Today was a long day.
For real, it was the longest day of the year. Today, the sun’s rays displayed over the Tropic of Cancer, the farthest north the sun’s rays will reach all year.
Welcome to the first astronomical day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. It is also the beginning of Cancer season--my moon and rising signs!--and the season of fertility.
This is a very special summer solstice for a couple of reasons. It is the earliest arrival of summer we have experienced since 1896. I live in the United States and the summer solstice officially occurred earlier this afternoon at 3:44 pm Mountain Daylight Time or 5:44 pm Eastern Daylight Time.
This is because of the leap year, which as you may already know, occurs about every 4 years. But did you know that a leap year only occurs at the turn of a century every 400 years?
According to earthysk.org, leap years were added to the Julian calendar in 46 BCE in order to synchronize the calendar with the seasons because the time it takes the Earth to orbit the sun is not a perfect and precise span of time. It shifts. A solar year is approximately 365.25 days.
Because of this, the summer solstice on average occurs earlier and earlier throughout the centuries and will continue to do so during this century until 2100. In the year 2100, we will experience what is a skipped leap year. According to the Air and Space Museum, if the year is divisible by 100 but not divisible by 400, the leap year is skipped. In the year 2000, we experienced a leap year. But we did not experience leap years in 1700, 1800, or 1900. And we will not experience a leap year again in 2100, 2200, and 2300.
By adding leap years every 4 years over such a long span of time, the calendar becomes longer by an average of 44 minutes causing the summer solstice to occur earlier and earlier throughout the centuries.
The earliest summer solstice we'll experience this century will occur on June 20, 2096, at 12:32 am Mountain Daylight Time or at 2:32 am Eastern Daylight Time.
So, enough about leap years. Let’s move on to another reason this year’s summer solstice is a special one:
The “Ring of Fire” eclipse.
This celestial phenomenon is the first solar eclipse of the decade and it coincides with the summer solstice during a new Moon. The ring of fire occurs once every year or two, but this year we’re experiencing it during a change of season, something which will only happen twice this century—now and on June 21, 2039.
The Moon is not in a perfect orbit around the earth. It's at a slight ellipse. This means at some points the moon is farther away than average and at other points it’s closer. Due to this marginal difference in orbital distance from the surface of the Earth, the Moon can appear slightly smaller or bigger. Most of the time the effect is barely noticeable.
But this becomes more apparent during a solar eclipse. The Moon is farthest from the Earth when it reaches a point called apogee. The closest point is perigee. At apogee, the Moon is far enough from the planet that it does not completely obscure the Sun in the areas under the umbra of the Moon's shadow. This results in the "ring of fire" that we see around the Moon during an annular solar eclipse.
At the peak of the eclipse, the moon will block 99.4% of the sun and the line of totality will be visible across many parts of Central Africa and Asia in the early hours of June 21.
Moving on to my favorite part:
The celebrations.
I’m not the biggest fan of summer, but that doesn’t mean I would pass up on the chance to celebrate it. I just really love holidays. In the future, I hope to participate in the gathering at Stonehenge to watch the first sunrise of the summer.
Every year, except this year, thousands of people gather at Stonehenge to witness the sunrise of the summer solstice. If you stand in the right place inside of the monument on the day of the solstice, you will see the sun rise perfectly above the Heel Stone, much like how, from the view of the Sphinx, the summer solstice sun sets perfectly between the Great Pyramids of Khufu and Khafre.
No one knows exactly why or how Stonehenge was built, but because of this, it’s believed the monument was strategically placed by Neolithic people as a way to showcase and celebrate the two solstices.
This gathering is considered one of the largest celebrations of the solstice and, for many Wiccans and modern Pagans, it’s part of an often days-long holiday known as Litha—one of the 8 sabbats.
This is a time of battle between light and dark. The Oak King, the personification of Summer, surrenders his throne to the Holly King, the personification of Winter, and the descent into the darker side of the year begins. This is because after the summer solstice, the Sun will begin to rise lower and lower until we reach the winter solstice—the shortest day and the longest night of the year. Then the cycle repeats itself in the opposite way. The Sun will begin to rise higher and higher until we are back here—the longest day and the shortest night of the year.
But despite this, Litha, or Midsummer, is a time to celebrate the power of the sun and the warmth of the season while it’s still here. Other than staying up to witness the sunrise, traditions can also include decorating an altar with flowers, crystals, sea shells, and twigs, or lighting bonfires. The wood burned for these bonfires is usually oak sprinkled with aromatic herbs—herbs that are often given as gifts on the day of the solstice in order to protect family and loved ones from evil spirits.
The bonfires are also thought to help ward off evil spirits as well as boost the sun’s energy for the remainder of the season in order to receive a good fall harvest.
A quick folklore fun fact, the Celtic name for oak is duir, which means doorway. This is why oak is used as a symbol of crossing over the threshold into the darker half of the year.
For modern Pagans and Wiccans, this is a time of inner power and self reflection. It’s a time of meditation. And because this is also the season of fertility--and not just for the harvest--many Wiccans may practice spellwork for love or sex.
But not everyone celebrates the summer season at the same time.
It can vary by culture.
The terms midsummer and midwinter are related to the meteorological definitions of the seasons. Today may be the first astronomical day of summer, but according to meteorology, summer is believed to occur from June 1 to August 31. Therefore for many scientists and other cultures who observe this as well, it is ushering in the middle of the season or midsummer.
The terms are also derived from Old English back when the old Anglo-Saxon calendar only had two seasons—summer and winter—and the solstices would naturally occur during the middle of these two seasons.
In countries like Finland and Iceland, the seasons are not based on any type of calendar. The seasons are based purely on the temperature meaning that seasons start and end on different dates within different regions depending on the climate. In Iceland, the first day of summer (Sumardagurinn fyrsti) is a national holiday that falls on the first Thursday after April 18.
But no matter when or where, the solstice has had significant roots in many cultures even in ancient times.
According to some ancient Greek calendars, the summer solstice or the first new Moon after the summer solstice marked the start of a new year. Around this time, the ancient Greeks celebrated Kronia—a festival in the name of Cronus, the god of agriculture. During this festival, slaves were permitted to participate as equals and were sometimes even served by their masters. This is very similar to the Ancient Roman Pagan festival, Saturnalia, which was celebrated around the winter solstice and is considered to be predecessor to Christmas.
Speaking of the Ancient Romans, they celebrated Vestalia—a religious festival in honor of the goddess of the hearth, Vesta. This festival was typically held around mid-June. During Vestalia, the curtains to the temple of Vesta were opened and married women were allowed to visit, barefoot, to leave offerings in exchange for blessings for their families.
There’s so much more I could talk about when it comes to the summer solstice and its many traditions around the world.
It is such a beautiful time of year full of love and light and flowers and honey that I could almost talk about more than the winter solstice.
Almost.
But for now, maybe light a fire, drink an elderflower cocktail, and enjoy the warm weather—if you have it, that is.
Watch the video here: