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Speaking of change and how we evolve....
Depending on where you live, the Summer Solstice occurs this year —
in the Northern Hemisphere on: June 20, 2008 at 7PM EDT; and in the UK on June 21, 2008 at the stroke of midnight GMT.
in the Southern Hemisphere on: December 21, 2008 at 10:04pm AEST.
Sol + stice derives from a combination of Latin words meaning "sun" + "to stand still." As the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it seems to stand still in the sky.
As a major celestial event, the Summer Solstice results in the longest day and the shortest night of the year. The Northern Hemisphere celebrates in June, but the people on the Southern half of the earth have their longest summer day in December.
Early Celebrations
Awed by the great power of the sun, civilizations in the northern areas have for centuries celebrated the Summer Solstice, otherwise known as Midsummer.
The Celts & Slavs celebrated with dancing & bonfires to help increase the sun's energy.
Perhaps the most enduring modern ties with Summer Solstice were the Druids' celebration of the day as the "wedding of Heaven and Earth", resulting in the present day belief of a "lucky" wedding in June.
Today, the day is still celebrated around the world - most notably in England at Stonehenge and Avebury, where thousands still gather to welcome the sunrise on the Summer Solstice.
Pagan spirit gatherings or festivals are also common in June, when groups gather to light a sacred fire, and stay up all night to welcome the dawn.
Pagans called the Midsummer moon the "Honey Moon" for the mead made from fermented honey that was part of wedding ceremonies performed at the Summer Solstice.
Ancient Pagans celebrated Midsummer with bonfires, when couples would leap through the flames, believing their crops would grow as high as the couples were able to jump.
Midsummer was thought to be a time of magic, when evil spirits were said to appear. To thwart them, Pagans often wore protective garlands of herbs and flowers. One of the most powerful of them was a plant called 'chase-devil', which is known today as St. John's Wort and still used by modern herbalists as a mood stabilizer.
Will you be celebrating Summer Solstice?
Do share....
Wishing you all a most eventful summer...full of blooms~
Bea Kunz
1 comment:
Bea,
I'm completely fascinated with this.
In fact... in early May I was reading up on the fertility festivals of May and thinking that those pagans really knew how to celebrate!
May and June are my favorite months. Although what would May and June be without February and March?
When I worked in the real world, I had a coworker who was fond of brewing his own beer. He gave me a cup of mead at one of his gatherings... it was quite potent!
Thanks for the enjoyment. Always a pleasure to stop by the Bea blog!
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