happy summer solstice!
Today is the summer solstice, or first day of summer. The summer solstice always falls on the longest day of the year, also the day on which the sun is farthest north (for those in the southern hemispheres, today is the winter solstice). It's a great day to enjoy the extra hours of sunlight outdoors and to celebrate Mother Earth!
Historically, many cultures have celebrated the summer solstice as a time of fertility and an occasion for outdoor festivals and gatherings. For example, at Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, Druids and Pagans once gathered to celebrate the summer solstice by sitting around a solstice fire. Stonehenge was a sacred burial ground, and ancient peoples would hold a vigil there until sunrise on the summer solstice. The sun appears to rise between the two stones at the northeastern entrance on the day of the summer solstice (as shown in the picture above). This is part of the "mystery of Stonehenge."
For we modern folk, the summer solstice is a wonderful time to nurture our environment, remember our spiritual connection to the earth, and celebrate with our loved ones. It's a time to enjoy the change in season and the new foods the season brings. It's also an occasion to pause and enjoy the sounds and smells and all the sensory experiences that accompany summer.
With the change in season comes a chance to begin again and renew our commitments to living kind. It's a chance to do as much we can to honor nature with our choices, from eating plant-based foods as much as possible to reducing waste by using less.
How do you plan to spend the summer solstice?
22 comments
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We are going to be at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary for their solstice party tomorrow night - Friday night at my oldest friend's cabin not far away with all my girls (leaving the little ones with my hubbie for the night) - can't wait!
http://elizabethskindcafe.com/
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I will celebrate summer by giving love and happiness to everyone I come in contact with!!
Love & Peace,
Sarah
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I spent my time in the kitchen cooking up some delicious summer meals. I'm looking forward to going to the farmer's market today to get more fresh vegetables, can't wait to see what I come up with!
http://mudontheplate.blogspot.com/
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Yay Summer! To celebrate yesterday, I hung out down by the lake for a bit. (Lake Geneva, I live in Switzerland.) And then my husband and I had a nice Summery cook-out style meal of burgers! (Vegi for me!) And we had some great watermelon for dessert later! Summer is my favorite season and this is my first in Switzerland, so I've been trying to find ways to enjoy it here!
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Will start mine with a sunny trip to California for 2 weeks:) Love having friends over for BBQ'S and talking about the positive things we will do for the coming weeks.
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Began the Solstice with a wonderful yoga session. I am grateful to have beautiful, sunny skies and will be surrounded by precious friends tonight.
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I am going to do my Tarot cards and have some wine poolside in a bit, as the sun is setting...prefer sweater weather to summer though. Florida summers are too hot! Love spring and fall! Winter here is divine!
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From a nerdy science standpoint, the summer solstice is the first true day of summer, with the sun at it's northernmost declination in the sky with the sun striking perpendicular to the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5N)! After today, the days will begin to get shorter, so enjoy it! I wish I had something cool to do, but I will be inside studying, and hiding from the humidity!
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This is the 2nd day to my new diet/lifestyle. A hot summer day is just what I needed. I am going to spend it at the nature park :)
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Hi Alicia
This is a good time for new beginnings. In April I weighed 268 and I now weigh 250. This is as a result of a radical change to a healthier diet. While I have not gone veagan I am eating more vegetables and less meat.
I saw you in "Speed the Plow" at the Geffena nd we chatted a bit. Thanks for the photos.
Your posts are helpful for making better choices in my health.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Robert (from the Bay Area) -
We bake a solstice cake (YUM!). We do sun salutations, paint sunshines, share sun and mother earth folklore stories with the children, craft, create, wear flowers in our hair and have a dinner with items from the earth. We were supposed to have a bonfire to end the day, but the storms might keep us indoors. If so, we'll just light a few candles and enjoy ourselves.
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I totally love the summer! I can't wait to for it to be hotter then ever. We didn't really have a summer last year but the winter was outrageous for me.
So I plan on celebration the summer with smoothies, more fresh fruit and veggies, and continuing with eco-friendly products and being out in the sun.
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We're having a stormy Solstice unfortunately, so I have to keep checking on my cat who is terrified of thunder and is firmly planted under the bed! Poor baby. Still a wonderful day and I have hopes the sun will appear for us before it goes to bed this evening.
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And Happy Summer Solstice to all of you!
@ Lucinda.. Secret Solistice Sister Day! I'm going to remember that... mind if I adopt that? :)
I will be spending my evening studying and taking a Zumba class... (just a typical Tuesday for me).
I am studying Five-Element Acupuncture. I am learning that the solstices and equinoxes are the fullest expression of that particular season. So today is the fullest expression of summer. It's not actually the beginning of summer. (This is according to ancient Chinese observation.) For the area I live in, I see this to be true... How about the area you live in?
xo
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I spent some time out in the hot sunshine in our garden, harvesting veggies and herbs. The rest of the day, I'll be spending time in our kitchen creating new recipes using what I gathered. It's a beautiful hot summer day here today. :-)
--Emily Sweet http://www.onesweetvegan.com/
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Today we went on a massive hike at a local state park and then came home to bbq- vegan seitan ribz, grilled corn on the cob and fresh grilled pineapple. YUM! Summer! :)
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I love love love solstice! We celebrated at work with Secret Solstice Sister Day. We exchanged names and gave each other really fun summery gifts. I'll be bbq'ing later on this evening with friends. It's such a great day to celebrate and be grateful!
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