Summer Solstice and the Celebration That Wasn't

x-posted on family blog.

This Solstice was spent the same way Beltane was- sick in bed. This is becoming a trend with me this year, coming down with something the day before the festivities are to take place.

But no matter. The cycle continues whether or not I speak the words or party with my kids. It still sucks, though, because Beltane and Summer Solstice are my two favorites...

I love sunflowers. My husband calls me his sunflower

because I love the sun as much as they do.

The Summer Solstice takes place on the longest day of the year, the zenith of the sun. It's at this time when the imagery of the light of God the Father is the most powerful as it is the most obvious to us. This day we set aside as a family to bask not only in the sun's light but in the Light of God the Father. 

We pray:

"Father, as the wheel turns year by year we are continually renewed by Your eternal vigor and passion. We honor Your wisdom and are blessed in Your teachings; through which we come to understand the cycle of Life and our part in it.” 

(adapted from Fiona Horne's Witch: A Magical Journey)

And we bask in the sun's warming rays.

<insert pictures of my children playing in the water under the sun here>

We eat the yummy fruits and veggies the sun helps provide for us.

my super awesome idea of yumminess that
will have to wait until next year, now...

We light colorful candles of yellow and blue and pink and green and we read the poetry of Valerie Worth:

King of seasons, tower of light, 

Tree of fire, crest of flight,

Eternal flower, crown of flame, 

Golden apex, summer's name,

Sun our ruler, sun our lover, 

Son our father, sun or brother

...

Lo, on the flames of spring have we aspired toward thee,

And on the wings of summer now we rise, 

On thy wings who are the father of all wings:

Thy winged sphere our kingdom,

Wither we ascend,

Where we shall find our immortality 

Beyond time and space:

The fires of they face and the fires of thy name

Shall be our own transfiguration and redemption. 

(snippets from page 134 and 135 of the book linked above)

We thank the sun and we thank the Father for the sun and the Son and for His wisdom and guidance.

And we prepare for the sun to begin his retreat and the dark to grow in it's strength...