Sacred Sunrise
MIDSUMMER SOLSTICE
Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 1:18 pm EDT/10:18 am PDT
The Sun Reaches 0 degrees Cancer
Tonight is Midsummer Eve for those of us who live topside on Mother Earth. Marked by the Sun's entry into the cardinal, water sign of Cancer, Summer Solstice is the culmination point of the Sun's yearly journey north. As this peak of life-giving solar power is reached each year on the northern half of the planet, the masculine Sun just so happens to glide right into the arms of the feminine Moon, entering the very sign she rules — a blending of our male-female luminaries, adding to the already potent love magic at this almost too heady time of year.
Heralding the beginning of summer and the longest day of the year, the June solstice was called Midsummer by the Celts because it fell exactly in the middle of their summer season, which they started a bit earlier, on Beltane or May Day. The word solstice is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), and explains quite clearly what a solstice is: the Sun appears to come to a halt and for three days can be observed to rise in the same spot on the eastern horizon.
Magic crowns this time of year for Midsummer Eve has long been considered a night when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest, when the green spirits of the dark hollows and lonely woods venture out. It is said on this night the fairy host once again roams Middle Earth to wreak havoc and remind all that the forces of nature are powerful, unpredictable, and not to be trifled with. Because of this, much of associated Midsummer herbal lore has to do with protection, but of equal importance was love! For fiery passion and benevolent magic also abound at this invigorating time of the year. The Druids called the Summer Solstice Alban Heruin, which translates, "The Light of the Shore" and also considered it one of the few times each year when the bond between Heaven and Earth was at its strongest.
In Ireland and other parts of Europe, people built huge Midsummer bonfires for fertility and good luck; and farmers actually drove their cattle through the flames, sprinted around the animal pens and fields with smoking embers from the blaze, all to ensure health and fertility. Lovers held hands and leaped the flames in tandem, while those without partners performed all sorts of love divination. Young women placed little bouquets under their pillows on Midsummer Eve for dreams of love, as it was thought certain flowers and herbs, like St. John's wort and mugwort, would induce a special vision of one's future mate. Divining rods, healing herbs and flowers harvested on Midsummer Eve were said to be much more potent and powerful, and all dreams, whether about love or not, more likely to come true. Dew gathered on the Eve was supposed to restore sight and perhaps one's lost youth as well. The woodland ferns were said to "bloom"* at this time, and if picked on this night would grant invisibility to their wearers.
The place where the Sun rises at Summer Solstice has been marked since neolithic times in various ways revealing its tremendous importance to these early agrarian societies, for the ability to anticipate seasonal changes meant the difference between having enough food or starving. From openings in earth mounds that receive that first ray of solstice sunrise, to massive stone monuments like the famous Stonehenge, they exist the world over.
Years ago when we moved to our current home, we discovered we had our own "Stonehenge" via a narrow gap in the woods that surround our house. A view to the northeast, it precisely frames the point where the Sun rises each year at Midsummer. Conversely, at Winter Solstice, the Full Moon rises in this same spot.** The two solstices are the only time of the year when we can see the sun or moonrise at all from our home. The photo of the sunrise at the beginning of this article I took a couple days ago, while the moonrise shot shown here was taken last December.
And so it is at Summer Solstice we celebrate the LIGHT of the SUN — and its glorious effects: the ripening and greening of Mother Earth that warms our heart and soul. Our wildly growing gardens are spilling over with fragrant blooms, while butterflies, hummingbirds and bees are busy collecting nectar. The return of light and life, so welcome at this time of year is however bittersweet, tempered as it is with the knowledge of the perpetual turning of the wheel. For after today, little by little, our days gradually become shorter and shorter until that "anti-climax," the dark of the year, the Winter Solstice arrives.
Midsummer Love and Healing Magic
So if the mood strikes, get up early tomorrow morning and see if you can glimpse the sunrise from some lovely spot in your neck of the woods. Take note of what's growing and blooming where you live. These are your own sacred spaces and magical Midsummer flowers. Roses bloom in many places this time of year — a flower associated with Midsummer and ruled by Venus, the Goddess of Love. Wild, species roses, like the one pictured here, sport five petals, 
a number sacred to Venus and also reflected in the pentacle, that age old symbol of feminine wisdom and power, that Venus actually inscribes in the sky in her orbital patterns. If you harvest rose petals from bushes that have not been sprayed, you can add them to tea, jellies, honey and sugar, scenting each and also adding a little love magic. You can scatter them in your bath water or dry them to use in love charms. You can drop rose petals to steep slowly in culinary oil to increase the love you deliver with each meal. You can also make your own wonderful rose water, which you can add to your bath or use in cooking. I've included a recipe at the end of this article.
