Summer Solstice – A Tryst with Spirituality

What Astronomy Says

As per astronomical definition of summer solstice, it is the day when sun is at the farthest north in the Northern Hemisphere and at the farthest south in the Southern Hemisphere. This is the day on which the earth basks in the life-giving light of the sun for almost 17 hours. It also denotes the commencement of summer season astronomically. This day falls from June 20^th to June 22^nd every year.

Spiritual significance attached to summer solstice

But this is a day of great spiritual significance for the ancient pagan civilizations. As life on earth depends on sunlight, they attached great spiritual consequence to the occasion. The Druids, Mayas, ancient Romans and Egyptians and a few similar civilizations conducted spiritual ceremonies on the Summer solstice day.

These ceremonies usually begin promptly at sun rise. All the elements like air, fire, earth and water are invoked during the ceremony and they are formally welcomed to the life on earth. All the same fire is considered to be the principal element on summer solstice day.

Fire and Summer solstice

During ancient times summer solstice was often celebrated as fire festival. They lighted large ceremonial fires and candles on the Midsummer Eve. These fires are believed to strengthen the sun. Lighting fire during the night on mountains is an integral part of the summer solstice rituals in the Alps region even now. The summer solstice is termed as Litha in the Northern Europe.

 People light fires in their backyards and gardens. Usually a barbecue party is conducted and friends and relatives gather to celebrate summer solstice. This is generally a festival to celebrate the sun and its powers.

 Summer solstice at Stonehenge, England

The large stone structures in Wiltshire country have attracted worldwide attention for centuries because of their mysterious nature. The stone structures were obviously made by someone whose identity is still shrouded in mystery. However, they are presumably made in the Neolithic age.

These structures have now assumed great significance as far as the summer solstice is concerned. This is where the Druids and modern pagans get together to worship the summer solstice sun. From 1972 to 1984 some kind of formal festival was conducted. But it was soon banned as it threatened to bring in elements of paganism into the society. So from 1999 a kind of informal festival goes on. People from various parts of the country gather here to watch the sunrise on summer solstice day.

Here Druids and the people with a slight paganistic bend of mind conduct ceremonies and rituals. A kind of spiritual frenzy pervades the whole atmosphere. The presence of the mysterious massive stone sculptures and the chanting of believers fill the ambience with a strange kind of magic. The ancient man believed that this is a day when natural and super natural are separated by a very thin margin. Most of the people who have attended the summer solstice at Stonehenge claim to have felt a positive spiritual vibe. Anyway, Stonehenge summer solstice festival is a crowd puller.

Summer solstice 2016

The summer solstice of 2016 falls on 20^th June. This summer solstice is marked by an unusual full moon. June moon is referred to as strawberry moon by the Native Americans as it occurs at the beginning of the strawberry season. So the summer solstice 2016 coincides with the strawberry moon, which is a rare occurrence. It was 70 years since such a thing has occurred.

The sun gets to the highest point of the year at noon. But the moon comes very low. Since at this time rain clouds and humidity hang in the air, you can see a honey colored moon on this full moon day. So this year’s summer solstice is considered to be very special.

by Marina Chernyak