- Kitty Edwards
RITUAL: Celebrate the Sun
Friday, June 21 is the Summer Solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere. The Sun will reach the highest point in the sky and our shadows will be fore-shortened.
It is summertime and the living is easy. Ancient cultures celebrated the Earth and Sun on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. People traveled great distances to astrological structures - Stonehenge in England, the Bighorn Medicine Wheel in the US and the Temple of the Earth in China. In community they offered their gratitude to the relationship between the Earth and the Sun. Through solstice rituals we celebrate the nature of seasons. When we engage in solstice rituals we connect with “original time.” We honor the Sun’s daily journey across the sky. We honor the quarterly stages from solstice to equinox to solstice. By witnessing the changes in the seasons, we recognize our own changing natures as we cycle through the stages of life. I invite you to celebrate the summer solstice. You can find some more suggestions for celebrating the Summer Solstice in our blog here. This month we invite you to strengthen your relationship with the sun. A daily practice of celebrating the Sun will orient you in space and time. Many traditions offer Sun salutations. I suggest that you keep it simple - become a sunflower rooted in the Earth with your face turned in the direction of the Sun. Take time to stop, stand and fill your energy field with the warmth of the Sun. You may find instructions for this sunflower ritual in the Conscious Transitions – Summer 2019 Workbook (Part VI).
For more information about other rituals to prepare for death as a rite of passage, we invite you to explore our Guidebook to Conscious Transitions: Living with Dying.
