Map
4 directions
Earth & Sky
Centre
Remembering / Honouring the 4/ 6 directions helped traditional peoples remember where they were & their place in the scheme of things
Not just in place but also in time
Rhythms of life
& In the line of Ancestors, the people who have come before them & those who will come after them, So life was understood in terms of 7 generations before & after
& actually even further back because they remembered their place in the whole cosmos, how all the cells that make us human beings are part of the cosmos that has been here for millions of years and so they would and we will pay our respects to all the elements of which we are part
fire, water, earth
Altar elements flowers
& air
Sound Open circle
Guided relaxation
Breathing with the earth
To settle, quieten & connect to Mother Earth
& deep well of wisdom within ourselves
Labyrinth hear any messages mother earth has for us
Take learnings to fire
pay respects to practice,
to ourselves & each other sharing the practice
& to Mother Earth universe & everything
Tea / glass of water
Sharing
Close sound
Bring a flower And a blanket
Connect in to the song of the seasons, the rhythms of life, the music of the spheres, the eternal song & listening & hearing to the deep wisdom of Mother Nature, that is within us as well as all around us.
So you may want to bring an intention/question / some clarity/understanding/a question you would like help with,
that you would like to get some guidance on
Something that the full sun, revered for all its life-giving energy, could shine some light on
Traditionally Midsummer was a time of gathering the community together to celebrate the abundance and generosity of nature and sharing in joy and togetherness at the peak of day light, with a village bonfire being lit on Midsummer’s Eve for those staying awake all night to welcome and watch the sunrise.
I hope this Solstice brought you a moment to pause.
To light a candle. To sit in stillness.
To remember who you are becoming.
These ancient thresholds ask us to listen.
To release what no longer serves.
To welcome the next chapter with intention.
As you walk with Luminous Warrior, let it stir more than memory.
Let it awaken what is waiting to be lived – Four winds Alberto Villoldo
As with each seasonal festival, it is a time for giving thanks,
open the way, reflect, integrate & release what no,longer serves us.
We are celebrating all that has grown during the rising energy / growth cycle of the sun, the swelling grain
and now this moment just before fertility, open to union as the pollen comes home / is drawn into the womb to create the seeds for the next cycle .
It is the season of fertilisation when the pollen lands on receptacle & makes its way down into the heart of the flower to create new life
The culmination of all the breaking open of the seed shell, the rooting, shooting, growing, blossoming, blooming, the pollination, the dreaming, scheming, planning, acting that has taken place over the last six months
since winter solstice When all the seeds were resting in the opposite dark womb of the earth. On the cusp of the Capricorn moment of being worked & broken open by the elements in the harsh cold of January
Now here we are on the cusp of the cancer moment with the pollen making its way into the dark womb of the flower to be fertilised
The magical crucible at the heart of the plant container of that moment / spark of new life
open releases receives open & draws in
So maybe thinking about what this years growing season for you as the light reaches its peak, what was broken open in January, what took root in February, what shoots rise in March, & broke into the light in April, what blossomed in May, and now in June is in full bloom
Does it bring you to life & fill you with joy?
Has anything grown too big / taken up too much space
Not had enough light
And what pollen has landed & what new life is waiting to spark into life as the divine feminine & divine masculine unite in the darkness
To gestate over winter & carry you into next year
This is cancer season big theme of home, homecoming
We are also reminded at the Summer Solstice that nothing lasts forever, that the light will fade once more and we must learn to let go. With the waning of the sun we can intentionally release what is no longer serving us, what we have completed or outgrown
Walk from shed overview/ map of ceremony
Intention
Stepping out of clock time (such a recent invention to)
reconnecting with the wheel of the year Remember cyclical time
& so stepping back into/reconnecting with deeptime & the rhythms of life
& the old ways of our ancestors going back thousands of years
holding ceremony to mark the turning of the year
Particularly women Reconnecting/remembering our relationship with Mother Earth, nature, our nature, our selves
remembering the innate wisdom within us and around us
So we start by remembering the 4 direction & their winds / corresponding seasons cycles power animals
Fire, East, Cool breeze at dawn, Rising sun, Eagle / Phoenix rising soaring across sky Earth South Warm summer sun, Midday, Jaguar basking confidence
Water West Bringer of rain, Setting sun, Snake shedding skin (next cycle / alchemy Ouroborus spiral) flowing
Air, North, cold wind, Dark night, Bear hibernating
Walk around tent 4 directions/winds. Circling, on the way in to remind ourselves and reconnect with the 4 directions
And enter sacred space
And then move into the tent
& remember the centre where all those directions are integrated
Light candle / incense
fire bringer of light & warmth protection the spark of life within us
Lit candle & will end with a little fire ceremony
Water (water cycle, us 70%, nourishing hydrating us, flow)
Earth from which we come to which we return
Put our flowers on the altar next to stone reminding us reconnecting us with earth
Say a bit why we have chosen them
stability support
Get comfy drop weight
Air life giving breathe, winds and carrier of sound
to open circle with sound chime bar/singing bowl
awaken our deep listening
To Mother Earth, nature, ourselves
