Midsummer - Summer Solstice - Estival Solstice
Tuesday, June 20, 2017 @ 9:24 PM PT
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The Solstice is a celestial event that occurs when our planet's rotational axis, in either the northern or southern hemisphere, is most inclined towards the sun. The Earth is actually farthest from the Sun during this time of the year. The exact instant of time when the Sun is directly overhead the Tropic of Cancer marks the exact day and time of the solstice in June.
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Isn't the Summer Solstice
the 'Beginning' of Summer?
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When you look at your modern calendar, the Estival solstice is labeled as the beginning of Summer, so why do we call it Midsummer?
If we were to actually begin the seasons with the cross-quarter days of
Imbolg, the very beginning of spring,
Bealtaine, the very beginning of Summer.
Lughnasadh, the very beginning of the Autumn harvesting season, and
Samhain, the early beginning of Winter
then it's easy to see why the Summer Solstice is known as "Midsummer". (and why Yule is oft called "Midwinter".)
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Ancient Celebrations of the Solstice
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Epona - a Vestal Virgin - Kupala
See below for links
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Celebrations of the Summer solstice occurs in history around the world, much like that of all the quarter days. "In ancient China, the summer solstice was observed by a ceremony to celebrate the Earth, femininity, and the “yin” forces." In ancient Gaul, the Midsummer celebration was called Feast of Epona. Some Native American tribes held ritual dances to honor the Sun. For the Greeks, it would, according to some calendars, mark the start of the new year—and the month-long countdown toward the Olympics. For the Romans, the solstice was the occasion for another unique exception to everyday life: on the first day of the festival of Vestalia, married women could, for one day only, enter the temples of the vestal virgins to make offerings to Vesta, goddess of the hearth and home. Mayas and Aztecs used the day as a marker by which to build many of their central structures, so that the buildings would align perfectly with the shadows of the two solstices, summer and winter. In Jewish tradition, it’s known as Tekufat Tammuz, the solstice of the month Tammuz. Eastern Europe celebrates the solstice with Kupala, a Slavic holiday with pagan roots. Named for the Slavic goddess Kupala, it was originally conceived as a fertility rite. Throughout Austria (and especially in the mountains of the Wilder Kaiser region of Tyrol), fires dot the countryside to celebrate the solstice." Quoted from The Scientific American
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How You Can Celebrate Midsummer
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Osterfeuer TK on the beach of Binz, Rügen island, Germany by Tom Küpper
See below for link
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- Honor the longest day of the year. Wake at dawn. Stay up the entire day & night to greet the next day's sunrise.
- Celebrate the power of the sun. Light candles specifically for the Sun when indoors or host a get-together around a bonfire.
- Have a Midsummer's Night Bonfire Ritual. Include a barbecue feast to follow. Don't forget the Goddess! Supply a kiddie pool, squirt guns, water balloons and other water features.
- Celebrate Fathers: Litha falls near Father's Day, so take some time and honor dads and the sacred masculine.
- Use the day to recharge your magical tools by the light of the sun and the glow of the moon.
- Attune with the God of the Green. Visit a nearby forest. Hike a trail. Meditate about and ground with your surroundings.
- Head to the beach to soak in the heat of the Sun God but remember to cool off with the Ocean Goddess. Spend the evening there as well, with a bonfire to fight the chill coming off the water.
- Light your bonfire by drawing down the sun and use a bit of the flame to light a brand new everlasting altar candle or lamp.
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The God Face Surreal by Kyle Pearce
See below for link
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Midsummer Folklore & Magic
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- Jumping a bonfire safely would guarantee good luck for the coming year.
- Make an amulet of protection from the ashes of your Midsummer bonfire.
- Create a stone circle and sit up all night on Midsummer's eve to see the fae. Carry rue in your pocket for protection or turn your jacket inside out to confuse them.
- Whisper a wish to a pebble, circle the Midsummer bonfire three times and then toss the stone in to fulfill your wish.
- Write your prayer (wish) on a paper boat, fill it with flowers, set it on fire, and let the boat travel down a stream.
- Raise a tall, leafy Maypole to dance around.
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'Fairy Islands' from the book Elves and Fairies 1916 by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite
See Link Below
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Ra aboard the Atet, his solar barge
See link below
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Ra - Horus - Apollo - Helios -
Freyr - Huitzilopochtli - Lugh - Hvar Khshaita -
Inti - Liza - Mithras - Sol Invictus -
Surya - Tonatiuh - Utu (Shamash)
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Apollo in his chariot with the hours by John Singer Sargent in the Museum of Fine Arts
See link below
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