Celebrating the Summer Solstice
In this blog, I’ll be exploring what the Summer Solstice is, its spiritual significance, how we may experience its energy at this time, and celebrating the Summer Solstice.
What is the Summer Solstice?
Solstices occur twice a year; one in the summer and one in the winter. The solstices are festival days in the Wheel of the Year. The Summer Solstice happens at the time of the year when the days are at their longest, the nights are at their shortest, and the sun is at the height of its power. As it is calculated astronomically, it is not on the same day every year. In the northern hemisphere, it falls somewhere between 20th – 23rd June, and in the southern hemisphere it falls between 20th – 23rd December.
‘Solstice’ means ‘sun stands still’ or ‘standing of the sun’, and at this time of the year, for several days before and after the Summer Solstice, the sun appears to stand still in the sky.
You can check out my blog about the Winter Solstice here.
The Wheel of the Year
The Wheel of the Year is celebrated by many spiritual seekers all over the world, including pagans, Wiccans, witches of all kinds, and also nature-lovers who do not follow a specific spiritual tradition. It celebrates the turning of the seasons, and those who follow its rhythms mark its seasonal festival days or ‘Sabbats’.
For more information about and rituals to honour the Wheel of the Year, including guidance on building a special Summer Solstice Altar, you can join my sacred membership, The Sanctuary here.
What does the Summer Solstice mean Spiritually?
The Summer Solstice is a time of completion and celebration. Plans that we made in the darker months should now be fully in place. The invitation at this time is to stand back and take a moment to be still and celebrate what we have achieved in the previous six months since the Winter Solstice.
Although this is a time of great abundance in nature, with flowers blooming all around us and fruit and vegetables ripening in the fields, the paradox of the Summer Solstice is that from this point in the year onwards, nature starts to draw inwards as summer turns to autumn and autumn turns to winter.
So even as we celebrate the height of the sun’s power, there is an awareness that from here on, we too will be slowly moving inwards and retreating back into ourselves.
This awareness that we must let go of this time of energy and abundance and begin the process of retreating reminds us to fully celebrate the present moment and give gratitude for all the things in our lives that bring us joy. As we stand on the threshold of the next six months, you may like to reflect on what you now wish to welcome into your life.
Celebrating the Summer Solstice
The Summer Solstice is traditionally a time of great celebration. If you have friends or family who also wish to mark this day, it’s a great reason to come together and share a special feast or fire ceremony – or even just a simple gathering where you share seasonal food and drink, play music and have fun.
The Summer Solstice is actually the ideal time of year for a late-night party. Some people choose to stay up all night until the first light of the sun meets the earth. If you do this, be sure to cheer and celebrate its arrival!
The high, creative energy at the Summer Solstice makes it a great time to birth something new into being, so if you feel called, you could choose to begin a new creative project on this day.
CONNECT WITH YOUR INNER VISION THIS SOLSTICE
Harness the energy of the Summer Solstice with the Work Your Light Visioning Process + Workbook. It has been designed to help you energetically review and release the 12-month cycle that you have just come through, so that you can clearly hear what seeds you are being called to plant and what grounded actions you are being called to take as you cross the threshold into the next 12-month cycle. Download it now here.
If you’d like some more inspiration on celebrating the Summer Solstice including the Summer Solstice Module and Altar Guide, you can find that in my sacred membership The Sanctuary.
