Summer Solstice: Lore, Preparations, Bibliography, Celebrations, Crafts, Rituals, Links, Poems, Prayers, NeoPagan (original) (raw)
[Many people consider June 21st as the start of summer. Others think of June 21st as Mid-Summer being between May 1st and August 31. We are active gardeners and harvest many crops during this "summertime" period.]
The Art of Ritual: A Guide to Creating and Performing Your Own Ceremonies for Growth and Change. By Renee Beck and Sydney Barbara Metrick .
Cloud Hands Blog Mike Garofalo writes about Gardening, Tai Chi, Mysticism, Walking, Yoga and the Eight Ways.
Divination Methods: Tarot Most Holy Day rituals include using some method for divination: Runes, Oghams, Tarot, Gazing, or Signs. I use either the Voyager Tarot or the Crowley Thoth Tarot.
Fairies, Elves, Nature Spirits: Lands Spirits, Alfs, Wights, Lars, Trolls, Dwarves, Sidhe, Devas, Otherworld, Little Folk
Land Spirits, Nature Spirits: Fairies, Elves, Alfs, Wights, Trolls, Dwarves, Sidhe, Devas, Otherworld, Little Folk, Ancestors, Ghosts
Librarian of Gushen Grove, Michael P. Garofalo, M.S.L.S., Red Bluff, California, _aka_The Green Wizard
The Magickal Year: A Pagan Perspective on the Natural Worldby Diana Ferguson
May: Quotes, Poems, Celebrations, Lore, Garden Chores
Months of the Year: Quotes, Poems, Reading List, Links, Garden Chores, Holidays
The Mysteries of Druidry: Celtic Mysticism, Theory and Practice by Brendan Cathbad Myers
Nature Spirits: Fairies, Elves, Alfs, Wights, Lars, Trolls, Dwarves, Sidhe, Devas, Otherworld, Little Folk, Ancestors, Ghosts
Neopagan Rites: A Guide to Creating Public Rituals that Work. By Isaac Bonewits.
Northern Tradition for the Solitary Practitioner. A Book of Prayer, Devotional Practice, and the Nine Worlds of the Spirit. By Galina Krasskova and Raven Kaldera.
One Old Druid's Final Journey - The Notebooks of the Librarian of Gushen Grove
Order of Bards Ovates and Druids. The largest Druid organization in the world. A complete training program in print and audio versions, discussion groups, library, extensive resources. I am a member of this Order as a Bardic Grade student. The OBOD celebrates the Eight Holy Days of NeoPaganism. I find their liturgical cycle and rituals to be spiritually uplifting, wholesome, life affirming, earth centered, ecologically positive, profound, polytheistic, and open minded. OBOD is more orientated towards Celtic spirituality.
Oriental Religions in the West. By Sir James Frazer, 1922.
Paganism: An Introduction to Earth-Centered Religions. Joyce and River Higginbotham.
_Pulling Onions_by Mike Garofalo
Red Bluff, California. Natural History Studies at our Home and Gardens.By Karen and Mike Garofalo.
Roman Pagan Holy Days, Seasonal Celebrations, Religious Customs, Roman Pagan Hearth
The Sabbats: A New Approach to Living the Old Ways. By Edain McCoy.
Sacred CirclesBibliography, Links, Quotes, Notes. Photos of the Valley Spirit Center sacred circle construction project.
Sacred Fire, Holy Well: A Druid's Grimoire. By Ian Corrigan.
Sexual Magic: Bibliography, Links, Quotes
The Solitary Druid: A Practitioner's Guide. By Robert Lee (Skip) Ellison.
Solitary Witch: The Ultimate Book of Shadows for the New Generation. By Silver Ravenwolf.
The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess. Rituals, invocations, exercises, and magic. By Starhawk.
The Spirit of Gardening3,500 quotes, poems, sayings, and ideas about gardening, gardens, and the Green Way. Materials organized by 150 topics; and a fully indexed collection with a search engine. Online since 1999. Over 6MB of text. Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo.
Spring - Quotes, Poems, Sayings and Quips for Gardeners
Summer - Quotes, Poems, Sayings and Quips for Gardeners
Ten Great Ways to Celebrate Lithia
Valley Spirit Sacred Circle, Red Bluff, California
Walkers Between the Worlds: The Western Mysteries from Shaman to Magus. By Caitlin and John Matthews.
