Summer solstice
Summer Solstice is a celebration of the longest day of the year and the beginning of summer. Since ancient times humans have celebrated this time in festivals honoring the life giving power of the sun, and the abundance and vitality of life at its zenith.
Ancient systems of knowledge were universally orientated to celestial events, particularly the solstices and equinoxes that mark the seasons of life on earth. Honoring of these cardinal points is found throughout the world in sites as diverse as Stonehenge in the British Isles, the Big Horn Medicine Wheel in Wyoming, USA, the Caracol Tower of Mexico, and the Pyramids of Egypt.
Solstices happen twice each year, when the tilt of the Earth’s axis is most inclined toward (summer) or away (winter) from the Sun. The name is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstice the Sun appears to stands still in its path before reversing direction. Of course as we view this time from a global perspective, it is obvious that the northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere are opposites, so that the summer solstice of one hemisphere is the winter solstice of the other.
In the Occident, the solstices and equinoxes mark the beginning of the seasons, such that summer solstice is the first day of summer. In East Asian Cultures, they mark the middle of the seasons. This reflects the understanding that the Chi, or energy, in the movement from yin to yang crests at the midpoint. Hence the Chinese character for solstice means “extreme”, signifying the zenith of the energies of summer and winter.
A similar sense of flowing between seemingly contrary forces (as symbolized by Yin and Yang) is expressed in the traditions of the British Isles, where the Oak King- who rules the waxing year, reigns from Winter Solstice to Summer Solstice when he abdicates to the Holly King who rules the waning year. Thus, in traditions of both East and West, we acknowledge that in the realm of duality opposites give rise to each other in turn. We experience this mystery every year when the longest day marks the beginning of the light’s incremental waning toward winter’s darkness, and again at winter solstice when the darkest night heralds the return of the light.
Many ancients, such as the Druids, celebrate the marriage of Heaven and Earth during Midsummer Solstice, reflecting the alchemical fusion of spirit and matter at the heart of creation. Though celebrations held in different parts of the world differ, they reveal a common essence of celebrating light at its zenith and the bounty and goodness of life that is given by the vitalizing radiance of the sun.
Thanks to Dana Lynne Andersen for the text and to Ursula who forwarded the picture!