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Summer SolsticeBy Robin
DuMolin
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Wonder
Treat for the Soul  Amazing Open-Eyed Light Meditation |
The summer solstice was celebrated when the sun reached its most northerly position. It is regarded as occurring in Cancer (the Crab). It is evident that the constellation of the Crab is represented by this particular creature because the sun, after passing through this house, precedes to work backwards, or descend the zodiacal arc.
As for the history of the summer solstice, for centuries people in Europe celebrated springtime by lighting fires. These might have been fires kindled at hillsides to drive away witches and to help the sun with its task of warming the earth. On May Day the Celts, who had lived in Scotland and Ireland since ancient times, would make a fire out of gorse to burn out the witches. This was part of the Celtic fire festival called Beltane. Beltane means "Bright Fire." When the Celts decided to celebrate the solstice they simply extended their fire rituals to Midsummer Eve. In Sweden a Midsummer Tree was set up and decorated. The villagers danced around it, lit fires and jumped over them. On Midsummer Day it was also the custom for women and girls to bathe in a river. Long ago this bathing was considered magic for bringing the life-giving rain. In a river the water is always moving, always renewed.
The sun, as supreme among the celestial bodies visible to the astronomers of antiquity, was assigned to the highest of the gods and became symbolic of the supreme authority of the Creator Himself.
The Natchez Indians in the southern part of the U.S. worshipped the sun and believed their ruler was descended from him. Every summer they held a first fruits ceremony. No one was allowed to touch the ripe ears of corn in his own field until the ceremony was finished. The Hopi Indians of Arizona would have masked men wearing bright paint and feathers who danced their special rituals. They represented the dancing spirits of rain and fertility called Kachinas. The Kachinas were messengers between man and the gods. At Midsummer the Kachinas leave the Hopi villages to return to their homes in the mountains. While they are there, for half the year, they are believed to visit the dead underground and hold ceremonies for them. The Catholic Church chose Midsummer for celebrating the birth of Saint John the Baptist and called it Saint John's Day. John was the forerunner of Jesus and baptized Him in the river Jordan. Jesus had once called him, "A burning and shining light." The Church told people that Midsummer fires should represent St. John instead of the sun, however the rites and their meaning for the people changed very little until recent times.
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