Wheel of the Year: Living the Magical Life. By Pauline Campanelli.
Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. By Scott Cunningham.
Wisdom of the Elements: The Sacred Wheel of Earth, Air, Fire and Water by Margie McArthur
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| Summer Solstice - Table of Associations and Correspondences (Reflecting our environment and interests in Red Bluff, California) | |
|---|---|
| Time of Day | Noon, Midday |
| Time of Life | 40's, Raising a Family, Career Focus |
| Decorations | |
| Fruits | Oranges, Apricots, Plums, Strawberries, Boysenberries, Blackberries |
| Herbs | Lavender, Rosemary, Chamomile, Fennel, Thyme, Rue |
| Flowers | Roses, Honeysuckle, Marigolds, Hollyhocks |
| Foods and Drinks | Water, Iced Teas, Beer |
| Tools | |
| Goddesses | |
| Gods | Apollo |
| Nature Spirits | Faeries, Phoenix, Thunderbirds |
| Themes | Renewal, Gratitude, Exuberance, Growth, Harvest |
| Gardening Activities | Chores, Pruning, Mowing, Weeding, Watering |
| Animals | Bees, Butterflies, Mosquitoes, Blackbirds, |
| Colors | Red |
| Sacred Circle (Valley Spirit) | Watering, Pruning, Sweeping, Fireplace, Music, Food |
| Celebrations | Bonfires, Fireworks, Weddings |
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General Preparations Summer Solstice, June 21st
1. Working and meditating in thegarden is an important facet of my spiritual path. I need to regularly reconnect with the earth and the summer season outdoors. I live in Red Bluff, California, USDA Zone 9, Northern Hemisphere. Mylate June gardening chores might be quite different from yours, depending upon where you live. Tend your garden daily. Water your garden each day. Weed your vegetable garden. Harvest squash, tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables from your garden each day. Review your own lists of chores forJune andJuly, and act accordingly.
2. Read about the Summer Solstice, and summer harvest celebrations around the world. Add notes and links to your webpages for good books, magazines, and webpages on the subject. See my bibliography and links above. Visit your local public library or college library to obtain access to books, media and magazines on the subject. Study about ancient Indo-European religions. I update my Months webpages onJune andJuly.
3. Add some appropriate Summer Solstice songs, chants, prayers, reflections, invocations, or poems to your Neo-Pagan Craft Journal, Book of Shadows, blog, website, or Ritual Handbook. Write in your personal journal. Most spiritual seekers keep a notebook, journal or log as part of their experimental, creative, magical and experiential work.
4. Stay at home. Improve your home, backyard, or garden. Eliminate long driving trips. Do you really need to "Go" anywhere? Do you really need to fly by airplane to another country? Explore your backyard, neighborhood, local community, nearby city, county wide area, and regional area within 100 miles. Visit a local "sacred site." For us, for example, this could beMt. Shasta, the headwaters spring of the Sacramento River in Mt. Shasta City, the Sacramento River at Woodson Bridge Park, a long walk in the forest below nearby Mt. Lassen, sitting on the shore of Whiskeytown Lake, sitting in my backyard in the moonlight, or visiting a beautiful church or college or park that is nearby. Watch a DVD on a spiritual subject, sacred place, or inspirational topic. Learn more about your localenvironment.
5. Read solitary or group rites for Summer Solstice celebrations available in books and webpages (see above). Create your own ritual for the Summer Solstice. Practice the ritual. Conduct the ritual at a convenient time for you, or your family and/or friends, as close to the day of the summer solstice equinox as possible.
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Quotations, Information, Facts, Lore Summer Solstice, June 21st, Lithia, Mid-Summer Celebration, Sun-Day
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Cloud Hands Blog Eightfold Way Process Philosophy Virtue Ethics
"The sun is always a powerful, invincible image, whether it is the weak illumination of the pre winter solstice, or the savage primal energy of midsummer. Long before humanity developed written language humans must have gazed in terrific awe at the reborn sun each morning, how it over came the dangerous dragon of darkness that it sank into each evening, the provider of light, warmth, sustainer of growing vegetation -life itself--this enormous solar edifice quite clearly was one of the earliest forms of worship as man began to fashion a supernatural interpretation of natural phenomenon from the daily spectacle of the dying and reborn sun. Albert Pike makes the following concise statement in his Morals and Dogma: 'To them [aboriginal peoples] he [the sun] was the innate fire of bodies, the fire of Nature. Author of Life, heat, and ignition, he was to them the efficient cause of all generation, for without him there was no movement, no existence, no form. He was to them immense, indivisible, imperishable, and everywhere present. It was their need of light, and of his creative energy, that was felt by all men; and nothing was more fearful to them than his absence. His beneficent influences caused his identification with the Principle of Good; and theBrama of the Hindus, and Mithras of the Persians, and Athom,Amum, Phtha, and Osiris, of the Egyptians, theBel of the Chaldeans, the Asonai of the Ph�nicians, the Adonis and Apollo of the Greeks, became but personifications of the Sun, the regenerating Principle, image of that fecundity which perpetuates and rejuvenates the world's existence.'"
