Summer Solstice - The Day of the Wedding of Heaven and Earth

I've said it before and I'll say it again;

 This time of the year, ramping up to solstice,

 each and every year is sooo manic!

 Sooo much daylight.

We are all drunk on daylight. 

And by daylight I mean a Red Bull Vodka cocktail!

 Its fun but its always really nice when the energy

 finally peaks with solstice 

and settles down a bit into the sign of Cancer.

   

   
  The Summer Solstice

  occurs exactly 

when the Earth’s axial tilt is most inclined 

towards the sun. 
 Though the Summer Solstice is an instant in time,
 the term is also colloquially used
 like Midsummer 
to refer to the day on which it occurs. 
Except in the polar regions 
(where daylight is continuous for half of the year), 
the day on which the Summer Solstice occurs
 is the day of the year with the longest period of daylight.

Thus the seasonal significance of the Summer Solstice is in the reversal of the gradual shortening of nights and lengthening of days. The summer solstice occurs in June in the Northern Hemisphere, in December in the Southern Hemisphere.

 

 

Summer Solstice, sometimes known as Midsummer, 
Litha, or St. John's Day, 
occurs in the middle of June.
  It has been a grand tribal gathering time since ancient times. 
The Goddess manifests as Mother Earth 
and the God as the Sun King.

  Dawn procession on Summer Solstice at Stonehenge

All throughout the ages
 you will find rituals, spells, and magic 
associated with this day.  
 The roots of magic predate recorded history.
 History shows us that all Pre-Christian civilizations,
 regardless of their cultural landscapes, 
 practiced “Magic”.
 It was time when humanity existed in harmony
 with God, the Elemental Forces of Nature and the Universe. 
Today magic is perceived as an archaic worldview,
 a form of superstition 
lacking the intrinsic spiritual value of religion
 or the rational logic of science.

Fools!!!


 

Ancient cultures had wise women and men that were honored and respected in the community.
 They were an integral part of the tribe.
 They were the healers, the midwives, medicine men,
 the spiritual advisers, the priests and priestesses. 
Slowly, over hundreds of years 
and with intention
 these beloved and respected sages and mystics 
became transformed into the evil creatures 
that we think of
 when we hear the word
 witch.

 
 

 Looking back you’ll find a violent history that aimed to exterminate these “heretics”. Any act of naturopathic healing, herbalism, pagan rites, etc. were now interpreted as sinister and the practitioner accused of consorting with the devil. In the story of Creation written in the Book of Genesis, it was Eve, the female who bears responsibility for the fall of mankind. 
 Once revered symbols, 
the goddess (Divine Feminine),
the tree (The Tree of Life) 

and the serpent (Kundalini-Life Force Energy)

 would soon come to represent evil. 

It is no surprise that modern society still perpetuates misogynist thought. Women around the world are still fighting for equal rights. It is no surprise that in pursuit of technological and scientific advancement, 
we are destroying the very ecosystem
 that sustains us. 
  Joni Mitchell said it best... 
 "We are stardust, We are golden, And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden".
ladylavona 

  

Many know it as the longest day of the year; 
others call it the first day of summer, 
but to Pagans, in this hemisphere, 
Summer Solstice is a fire festival 
and an important holiday.

The festivals go back to agrarian times when people were dependent on the land to sustain all their needs .
 So they would feast
 on the newly harvested grains
 and meat from first cows slaughtered.
Likewise, at celebrations
 Pagans will attend on the solstice this year
  which begin June 20 at 4:09 p.m. (PST)  
there will be a circle, a ritual and feasting on foods
 appropriate to the season, 
such as berries, bread, grilled meat
 and fruit wine.





Many forms of Paganism 
revere two deities, a god and a goddess, and give both many personalities and names.
 Part of both ancient and current solstice celebrations, 
 is the presentation of a mystery play, 
wherein the Sun King and the Winter King
 battle each other for dominance and the hand of the goddess.

 They win in turn when seasons change 
at both solstices (winter and summer)
and both equinoxes (the first day of spring 
and the first day of fall). 
 These observances 
would have been very important to people 
who depended on the land for sustenance and, 
today, serve to remind us of our agrarian roots, though we are deeply rooted 
in the 
technological 
age.

 

The change of season reminds people that there are limited resources 

and that we must

 care for the planet.

 

 

If the ritual is outside, 
they will light a balefire, 
as Celts would have in times of old.

All the fires in the house would be put out and relit with torches dipped in this balefire, considered holy, to purify 
and celebrate the sun.

They would also light two fires and the livestock would be driven between them to purify them with the holy fires. This ritual also had a practical purpose because ticks and other bugs would fall off from the heat.




The fires would burn through the night – from solstice eve and all through the day – until they went out and the ashes would be scattered on the fields to bless them and ensure fertility of the crops.

  

 Whether you reflect on June 20 as the longest day of the year, the first day of summer or as summer solstice, take a moment to think about humanity’s ties to the earth. 


 

Modern industrial society
 likes to think of itself as separate from nature, 
and so many people nowadays 
have forgotten about celebrating the cycle of the year. 
 That's really unfortunate,
 since all our lives 
are supported by the living earth
 and share in its cycles, 
whether we know it or not,” 

Jill Ellis and John Michael Greer

The following are my favorite images of Titania and Bottom from 
 

 

Happy Midsummer's Eve y'all!!