The Herb of Midsummer: Hypericum or St. John's Wort
With a name that connects it to both Christianity and its shadow, Witchcraft, for centuries it was thought that burning St. John's Wort would provide protection from evil spirits. Its genus name Hypericum is from the Greek meaning "above an ikon," a symbolic reference to the transcendant, the heavenly eternal realm, beyond all form and matter, and also a mundane reference to the literal practice of placing sprigs above statues and religious icons to help drive off malevolent spirits. In Wales, St John's wort was used as a kind of herbal divination for one's health. Sprigs were named for each family member and hung from a rafter overnight, possibly on Midsummer Eve, or on St. John's Day, June 24th. The less shriveled your sprig was in the morning, the better your health.
Another Beloved Flower of Midsummer is Lavender
Where I live lavender blooms right around summer solstice every year and one way I like to celebrate midsummer is to harvest the long stalks of this aromatic flower on the day or eve of solstice to make flower wands. They are easy to make, and here's a helpful video from Peaceful Valley Nursery with all the steps clearly shown. Lavender is an excellent companion plant for roses. The best variety to use in making wands is Lavender 'Hidcote' which is very fragrant and blooms on top of long, sturdy stems.
This year the June Solstice falls entre eclipses, in a potent lunar cycle that began with the Gemini New Moon and Solar Eclipse, culminated at last week's Sagittarius Full Moon and Total Lunar Eclipse, and precedes yet another solar eclipse at next week's New Moon in Cancer. A somewhat rare trio of eclipses instead of the more usual two, all of which adds very much to the power and significance of this time of year. Eclipses bring change and sometimes intense and very difficult experiences, and always evolutionary growth. With the Solstice Moon falling in transcendent, watery Pisces, this"thinning of the veil" power at Solstice has been expanded even more so this year. Ruled by both horizonless Jupiter and misty, otherworldly Neptune, Pisces is very much about letting go and connecting with the infinite, commune with the spirit guides and one's higher self. I like the symbolism of having one of the Sun's powerful stations, an old pagan holy day, coincide with eclipse season this year. It is my hope that it will bring humanity closer to a more responsible and sane approach to stewardship of our beautiful Mother Earth. My wish for this solstice is an increased commitment and can-do attitude towards development of clean, renewable, and safe energy. My vision is a nuclear-free, fossil-fuel free world.
What is your vision for this powerful time of year? What would you like to bring forth into reality? This is one of the handful of times each year when the magic to manifest to ride the winds of change are at their most powerful.
Take in the abundance beauty of our planet that is in such inspiring evidence at this time of year. Let it fill you up with Earth magic. Tonight if you light a bonfire, campfire, hearth fire, or even a simple candle, you are reviving a practice that stretches back through millennia. Observing and honoring these natural "holy days" of the year helps the entire world revive and heal a split that has gone on way too long between Mother Earth and her human children. May this solstice bring blessings of peace and happiness to you and your loved ones, and to Mother Earth herself.
Homemade Rose Water
Use only petals from roses that have not been sprayed, and ideally harvest them early in the day as soon as the dew has dried. Pinch off the white section at the base of each petal.
Then mix:
- 2 cups of fresh petals
- 1½ cups of distilled water
- ½ cup of vodka in a glass container
Cover and store in a sunny spot (such as on a window sill) so that the mixture can steep for several weeks. Strain and return the liquid to the jar, adding 2 more cups of fresh petals.
Repeat the steeping process. After several weeks strain again and discard the petals and store the liquid in small tightly covered little bottles in a cool dark spot.
Rosewater makes a lovely fragrance and you can add a tablespoon to simple desserts like rice or other kinds of pudding, sugar cookies, or homemade vanilla ice cream for a unique and subtle flavoring.
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*"Ferns are not flowering plants. However some experts think that the flowering fern myth has roots in reality. In the past, the grouping of plants was not as exact as modern taxonomic ones. Numerous flowering plants resemble ferns, or have fern-like foliage, and some of them indeed open flowers during night time. Also, certain true ferns, e.g., Osmunda regalis have sporangia in tight clusters (termed "fertile fronds"), which may appear in flower-like clusters, and as a result, they are commonly known as 'flowering ferns.'" Here's more on the Eastern European folk traditions regarding the flowering fern.
**This is because at the Full Moon close to either solstice, the Sun and Moon are, of course, in opposition. This explains too why the Full Moons in the deep of winter are so high in the sky, while the Summer Full Moons hang so low.
The photo of St. John's Wort (Hypericum) is from Flower Planet Macro site
The pentacle or pentagram is a very interesting symbol and here's an interesting wiki with more information.
© 2012 Elaine Kalantarian, all rights reserved