The Summer Solstice

  

21st   June   2011     

Thanks to the great power of our star, the Sun, civilizations have for centuries celebrated the first day of summer, known as Summer Solstice, Midsummer (Shakespeare!), St. John’s Day, the Wiccan Litha, ect…

               ‘Swift as a shadow, short as any dream;

                Brief as the lightning in the collied night’

                                         A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1. 1

In the northern hemisphere the Summer Solstice is the day of the year when the Sun is farthest north. It is the longest day of the year (and, as a consequence, and the shortest night of the year).

Sol + stice derives from a combination of Latin words meaning "sun" + "to stand still." As the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it seems to stand still in the sky.

The Celts & Slavs celebrated the first day of summer with dancing & bonfires to help increase the sun's energy.

                        

The Chinese marked the day by honouring Li, the Chinese Goddess of Light.

Pagans called the Midsummer moon the "Honey Moon" for the mead made from fermented honey that was part of wedding ceremonies performed at the Summer Solstice. Moreover they celebrated Midsummer with bonfires, when couples would leap through the flames, believing their crops would grow as high as the couples were able to jump. Midsummer was thought to be a time of magic, when evil spirits were said to appear. To defeat them, Pagans often wore protective garlands of herbs and flowers.
  

The Wiccan Litha


Today, the Summer Solstice is still celebrated around the world - most notably at the sites of Stonehenge and Avebury, in England,  where lots and lots of people from everywhere  gather to welcome the sunrise on such a special day.