I’ve always dropped a summer girl. It is not cozy as autumn, fast as winter or hops like spring. Summer stands out on its own as a brilliant and energizing time of the year. His happiness is just a juicy bite and drip from your chin-chin or watermelon, and the gap arrives with a single cannon ball outside the diving board. The nights extend a lot in a golden hour, when only the rays bugs light their electric charm. Everything in the world feels better when it is bathed in the sun.
So you can imagine my delight when they asked me to write a guide to celebrate the summer solstice.
One of my favorite summer people is my mother -in -law, a woman named Margaret, who, at some point, began to call herself “Marguerite” because he felt that he required her better. (The name means “French wild Margarita”, which is much more its style). Like the family matriarch, it encouraged us to live creative and color outside the lines, even in its roots in a suburban neighboring hood buttoned in San Antonio.
While others played tennis and drank small in the club, Marguerite spent their garden days and meditating. And when most families gathered for Christmas or Hanukkah in December, it guided us in winter solstice celebrations illuminated by the moon, adorned in silver and gold, dancing under the stars. In the warmest months, they were Maypoles, crowns of flowers, magical spells and summer spree. It was magical and memorable. He taught me to approach the world with exuberance of open heart and child fantasy.
Years later, my beautiful mother -in -law suffers from a weakening and rare brain disease. Now more than ever, I find myself supported by the memories of those traditions that brought my life. In honor of his precious and inspiring spirit, I began to look in the incorporation of some of his wild forms of wonderful in me own Family of five.
Keep reading to see what summer solstice is, why you celebrate and some ideas that you can also incorporate your own festivities.
What is the summer solstice?
Duration The summer solstice in the northern hemisphere, the axis of the earth is more inclined towards the sun, offering the longest day of the year (think: more sunlight!) And the shortest night. It always happens at the end of June. This year, Summer Solstice is Friday, June 20, thus beginning the astronomical beginning of summer.
Why do we celebrate it?
For thousands of years, people have celebrated summer and winter solstices as markers of planting and harvest seasons, which date back to the Neolithic era, according to the St. Neot Museum. The first pagans honored the summer solstice as a time to glorify the God of the Sun, adorning with herbal and flower garlands that are believed to move away evil spirits (who thought they had an active duration in the height of summer). Today, these traditions live, with solstice celebrations that symbolize a new life, light, renewal, fertility and abundance, within ourselves and in the world around us.
How is summer solstice celebrated worldwide?
In England, people gather to see dawn on the stone of heel in Stonehenge. YoIn the Nordic countries of Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland, they celebrate with their Medium FestivalsEach with their own unique traditions (the Swedes decorate their hair with flowers and dance around Maypoles, while the Finns light and date back to Saunas). Meanwhile, only 150 miles south of the Summerba Arctic Circle, Alaskas A midnight baseball game Sun and Festival.
In England, the crowds gather to see the sun rise on the stone of the heel in Stonehenge, a tradition of timeless solstice. In all the Nordic countries of Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Icelaland, the medium -sized festivals take the center of the stage, each of their own unique customs. In Sweden, the Juerguistas use crowns of flowers and dance around Mypoles, while in Finland, the bonfires, Blaze and Saunas are a key part of the celebration. Meanwhile, only 150 miles south of the Arctic circle, Fairbanks, Alaska marks the summer solstice with a midnight baseball game and a festival throughout the city.
Why create your own festival without traveling to the end of the Earth? Keep reading to see some of our ideas to celebrate the longest day of the year!
Outdoor summer solstice activities
- Make a walk. Get out of the path beaten, tie those mountain boots and prepare to sweat a little. There is no better way to celebrate the summer solstice than (a Music and podcasts) Walk through Mother Nature, allowing the only noise to create dirt under her feet.
- Enjoy the glory of the sun. Come out and allow your skin to absorb a bit or Vitamin d. And if you are hanging outside for more than a few minutes, here is our summary of all our solar caregivers and favorite chemical protectors.
- Break the grass games. Pickleball or BocceSomeone?
- Star cannon. Extend a blanket in your backyard and look at the stars. Too much light from the city, which makes it difficult to see the Milky Way? Try to leave the city limits a bit: the less light in the city, the better the stars cat will be.
DIY Summer Solstice Handicraft to celebrate the Sun
- Figure your bohemian spirit. Design a DIY FLORAL CORONA.
- Make a Surrcatcher. Stop your local account store and hang your Handmade In a window, allowing accounts to gently divert the light in their home.
- Assemble a litha altar. Traditionally, an altar of Litha honors the sun and energy of the summer solstice, with simolas such as yellow candles, herbs, flowers and images of the sun.
- Be a goddess of the sun. Take some tape, thread, branches and sage, and try your hand in a Solar wheel.
Summer solstice ideas inspired by adventure
- Go collect berries. Find a local farm outside the city limits and make a day walking between trees and vines.
- Establish camp. Find the perfect store, collect some wood for a bonfire and go to the hills.
- Take a dip in the afternoon. Don’t you have a pool? Find a neighborhood pool to swim next to the brightness of the moon. (Living in Austin? We are partial to the swimming of the full moon. Barton Springs.
- Try the Padleboard yoga. In the true fashion of summer solstice, Sup yoga It takes you outside to celebrate the outdoors, it is a great exercise for both the body and for balance, and it is simply fun.
Summer solstice food ideas
Summer solstice rituals for reflection and renewal
- Meditate. It is so simple ash Breathing and breathing.
- Punish. Yes, it is buzzing, but for a good reason. Grounding is a new modern tradition with old roots. It reduces stress and inflammation, neutralizes free radicals, improves sleep and it is said that it helps the skin of tone and clarity.
- Set of intentions. Was the configuration of thought objectives only for January? Think again. Honor the celebration of the new beginning of the summer solstice lighting some new leaves.
- Start something new. The summer solstice is about new beginnings, so now it is the perfect time to try their luck in learning more about the types of enneagram or take a diary of nature.
