Celebrating the Summer Solstice
This week, the 21st of June, marks the Summer Solstice (or Litha) and another turning of the wheel.
Solstices are a natural time to pause and reflect on how far you’ve come in the last half of the year. Your achievements, your realisations, and what you now want to release. The sun’s cycle ends and begins again, and the underlying energy changes direction.
At Summer Solstice (or Litha) the sun’s light and energy is at its peak. Everything has been growing, rising, and now it begins to wane. Now passes the longest day, and the turning point of the year. It’s time to take a breath, look inwards, and consider what you want to carry into the coming seasons.
What have you achieved that you’re proud of in the first half of this year? Celebrate yourself!
What is holding you back?
What can be released? What needs to be cherished?
Traditionally people would stay up all night, lighting bonfires on hillsides, and celebrating until the sun rose on the longest day! Ohh, to be young again ;)
Ways to Celebrate
Build a fire, or if you haven’t the room, light candles to symbolise the burning sun of midsummer.
Stay up all night to watch the sun rise. As a mother of young children I will not be doing this(!), but I will watch the sun set on the 20th of June and sleep with the windows open to doze along to the early dawn chorus on the 21st.
Gather herbs, flowers and lush greenery (oak leaves are particularly symbolic) to bring indoors. Make wreaths, flower crowns, and/or bouquets.
As always, please gather responsibly and leave enough flowers for the bees.
Make teas, tinctures and balms with the abundance of herbs and add honey. The midsummer moon is known as the Honey Moon, and traditionally honey mead would be drunk in celebration of the solstice. I’ve a recipe for making your own rosewater here (so easy!), and Emma from Miscellaneous Adventures shared wild flower tea recipes here.
You could also try this simple guide to making Rose Bath Salts from Alyson Morgan at Earth Star Herbals, or make classic Elderflower cordial.
Align with the seasons all year round
If this seasonal way of living appeals to you, and you could benefit from ongoing support and conversation around your cycle, come and join us in the Aligned Community.
We are rebelling against “business as usual”, collaboratively building a space that is safe and welcoming for all, sharing our stories, and celebrating each other.
The Wheel of the Year
“Beneath the manifestation of seasonal change, there is also change in the energy of the earth. These energy patterns affect us whether we are conscious of them or not.
By understanding the flow and direction of that energy, we can move with it, in harmony with it, as true inhabitants of our planet earth: belonging, part of, changing on all levels of our being.”
- Glennie Kindred, The Earth’s Cycle of Celebration
Most people are familiar with the spring and autumn equinoxes, and summer and winter solstices which mark the four quarter points of the wheel of the year. These are the solar festivals, marking the high points of the seasons, but there are four lesser known fire festivals (or cross quarters) which mark each season's beginning - Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas, and Samhain. So instead of dividing the year into 12 months, it is divided into eight sections - quarters and cross quarters.
People of different nature-based faiths celebrate the Wheel of the Year, including Pagans and Wiccans, and the festivals are influenced by folklore and ancient beliefs. I am not a religious person but have found following these celebrations a wonderful way to ground myself and a healthy reminder to change the way I work throughout the year.
I'd love to hear how you're celebrating this season? Do come and let me know on Instagram!
