Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Happy Summer Solstice

Today the sun will be at its highest elevation, giving us in the Northern Hemisphere, the longest number of daylight hours and the shortest number of night time hours.

The word solstice comes from two Latin words: sol (sun) and sistere (to cause to stand still.) In the days leading up to the summer solstice, the noonday sun rises higher and higher each day. On the day of the solstice, it only rises an itty-bitty, hardly noticeable amount, and so, seems to stand still.

Summer Solstice is known by many names – All-couples day, Midsummer, Feast of St. John the Baptist, Gathering Day, Litha, etc. It’s also celebrated by many cultures and faiths, both ancient and modern – China, Celtic, Christian, Native Americans, Neopaganism, Prehistoric Europe, etc.

Stonehenge is probably the most famous of the ancient stone structures built to mark the sun’s rising. But there are Native American structures as well. Calendar One* is in a 20 acre natural amphitheatre in Vermont. Bighorn Medicine Wheel is west of Sheridan, Wyoming along with 40 or more similar “wheels” on the high plains of the Rocky Mountains. There are also some in Canada. The term “medicine wheel” was coined by Europeans as a term to describe “anything native that white people didn’t understand.”

So what’s all the big deal about the summer solstice?

To ancient cultures, more hours of sunlight meant warmer weather. Warmer weather thawed the ground and melted the snow. It allowed flowers and herbs to grow and leaves to return to the trees. And most important – it made food was easier to find! This midsummer time also marked the middle of the growing season for most of Europe. With the planting done and a few months to go before the crops could be harvested, it was a natural time for celebrating!

It was also a good time for weddings. Traditionally, the best time to harvest honey from the hives was around the first full moon in June – called the Honey Moon. With this fresh supply of honey, newly wed couples were fed lots of dishes and beverages made with honey during the first month of their married life. This encouraged love and fertility. The surviving remnant of this tradition continues today in the holiday couples share immediately after the ceremony – the Honeymoon.

For more information, visit Summer Solstice (where I got most of my info). * Sorry, could not find a website for Calendar One, Vermont - only mentions of it on two other websites: Sacred Sites and Burlington News.

For a look at European sources and links to Stonehenge, visit my friend Paul’s weblog,
Off the Beaten Track.

Here's to continuing the Journey... enjoying the sunshine and learning more about our cultural history.

- Becky



1 comment:

Becky said...

Woohoo!! You go girl!

-Becky