So we have remembered ALL the directions, the elements
The ancestors earth air fire water
Beautiful steady earth holding us nourishing us
Sparkling water hydrating & purifying us
Mysterious fire heating
Air breath of life
to Finding ourselves rhrn, find our place here at the centre
The note sounding through us from Way back in deeptime time when we were nothing other than atoms in the universe
& call in All those who have sat in ceremony honouring this ever since
Know that we are held in love
As we reconnect to elements moving within ourselves
Starting with earth
Dropping all you weight down into the earth beneath you feeling yourself fully supported
Drop weight into earth
Release weight down & tension density holding black sludge down into earth to decompose become silt for new life
Body scan Relaxation
Settling into stillness
Feel breath
breath of life
Empty breath in oxygen
Out carbon dioxide for trees/plants/ oceans to breath in
breathing with the planet
Breath in fresh oxygenated Air
Make space
Becoming tree/ flower photosynthesizing / drawing nutrients
Drop roots
Suck up
Sparkly silver Blue water & nutrients flowing up
Nourishment of Earth
Release down & out
Draw in & up
Energetic branches to sun
Sparkly golden light from the sun’s fire soaking up
Photosynthesise
Water coming up flowing washing though & out bringing nourishment from compost earth
Breath out Cleaning out musty dusty
Air coming in opening explanding making space
Reach up branches open
inhale
Warm golden pink sunshiny love suns fire energy
Melting Dense tense
Exhale drop weight
Melting it down into earth black sludge compost to nourish the earth
The ancient rhythms of the earth have insinuated themselves into the rhythms of the human heart. The earth is not outside us; it is within: the clay from where the tree of the body grows.” ― John O’Donohue, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace
So here we are this moment right here right now
Peak of light
All the energies / juices flowing
Time of no night at this moment, evening dusk bleeds straight into the first blush of dawn, no complete darkness
And here, For the next 3 days & nights the sun stands still
Before the Turning of the year and from the 24th, the days start to get shorter & the night draws in. Imperceptibly at first just seconds at a time but picking up speed so by the end of July, just like at the end of January when we feel the nights drawing out, we might start to feel a different energy creeping in. And certainly by the end of August, Autumn is in the air (just like February when we feel spring is in the air).
But we have a while/this moment this month in between where things feel kind of held steady
Because the temperature is still rising even though the light begins to drop, so the energies are pulled in opposite directions, holding it still. So the yin in the yang. The pause at the top of the in-breath.
Just been through Gemini pollination
now into cancer coming home
before August & Leo job done
Trying not to disturbing the stillness open eyes and we’re going to take a walk to the centre of the labyrinth
just as the pollen makes its way to the heart of the flower at this peak of the year
to enter the centre, where it will be fertilised and become the seeds of the flowers that will bloom next year
But for the moment cancer is the mother energy opening to let the pollen makes its way to the centre
Then pausing at the centre Nature / our deep quiet wisdom might have for us at this moment as nature opens to receive the gifts of the year
Before we mark the turning of the year & follow the labyrinth back out Maybe bringing out some seeds for a second to hear any messages/ insights that Mother to take forward.
Tracing with our non dominant hand in rhythm with breath
Circle first to see if you have a specific intention/question you could do with some guidance on
Or just simply focusing on the energy of the season, Ben is cancer –
Cancer loves home
Cancer the crab carrying its home always with it
mother energy of cancer, followed by the father energy of Leo next month
So Just taking a moment to find the thing that is coming up for you rhrn, there is no right and wrong even if it’s got nothing to do with anything I’ve been talking about
just let yourself be soothed by the ebb & flow of your breath, filling up on the warmth & nourishment that is in full flow all around us rhrn as you trace your way to centre and back again with a quiet mind & see what arises.
Labyrinth – walk in and out
This is actually the Chartres labyrinth
Built by the knights Templar alongside the sufis based on the temple of Jerusalem
To the goddess with the secrets of alchemy
Rose tea w/petals (clear glasses)
Closing prayer
1. May the beauty of your life become more visible to you, that you may glimpse your wild divinity.
2. May the wonders of the earth call you forth from all your small, secret prisons and set your feet free in the pastures of possibilities.
3. May the light of dawn anoint your eyes that you may behold what a miracle a day is.
4. May the liturgy of twilight shelter all your fears and darkness within the circle of ease.
5. May the angel of memory surprise you in bleak times with new gifts from the harvest of your vanished days.
6. May you allow no dark hand to quench the candle of hope in your heart.
7. May you discover a new generosity towards yourself, and encourage yourself to engage your life as a great adventure.
8. May the outside voices of fear and despair find no echo in you.
9. May you always trust the urgency and wisdom of your own spirit.
10. May the shelter and nourishment of all the good you have done, the love you have shown, the suffering you have carried, awaken around you to bless your life a thousand times.
11. And when love finds the path to your door may you open like the earth to the dawn, and trust your every hidden color towards its nourishment of light.
12. May you find enough stillness and silence to savor the kiss of God on your soul and delight in the eternity that shaped you, that holds you and calls you.
