A Summer Solstice
by Helen Lunn
“Whether you celebrate the solstice alone or with family or friends, you are in communion with all peoples, ancient and modern, who are touched by the magic of the feast and who gratefully honor the blazing gift of the sun.”
On 21st June we celebrated the Summer Solstice in the SAW garden with food and fire and fun and laughter. It was a small gathering, but we were able to harvest the garlic, which by tradition had been planted six months before on December 21st the Winter Solstice. We were shown how to plait it, an ancient art. It is good to honour and revive traditions ,passing on knowledge and acknowledging our past. Let’s hope that next year we will be able to have a bigger party, and dance and sing.
But what does Solstice mean? It comes from the Latin “Sol” meaning sun, and “sistere”to stand still. It is the day when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky in summer, and its lowest in winter, and seems to stand still. Over time this got shortened to solstice, and this term remains. It was a way to mark the turning of the year, as well as being a time to plant crops.
The Summer Solstice has for centuries been a time for celebration, giving thanks for the life giving power of the sun. Monuments have been built in alignment with the sun, most notably perhaps Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid in Egypt, and became places to gather and celebrate. The Egyptian sun god Ra was one of the most important gods in Egyptian culture.
Lighting of fires became popular throughout Europe, with people hoping this would join with the power of the sun and help crops grow more successfully. Jumping over the fire, which sounds a bit dangerous, was encouraged as a way to ward off evil spirits and against diseases. Pagan gods were invoked and the Summer Solstice remains an essential day in Pagan celebrations today. In most years people meet at Stonehenge to celebrate, let’s hope that is possible next year.
Now it is a time for all of us to meet and give thanks and have fun, an excuse for a party and the pleasure of gathering together. But it is also a time to reflect on the role we have to play in looking after our planet, by caring for nature, using the earth’s resources wisely, and never forgetting the part the sun has in all this.
