of her hill of Cnoc Aine, and would start running down the hill through their fields and cattle asking Aine to bless them.
Aphrodite - Greek
Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and fertility and was often celebrated during the summer solstice in a festival called Aphrodisia, where people would give her flowers, incense, and fire as offerings
Each arrow overshot his head, Elmer Boyd Smith, 1902 (Baldur)
Apollo - Greek
Apollo was the Greek and Roman god of the sun, music, truth, and healing. It’s believed celebrations to Apollo were held during the summer solstice and eventually merged into celebrations for St. John the Baptist.
Baldur - Norse
Baldur is the Norse god of light, joy, radiance, and peace. He is seen as the renewal and light that comes following the winter of his brother, Hodr and is celebrated at summer solstice with bonfires, offerings to Baldur, and making wreaths in his honor.
Brigantia - Celtic
Brigantia is a Celtic goddess of summer, and fertility. She is believed to spread creativity and inspiration and bring balance and harmony during this time. She is connected with the goddess Brigid and is often seen as representation of her.
Daughters of the Sun Saules Meita - unknown painter, Lithuania
Saulė - Baltic
Saulė is a Lithuanian sun goddess who was married to the moon. She was celebrated during summer solstice where people would have bonfires, dance, make wreaths of florals and greenery and looking for her magical fern flower.
St. John the Baptist - Christian
St. John the Baptist is the cousin of Jesus and his birth is believed to be announcing Jesus’ coming arrival. John the Baptist is associated with honey, and announcing light and sunshine to the world as well as bees and honey. Many traditions for St. John the Baptist’s day are regional and stem from pre-Christian traditions that were morphed into Christian religious practice.
In Puerto Rico they celebrate the night before the Feast of St. John as Noche de San Juan. People celebrate on the beach by plunging into the water backward between three and twelve times which is said to remove the negativity from life. This tradition is believed to come from pre-christian practices and carried through to their current belief systems.
St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness - Hieronymus Bosch, 1489
Sunna - Norse
Sunna is a Norse goddess and personification of the sun, she is sometimes known as Sol. People celebrate her around the summer solstice with all-night bonfires, throwing flowers and other offerings into the fire and waiting all night to greet her return at dawn.
Vesta - Roman
Vesta, the Roman goddess of the earth, hearth and the sacred fires of Rome was celebrated at Vestalia festivals during the summer solstice. Women celebrated by visiting her temples while barefoot and making offerings of garlands of flowers, and decorated donkeys (a symbol of Vesta).
Asian Deities
Amaterasu - Japanese
Amaterasu a Japanese goddess in Shinto religion, who is the source of all light and goddess of the sun and creation. She goes into a cave for half the year, sealing her light off to the world and summer solstice is seen as a celebration to her and the light she brings.
Amaterasu Emerging from Exile - Kunisada, 1856
Benzaiten - Buddhist
Benzaiten (or Benten) – is a Buddhist goddess (with Hindu influence) of wisdom, love, and the arts. She is sometimes depicted as a serpent and is associated with the sea, and is celebrated at shrines dedicated to her during the summer solstice.
Xihe - Chinese
Xihe – is a Chinese solar goddess who was the mother of ten suns which she brought through the sky giving light to the world each day.
Two-faced Anuket symbol - Egypt, 295 - 1186 BCE
Anyanwu - Ben Enwonwu, Nigeria 1954
African Deities
Anuket - Egyptian
Anuket – Egyptian goddess of the Nile, daughter of Ra, and nourisher of fields. She is celebrated around the summer solstice when the Nile begins to flood and make the surrounding lands fertile for the growing season.
Anyanwu - Nigerian
Anyanwu is worshiped in Nigeria and is the Igbo goddess of the sun, good fortune, and wisdom. She is believed to live in the sun and is often invoked to bring healing, fertility, and purification to the earth.
Ra - Egyptian
Ra is the Egyptian Sun god and creator of life. He was celebrated at the summer solstice as the longest day for his life-giving light and nourishment it brought to the crops.
Yemaya - Yoruban
Representation of the Aztec god Huitzilopochtil - 16th c.
