The summer solstice (June 20th to 23rd) sees the sun enter the sign of Cancer which is associated with home and hearth. A time to count your blessings and enjoy the comfort of your own home and family. 

The sun is considered to be at the height of its power at this time, from now on the days will shorten.

One of the four-quarter celebrations in the Celtic calendar, the longest day at the summer solstice invites us to pause to recognise where we are in the wheel of the cycle of the seasons in our own lives. 

In farming tradition this was a time to celebrate and thank Mother Earth for her blessings of the crops in the fields in anticipation of a good harvest.

This celebration has two sides:

• On the one hand it is a celebration of the manifestation of many blessings at the most expansive and active phase in the cycle of the sun.
• On the other hand it is a celebration of the beginning of the journey inward toward the shortest and darkest day of the year, the journey inward toward the deeper realms of wisdom and inner knowledge.

We need both for balance. 

Celebrate

The summer solstice is a time to celebrate what you have achieved or manifested in your life this year. A time to enjoy who you are and all of the abundance and blessings you have in your life. 

A wonderful way to celebrate this expansive energy is to gather with like-minded people and simply let yourself go; dance, sing and enjoy yourself in your own unique way. If it is possible, spend some time outside, light a fire or at least some candles and share some food and drink. 

Make a mandala with natural materials from your garden or a natural space near you. Representing the radiant energy of the sun. Or take out a piece of paper and draw a circular mandala exploring the cyclical patterns of light and dark. Acknowldeging the need for both our light and our dark sides to bring about change and transformation.

Glennie Kindred  in her book “Sacred celebrations” suggests making a circle or “wheel of power” to fix the eight points of the year. To do this :-

Place a stone at the centre (representing the still point of timelessness) and then another at the N (winter solstice) S (summer solstice) E (spring equinox) and W (autumn equinox). Then place another stone or marker at the four cross quarter points of the year marking NE (imbolc) SE (Bealtaine) SW (Lammas) and NW (Samhain). Join these points with a circle of stones or leaves or flower heads to complete the pattern or path created by the expanding and contracting energy of the solar year. Use this as a symbol for meditation to come to your own stillpoint and connect to where you are within the expanding and contracting energy of your life at this time.    

Wash all of your crystals and place them outside in the sunlight to dry and charge in the energy of the midsummer sun. 

The journey toward wholeness

From this point on what we have achieved thus far will continue to ripen and mature within us. As the energy of the outer world slowly begins to wane our inner transformation and spiritual rebirth continues bringing us toward greater unity and wholeness.

Summer Solstice Blessings!