Summer Solstice Meditation 2019
Meditation vs. Ritual
How many of you want to celebrate the Summer Solstice in some otherworldly fashion but when confronted with having to gather candles, herbs, incense, anointing oil, cakes and ale and recite poetry to people you don’t even really know that well get overwhelmed and give up? That’s what happens to me. I’m guessing I’m not alone.
I understand that the point of it all is to connect with the Earth and the Sun – even the entire cosmos – for a few minutes. It’s a good time to open portals and feel the presence of deities or fairies, ask for boons, all of that kind of stuff. Possibly too good of an opportunity – be careful what you wish for.
On some level it would be nice to believe that the collective power raised on the Summer Solstice actually makes life better for the planet. Maybe, despite what we know scientifically, it does help to thank the Sun for being here. Perhaps we could ask the Sun’s help in getting us out of this global warming mess we’ve gotten ourselves into. I don’t really have direct personal experience with these types of magical workings, though, so I’m not going to write a ritual to try and do it.
Summer Solstice Meditation 2019
I thought a meditation to go straight to the source of the Summer Solstice itself could be useful. If you want to set sacred space with candles, incense, etc., please do, but otherwise just read along and immerse yourself in the words like you would a good novel. Sometimes less is more.
Take a moment and be aware of where you are. Look around and make note of the space you are in and what surrounds you. How much of this stuff would exist without the sun? If you’re in a building, physically connect with the trees that became the bones of the building, the furniture, the paper. Think about how the trees are sunshine in physical form. Think about the clothing you’re wearing. One way or another, even with synthetics, it is likely connected to plants, either by the fibers used to make the cloth or the plants the animals ate that grew the wool or fur. Most of what we need to survive is connected to the sun. In the future that may not be true, but for now it still is. How often do you take time to think about this? Every day? Once a year? Do you take the sun for granted?
Turn your imagination towards the sun. You can close your eyes or not. Remember a time when you enjoyed the warmth of the sun on your skin. Maybe it was a beach or swimming pool when you were a kid, maybe it was the surprising warmth in your vehicle at the end of winter. Or another time.
Mentally put yourself back in that feeling of enjoying the sun’s rays. Now imagine that the sun is a living entity. Stars have life cycles. They are born, they have long lives, and they die. It’s possible, then, that they have a consciousness, too. The ancient people believed that the sun was alive. Set aside all the logic you learned in school for a moment and believe that the sun is intelligent and all-seeing.
Imagine that the Earth, too, has a consciousness, and that she is a child of the Sun. You, in turn, are a child of the Earth. Without the Earth, there could be no humans. Imagine the Sun as our benevolent grandparent. Imagine that it likes to spoil and indulge us. What if the Sun and the Earth worked together to build this egg where life could grow? What if it is all a kind of love that is beyond our understanding?
Take a moment to be in these benevolent rays without all the layers of interpretation that we’ve put on them. Feel nurtured. Connect with the power of the Sun while in the protective cocoon of the Earth. Imagine the Sun giving you a tiny, tiny pinch of its power and placing it in your belly. Wiggle your toes on the ground beneath your feet knowing that you have roots in the Earth in innumerable ways. Smile. Feel the Sun and the Earth smiling with you.
This new little pinch of power is the Sun’s solstice gift to you. You can use it as you like. You can let it incubate and grow some and then share it with others. You can let it expand around you into your own gentle, protective atmosphere. Think of all the ways you could use this pinch of Sun to make your life better. Feed it and let it grow, then give some of it back to the Earth and the Sun. It will have your fingerprint on it. We all have parts of us that can benefit the world and the cosmos. The Sun can help us activate them.
It is time to leave this contemplation but you can take it with you as you go do the things you have to do that don’t feel very magical. Remember the Sun and give your heart to it.