Yemaya is the Yoruba goddess of the ocean and mother of all living things. She is the source of all water and brings fertility. Yamaya is celebrated on the summer solstice where some followers visit water and send little boats with flowers out as offerings.
American Deities
Ajaw - Mayan
Ajaw is the Mayan god of the sun who influenced the earth and sun, the planets movements and renewal of the seasons. The people celebrated this time of the summer solstice as a balancing of earth’s energy and the second stage of the earth’s fertile seasons.
Huitzilopochtil - Aztec
Huitzilopochtil is the Aztec god of war and the sun, he is often associated with hummingbirds and is constantly fighting with the darkness. Because of the struggle to maintain light he requires sacrifices to give him strength, and is celebrated at the summer solstice.
K’uk’ulkan - Mayan
K’uk’ulkan, a Mayan great-feathered serpent who was the god of rejuvenation and planting cycles. He was celebrated at this time, especially at the temple to him in Chichen Itza where the light of the serpent is seen descending the staircase of the temple.
Associations for the Summer Solstice
The meaning of different colors, animals, or plants come from what we observe about each thing and how we have interacted with it over generations. These associations have been built through time in our food, customs & the stories we tell our children.
Colors
Yellows – sun, creativity, happiness, & protection
Orange – energy, optimism, courage, & success
Gold – the sun, strength, power, & energy
Deep Greens – abundance, fertility, & prosperity
Red – desire, willpower, & fire
Animals
Bees – abundance, good health & sweetness, associated with St. John the Baptist who ate honey while in the wilderness
Bull – fertility, power, & strength
Butterflies – change & rebirth
Donkey – loyal & peaceful, associated with Vesta for it’s work with milling grain for bakers
Horse – power, swiftness & virility
Hawks and Eagles – solar birds, representing power and strength, Associated with Egyptian god, Ra, represented solar power for the Aztecs and were the messengers for the Greek god, Zeus
Stones
Amber – positivity, creativity, & eternal love
Citrine – happiness, manifestation, light & creativity
Garnet – grounding, passion & creativity
Jade – healing, longevity, reflection, & purity
Sunstone – light, positivity, & joy
Tiger’s Eye – grounding, calming, mends broken relationships
Flowers
Calendula – happiness, joy, hope after grief
Daisy – purity, new beginnings, innocence
Honeysuckle – love, faithfulness, sweetness
Lavender – devotion, serenity & purity
Rose – love, beauty, sensuality, associated with the Rose (or Strawberry) Moon
Sunflower – the sun, happiness, loyalty, & adoration
Food for the Summer Solstice
Food is something that nourishes our soul and carries so much meaning and history. I love that the significance and message of different foods often comes from what it does, how it makes us feel, and the ways it was used in our history. Every culture and home has their own food traditions for holidays and seasons. These are usually based on what is local and fresh around us, and what we grew up with. Food is an important way we bring meaning and history into our celebrations.
Herbs
Basil – love, good luck, protection
Chamomile – the sun, good luck, protection, & happiness
Elderflower – rebirth, & transformation, often gathered during the summer solstice
Mistletoe – virility, fertility, & romance, and is associated with both solstices
St. John’s Wort – protection, light, & rebirth, wards off melancholy
Thyme – strength, & courage, believed to attract fairies
Yarrow – healing, love, & courage
Edible Plants
Lemons – friendship, love, and purification
Strawberries (and other berries) – love, & purity, thought to be shaped like a heart
Peaches & Nectarines – fertility, sweetness, vitality, & longevity
Lettuce & Greens – fertility, protection, & sometimes considered an aphrodisiac
Green Beans – prosperity, new beginnings, sometimes considered a phallic symbol
Traditional Midsummer Foods
Round foods made to mimic the sun, especially bread & pastries
Honey based drinks like mead, & lemonade
Greens with fruits, vegetables, seeds & edible flowers
Grilled meats & vegetables
Recipes for the Summer Solstice
Honey Cake
I started making this for Summer Solstice back at the beginning of the pandemic and got the original recipe from entertablement.com. I use a silicone cake mold for mine.
