Summer Solstice 2013
Happy Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere! Happy Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere!
We are balanced on the narrow edge of the planetary extremes of the ‘longest day’ in the Northern reaches, all the way to 24 hours of daylight in the Arctic. Simultaneously, it is the ‘longest night’ in the Southern Hemisphere with 24 hours of night in Antarctica. How much daylight or night is occurring in your local? Do you track the length of day through the seasons in your home environment? Imagine the planet as a whole and how we are now experiencing the extremes of solar light and starry night. It’s a wonderful way to connect to the rhythms of Gaia from your location.
From our perspective rooted here on the planet, the Sun will appear to come to a slow halt for several days before it begins it’s movement in the opposite direction in terms of the length of day and night. It can be rather magical to find a quiet place and allow yourself to use your imagination to sense the natural movements of the planet.
There is also a ‘super’ full moon this weekend. Go find a quiet spot away from city lights, perhaps on a small hill or rise from which you can watch the western and eastern horizons. The sun will set first. Usually your local newspaper publishes the sunrise/sunset and the moonrise/moonset times in your location. Settle in and enjoy the last rays of the sun; perhaps even a lovely sunset with shifting colors and patterns. Just after the sun has set, and depending on the geography of your location, turn to the east and see if you notice a subtle lightening of the horizon, perhaps just the faint hint of a glow. Be patient and slowly you will be rewarded with the silent steady rising of the full moon. It may well take your breath away with is brightness. If you stay long enough it will begin to illuminate the night sky…casting moon shadows.
We are apart of the natural world. We used to know all these rhythms in our bones from thousands of years of living within this matrix of natural rhythms. Over the last few centuries of living in cities we have become progressively more distracted and detached from needing to know the planetary movements. We have loosened our individual and collective knowing. However, just outside the city lights, it is all still there waiting for us to take notice…to look up and listen in that deep intuitive way.