- Christ, Constantine, Sol Invictus: The Unconquerable Sun By Ralph Monday
"O most honored Greening Force,
You who roots in the Sun;
You who lights up, in shining serenity, within a wheel
that earthly excellence fails to comprehend.
You are enfolded
in the weaving of divine mysteries.
You redden like the dawn
and You burn: flame of the Sun."
- Hildegard von Bingen(1098-1179), Viriditas
"Litha is a pagan holiday; one of their eight sabbats during the year. Litha (also known as Midsummer) occurs on the summer solstice, and celebrates the beginning of summer. The traditions of Litha appear to be borrowed from many cultures. Most ancient cultures celebrated the summer solstice in some way. The Celts celebrated Litha with hilltop bonfires and dancing. Many people attempted to jump over or through the bonfires for good luck. Other European traditions included setting large wheels on fire, and rolling them down a hill into a body of water. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year, and in some traditions, Litha is when a battle between light and dark takes place. In this battle, the Oak King and the Holly King battle for control. During each solstice, they battle for power, and the balance shifts. The Oak King, who represents daylight, rules from the winter solstice (Yule) to Litha. During this time, the days steadily get longer. However, during Litha, the Holly King wins this battle, and the days get steadily darker until Yule. For modern day pagans, Litha is a day of inner power and brightness. Some people find a quiet spot and meditate about the light and dark forces in their world. Some other observers, particularly those with children, celebrate this holiday outside. Lastly, some observers choose to observe Litha more traditionally, and they would hold a fire ritual. This might include a large bonfire, or a small fire in a fire-safe pot in one�s house. Litha is also considered a good time to practice love magic or get married. The pagan version of this ceremony is called handfasting, and it includes many of the same practices one might find at a wedding."
- Lithia, Boston Public Library
June: Poems, Quotations, Sayings, Lore
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Poems, Prayers, Rites, Liturgy, Invocations Summer Solstice, June 21st
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Mike Garofalo's Notes
My notes, observations, listing of local activities, and studies on the Summer Solstice, June 21st.
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****| Months and Seasons Quotes, Poems, Sayings, Verses, Lore, Myths, Holidays Celebrations, Folklore, Reading, Links, Quotations Information, Weather, Gardening Chores Compiled by Mike Garofalo | | | |** | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Winter | Spring | Summer | Fall | | January | April | July | October | | February | May | August | November | | March | June | September | December |
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This webpage was last edited, improved, modified or updated on June 8, 2021.
This webpage was first published on the Internet in April of 2012.
Valley Spirit Center Red Bluff, California Red Bluff, Tehama County, North Sacramento Valley, Northern California, U.S.A. Cities and small towns in the area: Sacramento, Davis, Woodland, Vacaville, Marysville, Yuba City, Williams, Colusa, Willows, Orland, Oroville, Paradise, Durham, Chico, Hamilton City, Corning, Rancho Tehama, Los Molinos, Vina, Tehama, Proberta, Gerber, Red Bluff, Manton, Cottonwood, Olinda, Cloverdale, Dairyville, Bend, Centerville, Summit City, Anderson, Shasta Lake, Palo Cedro, Igo, Ono, Redding, Shasta, Richfield, Fall River, Montgomery Creek, Alturas, McCloud, Dunsmuir, Yreka, Happy Camp, Shingletown, Burney, Mt. Shasta City, Weaverville, Chester, Susanville, Weed, Gridley, NorCalifia, CA, California.
Months: Quotations, Poetry, Lore, Garden Chores
One Old Druid's Final Journey: Notebooks of the Librarian of Gushen Grove
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