Cake:
3 c flour
1 ½ t baking powder
1 t baking soda
¼ t salt
1 c butter, softened
Glaze:
3 T Honey
1 c Powdered Sugar
2-3 T Lemon Juice
1 ½ c sugar
4 eggs
1 c Greek yogurt, plain
1 T Lemon zest
1 ½ t Vanilla
Directions:
Heat oven to 325°F and oil pan
In a bowl (or stand mixer), mix butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and then yogurt and mix until combined
Combine dry ingredients in a separate small bowl (this keeps the baking soda from clumping!) and then slowly add to the wet mixture.
Pour evenly into the prepared pan and tap the pan on the counter to release any air bubbles (put a metal pan underneath if you’re using silicone)
Bake about 45-55 minutes until a toothpick or knife comes out clean (no batter, only crumbs) and it looks golden brown
Cool in pan for 10-15 minutes and then invert on a wire rack to complete cooling.
Combine glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Heat in the microwave or over the stove until the sugar is dissolved and it is warm enough to drizzle. Once cake is cooled, drizzle and spread with a brush to cover.
If you use this type of a pan you can serve it as pull apart cake, otherwise slice to serve.
Foccacia Sunshine
1 ¾ c warm water
2 t instant yeast
1 T olive oil (plus lots for pan)
1 T honey
3 c flour
2 t salt
Directions:
Combine wet ingredients in a bowl and let sit for a minute to activate the yeast. Add in flour and salt, combine (this works really well with a dough hook but can be done with a fork.
Cover and rest 15 min (with plastic wrap, in a warm place)
Stretch and Fold (Go around the edge with your dough hook or wet hands and pull the dough from underneath into the middle. Do that on each of the four sides of the bowl twice.) Cover and rest 15 min.
Stretch and Fold. Cover and rest 90 min
Prepare a tray, I use a deep pan with parchment paper and drizzle oil across it. (I used a cast-iron pan for rounds)
Tip the dough into the oiled tray. Fold one side into the middle and then the other (so it is vaguely rectangular). Flip so the seam side is down. Cover with another tray and proof 90 min.
Drizzle dough with olive oil, gently press your fingers into the dough, stretching it to the edges and creating dimples. Feel free to add toppings (I love onion, garlic, tomatoes and many others, I used yellow pepper for this one).
If it looks dry, drizzle with more oil (I like a little oil around the edges of the pan and in the dimples). Sprinkle Sea Salt on top
Bake on lowest rack at 430 for 25-30 minutes until brown and bubbly.
Fruit Pizza
This is a classic mid-west favorite that I love just as it is. I use the classic refrigerated sugar cookie dough, but encourage anyone to make their own recipe for that part! On solstice I like using mandarin oranges to look sunny, and strawberries since those are traditional for the time.
1 package sugar cookie dough (18 oz)
1 jar marshmallow creme (7 oz)
1 package cream cheese (8 oz), softened
1-2 t Vanilla
Fruit for topping
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F
Smooth dough onto ungreased baking sheet. For solstice I make it in a circle to represent the sun
Bake until lightly browned and not doughy in the middle, about 10 min.
Combine marshmallow creme, cream cheese, and vanilla in a bowl.
Once the cookie is cooled, spread creme mixture over top. Chill to let set until ready to serve.
Cut fruit and arrange on top off the creme mixture (any way that looks nice to you, small pieces is helpful for cutting and eating). Serve immediately!
Flower Ice Cubes
I was so intimidated to make these for a while and they were so easy!!! Pair them with the Lavender Lemonade recipe from the Spring Equinox.
Water - if you used distilled or filtered water the ice will come out less cloudy and easier to see the flowers.
Edible flowers - Find these around your yard! Double check to identify what you are picking, but many, many flowers found in our yards are edible. Be sure to avoid places that are sprayed with pesticides and do a little research on each flower you pick.
Here are a few possibilities to look for: lavender, roses, violet, dandelion, pansy, bee balm, corn flowers, chives and alliums, borage, nasturtium, and lobelia.
Directions:
Place one or two flowers, petals or leaves in each ice cube mold. Fill with water and let freeze. When I only have one or two ice cube molds I make them in rounds and keep the finished ice in a Ziploc freezer bag.
