Summer Solstice Spiritual Lessons

Today is the Summer Solstice.

I am a summer person. This is MY time of year. 

I like the weather hot, the sun shining, and the flowers blooming.

I come alive in summer.

Today is the first day of MY season (ok, not MY season, I will share it. LOL)

Though much of summer solstice originates from pagan, pre-Christian history, I found some fun and thought provoking tidbits about this celebration to share. These facts enriched my prayers this week:

·      “Solstice” is derived from two Latin words: “sol” meaning sun, and “sistere,” to cause to stand still. This is because, as the summer solstice approaches, the noonday sun rises higher and higher in the sky on each successive day. On the day of the solstice, it rises an imperceptible amount, compared to the day before. In this sense, it “stands still.” 

·      In pre-historic times, summer was a joyous time of the year for the Aboriginal people who lived in the northern latitudes. The snow had disappeared; the ground had thawed and plants were growing once again.

·      Without the tilt of the earth’s axis, we would have no seasons. The sun’s rays would be directly overhead of the equator all year long. When the axis tilts towards the sun, as it does between June and September, it is summer in the northern hemisphere, but winter in the southern hemisphere. Alternatively, when the axis points away from the sun from December to March, the southern hemisphere enjoys the direct rays of the sun during their summer months. Every day would be a summer solstice for the equator and winter solstice for the poles. There would be no seasons, and the world as we know it would be a very different place: a lifeless desert around the equator and frozen poles equally as hostile to life.