Ancient cultures had a definite religious and life sustaining need for marking the ‘solstitium’ (Latin for ‘sun stands still’). Many of these cultures were agricultural in nature and their life depended on a long growing season. Without a sure marker of when the season had begun, they could miss days or even weeks in the growing cycle. Many traditional ‘solstice’ customs were related to health and fertility for fields. Solstice was also celebrated in cities and towns with parades, pageants, plays and festivals in the market place, the town green and in the forests.
Midsummer is the moment when the warmth and beauty of the year are at their height as the sun reaches the highest point of its arc in the sky. The ‘longest day of the year’ is a time in which the humming fullness of summer seems endless. "The rippling transition into the warmth of the year has passed and the cooling winds of autumn are yet to be." It's a time to celebrate Mother Earth and all nature in its' glory. It is a great time for health, love, and purification. Fill your darkness with light. It is a time of abundance.
January 6, 2012