Summer Solstice: Reclaiming Fire
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The Summer Solstice, also known as Litha, is not only recognized as the longest day of the 12 month yearly cycle - it's one of the high sabbats of the Wheel of the Year, known as sacred by magical practitioners and witches everywhere. Every June we pass through this powerful portal of change and transformation, gifted with the longest duration of brightness of the 12 months. Here we stand at the central point of the year, hanging in the most liminal space of the spring and summer months. This year has been especially strong - can you feel the presence of the ancestors? I sure can. The veil is tangibly thin, which indicates that as we progress through 2020, it will only become thinner. Like the Sun staring down at us from its celestial throne, we too are experiencing a high peak of inner fire, piqued by our divine rights. The light of our absolute knowing direct themselves into the dark corners of what has been ignored, festering and now seething. Like the Sun reaching its highest point, burning bright and rekindling our hearts, we can no longer turn away, unfeel or unsee. This Solstice season, we are being collectively cleansed, shaken, and awakened by fire.
This has long been a traditional time of gathering and celebration, though the energies of the year thus far have brought us to a very unusual and unknown place. Many of us are feeling uncomfortable, confused, or angry. We're holding grief for ourselves, and for others - possibly more than we ever have before. Some of us are also perhaps working far too hard to hold their inner knowing at bay and likely losing the battle since truth will always prevail. Truth is also a collective experience, just like life. We cannot detach ourselves from the whole, no matter how hard we try. We can however change the collective from the inside out. The more we challenge ourselves, sit with our discomfort and honor our paths towards greater awareness, the more we support the growth and further unfolding for the whole, too.
As we dive further into our own divinity and value as magical worthy individuals, we should seize this opportunity to remember those who came before. Those who were also worthy in body and spirit and always will be, losing their lives to the fight against oppression. In some places, it is still traditional to light a bonfire to resemble the witches that have been killed by burning. Though this could and should be an empowering act, many continue to perform it as threat; a kind of dark ritual to keep the toxic flames of oppression lit. This brings us to similar sentiments of bigotry that we, very sadly, are watching surge higher and higher in the here and now. It's not as if these societal sicknesses ever went away, or even subsided. They've been hidden from the public eye, and eventually ignored by the majority. As a counter, I ask you to take this time to reclaim the right to fire. We wield it when we speak our truth, we birth it through our bodies and minds, we kindle it with our flourishing pleasure and self-care, and remember it when seeking aid from our divine guides. Light a candle to commemorate those lost to oppression in a world that was afraid of their fire, and continues to be. Burn extra bright for them and for yourself as well. Remember your own true being which has been abandoned for a culture of systemic oppression. Rebirth yourself everyday as the sun rises. As you do, the world around you will change. This is a serious endeavor, a challenge and an honor, and a beautiful affirmation of our own power. Fire is unapologetically present during the summer solstice. We are asked to do the same, as the mother of all fires scorches the sky above. She shows us how. Without the fire above or the fire within, the cycle would cease, and life would not exist. You really are that important.
It is time to be a student and a teacher of ourselves, as well as the world around us. As the binary further dissolves and we're asked to step into new portals of reality, it's apparent that the system which we've been all at once perpetuating and trapped within is breaking down. The best we can do is hold on, accept change, and embrace the position of making new choices in this lifetime on behalf of those to come. Under the scrutiny of the sun, our shadows grow harder and sharper. We are deeply seen. It's time to do the work of looking at our own darkness and acknowledging it. Healing happens through first witnessing what must be healed. Feel it to heal it. Shadow work is often associated with the darker months, during the thinning of the spiritual veil. But 2020 has been different. The veil began thin, and will only grow morso as we progress month by month. During this summer solstice, celebrate yourself as worthy. Even if it's not secure to feel - especially if it's not secure to feel - it's a muscle and will strengthen with time. I promise it will. Meet yourself where you're at - and know that from here, there will be a need for a healthy pace. This is not instant work. Nor is it a race. Icarus taught us that by getting too close to the sun too soon, we will hurt ourselves and others as we fall back to earth. Perhaps Icarus is the perfect archetype of capitalism. Of very real burn out. We must take time to rest - to feel that warmth from a distance, and learn to patiently grow in our own embers as they burn, so that we may share them. Not hoard. Once we realize the abundance and strength of self, it’s suddenly laughable to think there isn’t enough to go round. Let’s take a hint from the Sun, here to support us, to heal us, to offer warmth and life energy to the entirety of this planet with a routine of daily rest, following by fresh presence. We are all joined by the need for this in our lives. Some try to own the sun, to harness energy for themselves, or to hoard the inner light of others. This may feed our ego for a time, but it is not sustainable. The greater the high, the harder the fall. We're learning together to undo the lessons of greed and to live together. To truly exist for the thriving of each other. The sacrifice is so worth the reward.