Strawberries & Cream
Strawberries
1 c. whipping cream
2 T white sugar
1 T lemon zest
1 t lemon juice
1 t vanilla
½ T cornstarch
Directions
Take a metal or glass bowl and chill it in the freezer for at least 10 minutes. (this makes the cream come together and peak faster).
Pour the cream into the bowl and begin to mix with a handmixer, add in the sugar and mix on high for a couple of minutes until it starts to thicken.
Add in the lemon zest, and near the end add the lemon juice and cornstarch. (cornstarch stabilizes it and keeps it from deflating).
Mix until peaks form. Use immediately or store for 2-3 hours.
Serve with strawberries or any way you’d like!
The Actions of Celebrating
Activities, crafts, and rituals are the ways we physically connect and carry on traditions from our the past. It is through these physical manifestations that we learn to connect with our ancestors and the holiday. Look for ways to acknowledge these traditions while creating some of your own.
Traditional Activities, Crafts & Rituals
Vigils
Many communities celebrate the night before the summer solstice with an all-night vigil where communities come together and tend the fire all night waiting for the sun’s return.
Jumping Fire
A popular tradition in many parts of Europe, it was believed that jumping over the Midsummer bonfire would protect you and bring good luck. Couples jumped over the fire together to bind their love to each other and often completed the ritual by getting married at the coming solstice feasts.
Handfastings
Midsummer is a traditional day for weddings. Couples often used this day to commit their love to eachother, including some of those couples who jumped over the fire together who are finishing their commitment today.
Small Ways to Celebrate
Indoor Ways to Celebrate
o Greet the sunrise with a cup of tea by a window
o Wear gold jewelry and sunny colors
o Buy some flowers and make a daisy chain
o Eat strawberries for love, & make sun-shaped foods to invoke happiness
o Carry stones associated with the solstice
o Listen to sunny music
Outdoor Ways to Celebrate
o Watch the sunrise or sunset
o Make a solar tea infusion
o Create flower art
o Find a field and make a daisy chain
o Have an dance in the sunshine
o Go look for fairies in the forest
Summer Solstice Ritual
Greet the Sunrise and Increase your Growth.
Prepare the night before, check for the time of the sunrise and plan to wake up a little earlier than that. Find a nice place to sit outside or by an east-facing window. Have a notepad and pen, and maybe a cup of tea if you want it.
Start by writing down the areas in your life you have been wanting to grow and expand in this year. The things you wrote to bring in on the Yule log, the plans you made at Imbolc, the first growth you saw and celebrated on May Day, or new things that you’re seeing sprout up as possibilities in your life.
As the sun comes in, let it illuminates your paper and your thoughts. Write responses to the things you wrote down before. Seek ways you can see and celebrate your growth as well as future things you see coming your way, and steps you want to take to bring those good things into you.
Greet your day with confidence and excitement for the future. Save your paper (you can also take a picture of it to save it longer) and find a time later that day to burn it in the Midsummer fire igniting the future growth and plans.
Summer Solstice Tarot Spread
Celebrate growth – What is there to celebrate in your life, remember the places you have already seen success and growth.
Coming opportunities = New challenges and opportunities come into our lives on a regular basis, what is coming your way?
Troubles to look out for – Where are there bumps in the road you need to make plans for working around?
New energy on the way – New energy is coming in, what do you see changing in the coming months?
Future to work towards – Look out again to the future, you’ve already made steps this year towards the things you want, what are you working towards?
Summer Solstice Meditations
We give thanks to the sun for the warmth and nourishment it brings and to the rains for the water that brings life. We give thanks for the nature growing around us, providing us with food, and shelter.
On this, the longest day of the year, the summer solstice shines a bright light on the growth and expansion in the world, celebrating both our success and what we have had to prune away.
We welcome summer, celebrate this time of growth, and look forward to the harvests that are to come. Even while we are still working towards our goals, we see the fruits of our labor coming into reality and getting ready to bloom.
Summer Solstice Playlist
I hope you enjoy this playlist, its full of songs that reminded me of the summer solstice and the songs that invoke for me what our ancestors felt as they welcomed the sun, found lovers, and celebrated the season!
To listen, scan the Spotify code in the first image, or follow this link.