13. And may you know that despite confusion, anxiety and emptiness, your name is written in Heaven.
14. And may you come to see your life as a quiet sacrament of service, which awakens around you a rhythm where doubt gives way to the grace of wonder, where what is awkward and strained can find elegance, and where crippled hope can find wings, and torment enter at last unto the grace of serenity.
15. May Divine Beauty bless you – John O’Donohue: A Blessing for Beauty
So we will walk out of the tent as we came in honouring the 4 directions the 4 winds – & take our learning to heart to the fire & releasing what we want to let go of
Fire sticks ceremony
4 directions winds Air
Heather ensworth medicine circle come to centre
Woman stand shining? Water
Stone
Flower
Alberto villoldo fire ceremony
Give overview so everyone knows what’s happening & can relax
8 shields hearth gathering / tending the fire
Storycrow
Celtic source
The cuckoos stops singing
– Dr David Nance, University of Aberdeen Website, May 2024,
Summer solstice was the date when according to folklore the cuckoo, symbolising fertility, traditionally stopped singing, returned to the Otherworld and the summer went with it.
Seahenge maybe trying to stop summer leaving
Irish summer goddess Aine – Dáithí Ó hOgáin, Myth, Legend and Romance: An Encyclopaedia of the Irish Folk Tradition (1991) p. 10:
She was said to appear on Midsummer’s Eve on her hill, Cnoc Áine, and take part in the bonfire dances with the people.
Also loch gur & grange stone circle
Fire water & stone dance vision alignment
All ancient monuments lined up with summer solstice sunrise
Folkways podcast
For centuries humans have marked the Solstice with ritual, celebration, and reflection. Regardless of where you celebrate this Solstice, we invite you to find some time to pause, reflect, celebrate and honor the place you are right now.
To help you, we’ve created our Solstice Journal Prompts to infuse you with light and spark some inspiration for the new season. Enjoy!
1. At the Summer Solstice the sun reaches its peak. What peaks have you reached this year?
This is a powerful time to mark those peaks you’ve climbed and the mountains you’ve faced in the last year. Take some time to reflect on what you have achieved, the challenges you’ve overcome, and what you have created – no matter how small it may seem. Celebrate and acknowledge your journey to where you are today.
2. Celebrate your inner-fire
The energy of the sun is fire. And fire is transformative, cleansing and powerful. It is a force to be reckoned with. Take a few moments to contemplate your inner fire, your passion. Acknowledge what it has allowed you to create, overcome or achieve in the last season. Acknowledge if it needs stoking.. or cooling, and consider how you might do this in the season ahead.
3. A time to plant and harvest
In ancient times in the Northern Hemisphere, the date of the June Solstice was used as a marker to figure out when to plant and harvest crops. With this in mind what seeds do you wish to plant now that you can harvest in the future months and years? Reflect on the garden of your life and what you’d like to grow and cultivate.
4. Shine a little more brightly
As we stand a little closer to the sun this week, contemplate how you can shine a little more brightly in the world. Perhaps it’s in acts of service to others, perhaps it taking those first courageous steps towards a lighter, brighter space. Where is your light being dimmed and how can you change that? Reflect on actions you can take to spread a little more light and warmth into the world.
Wishing you much warmth and light this Summer Solstice,
Dr Scott Lyons and The Embody Lab tea
REBEKAH SHAMAN.com
SUMMER SOLSTICE SOLAR ECLIPSE
Winter and Summer Solstice are joyous celebrations where people stay up all night in order to greet the rising sun. It represents change, the ending of a cycle and the beginning of a new one.
It is the time to celebrate what we have learnt during the past six months, as the sunlight has increased, and acknowledge how we have expanded and grown, just like nature around us.
Watch the sun rise on a new dawn. Sunrises are amazing, but when many of us send energy out together on this day, it makes it even more powerful. As you see the sun come over the horizon, send out your intentions and visions for the next six months. See and feel your vision clearly, and open your heart to receive whatever you need to manifest it.
If you are in a challenging situation and there doesn’t seem to be a solution, sometimes the only course of action is to throw your hands in the air, and enjoy the ride!!!
Follow the STAR over this Summer Solstice – Surrender, Trust, Allow, Receive. When we surrender, and let nature do the work, we can let go of trying to work it out from our limited five senses. The magic is always more powerful during this time and now is a good opportunity to let go and let ‘God.’
Like Samhain (Halloween) this is an important festival for the Faery Folk, when the veil between their world and ours is at its thinnest. If you want to see them, the lore says that you need to rub fern seed onto your eyelids at midnight.
If you want to get into the spirit of Midsummer place, Birch, Fennel, St. John’s Wort, Orpin, and White Lilies over your front door and around your home. Rue, Roses, St. John’s Wort, Vervain, and Trefoil where revered for having magical properties on the mid-summer. St. John’s Wort was especially honoured by young maidens who picked it in the hope of finding a lover.
If you do feel depressed during this period, spend five minutes every morning when you wake up feeling grateful for everything that will happen that day and then send out a gratitude prayer every evening when you go to bed, for everything that did happen. This sets the intention for the day and helps to let go each night so the new day is free from the clutter of yesterday.
Sometimes it takes a while for perspective to shift, but stick with it even if you don’t see instantaneous changes in your life, patience always brings the rewards.
