June Solstice 2024: Peak of Light or Darkness
The word Solstice comes from the Latin words “solis”, which means “sun”, and “stitium”, which means “to stand still” or “to stop”, hence, Solstice literally means “standing sun”. At this time of the year, the Sun seems to have stopped his progressive movement in the sky as we see it from Earth and has reached his highest or lowest point.
In the Northern Hemisphere of the globe, at the time of the Summer Solstice the maximum amount of light is available and from now on, the days are going to progressively get shorter. During Litha, the Sun’s power is at its maximum strength and the focus is on growth, vitality, and expansion. Summer is starting: during this time of the year the temperature rises, we are drawn to spend more time outside, make new experiences, and we are more open to what life offers us.
In the Southern Hemisphere instead, the Winter solstice marks the longest night and shortest day of the year. During Winter, we are drawn to internalize our focus, spend more time indoors, and nurture our inner life while integrating and digesting all the experiences we had in recent weeks and months. When Yule occurs, the Sun’s power is at its minimum, however, from now on, the days are going to gradually get longer: hence, this event represents a symbol of impending rebirth and renewal.
Ancient and Modern Celebrations for Solstices
Solstices have been celebrated for millennia by ancient peoples, traditions, and cultures all around the globe.
It is well known that the Romans celebrated Saturnalia, a festival of light leading up to the Winter Solstice, while the Druids performed rituals at Stonehenge to celebrate the wedding of Heaven and Earth during the Summer Solstice. Nowadays, both the Hindu festival of Makar Sankranti and the Dongzhi Festival in China correspond to the Winter Solstice, and the Indigenous peoples of North America also have traditions linked to the Summer Solstice, such as the Sun Dance.
While Solstices no longer represent a traditional celebration or official holiday in the Western world, we can easily see that many cultural and religious events such as Christmas and Saint John’s Eve still happen around the time of a Solstice. In the North of Europe, the celebration of Midsummer, coinciding with the Summer Solstice, is still very much alive today, and the same goes for Kupala Night in Eastern Europe.
Solstices, Equinoxes, and Ancient Sacred Sites
Both Solstices and Equinoxes have been revered, honored, and studied for a very long time, and not only as markers for the passing of seasons. We know that numerous temples, sacred sites, and monuments have been built in perfect alignment with the Sun’s position on Solstices and Equinoxes. Peoples and cultures all around the globe, from Ancient Egypt to Ancient Ireland, from the Maya civilization to Ancient China, were well aware of the significance and value of Solstices and Equinoxes as shown by the monuments that survived to this day.
We know that ancient civilizations, long before recorded history or history as we studied in school, had access to extremely advanced astronomical knowledge. Monuments such as Stonehenge in England, the El Castillo pyramid at Chichen Itza in Mexico, the Temple of Karnak in Egypt, and many more were not just observatories but ceremonial sites that were built and aligned with the Sun’s position on Solstices or Equinoxes with a degree of precision that is not easy to achieve even to this day.
The structures they created suggest the ancients had a deep and detailed understanding of the cosmos and of the connection between the Sun and the Earth. But the alignment and quality of their ritual sites also reflect the value they placed on their relationship with the sacred and the mystery, as well as their reverence for the Sun, the source of life.
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