The Solstice

Good morning, everyone.  What a gorgeous day it is!!!  We had some rainful last night...woke me out of a sound sleep.  I love lying in bed listening to the rain...and was actually quite disappointed when it stopped.

Gosh, can you believe how fast the Solstice is coming upon us?  It will be here next week.  June is already halfway over.  It's moving so fast that I can't even keep track of the dates.  Yesterday I found myself dating everything the 11th...Now where that came from I don't know.

You're probably going to think I am a little nuts, but once the solstice passes, I find myself eagerly looking forward to the fall.  I love everything about Spring and all that leads up to summer, but it all takes a downhill turn from there.  Perhaps it is because I live in the city...and my feet don't know what it is to step on the softness of freshly mowed grass...and then there is the odors.  It gets really bad here in the hot and humid weather of July and August...garbage, exhaust fumes, smokers....Well, maybe I am being a bit morose, but it can get pretty miserable here in the concrete jungle at times.  Perhaps if I still had my magical garden to lose myself in at night...but that is only a fond memory right now.

Solstice.  The word derives from the Latin Sol + systere meaning "Sun" + "standing still".  The Sun appears to stand still.  The places on the ecliptic where the Sun appears to stand still mark the solstices. The Summer Solstice is the time when the Sun appears to halt over the Tropic of Cancer on its journey north, then, after some three days, it turns in its tracks and begins its journey southwards...towards the equator. These are the tropics; the northernmost point marks the Summer Solstice and the southernmost point marks the Winter Solstice...when viewed from the northern hemisphere.  It is just the opposite when viewed from the southern hemisphere.

People all over the world, in every culture, have assigned a great deal of meaning to this journey of the Sun. This, the shortest night of the year, has been a time of social festivities in all cultures, a magical time of the year where, even today, hilltop bonfires are lit to revive the power of the sun.  Magical powers are heightened and the little people are about.  It's a great time to gather herbs...especially the solar flowers such as St. John's wort, mugwort, and mistletoe. 

In astrological terms, the Summer Solstice marks the enter of the Sun into Cancer which is ruled by the Moon.  Cancer is a Cardinal, Water Sign.  Midsummer celebrates the elemental powers of fire (Sun) and water (Moon, Cancer); thus, the lighting of fires and bathing in dew on the morning of Midsummer's Day.