Take a deep breath with me and remember we’re all riding the turn of the earth’s wheel together. Welcome, summer! (Or winter, if you live in the south lands.)
NOTE: Due to a lot of “life” this week, I’m postponing the next Thailand post until next Saturday, June 27.
Since prehistory, traditional cultures have celebrated the turning of the seasons, honoring the solstices (the longest and the shortest days of the year) with rituals and festivals. It never hurts to simply step outside and reconnect to the earth, in whatever ways we can in these days of concrete cities (not to mention pandemic). Today, June 20, marks the summer solstice (either midsummer or start of summer), and the usual festival at Stonehenge is cancelled due to Covid-19. But if you’d like to witness it virtually, English Heritage on Facebook will livestream coverage of both sunset and sunrise, as marked in the ancient astronomical circle of stones. At sunrise, the sun shines through the “gateway” in the circle.
http://facebook.com/englishheritage/
This year the solstice is joined with an annular solar eclipse, or “ring of fire,” making it really special. Unfortunately, those of us in the Americas are in the wrong time zone to see it. This year, a lot is different! Near us in Seattle, there’s usually the wonderful Fremont Street Fair parade that features non-motorized floats and creative costumes to celebrate summer, but of course there’s no parade this year. Some neighbors are creating their own, socially-distanced parade, and our neighborhood gardens are a celebration in themselves.
Thor and I didn’t visit Stonehenge on the solstice, but close enough to feel the power in these towering stones.
We also walked around the stones at Avebury nearby, where you’re allowed to touch the huge boulders placed in a very large circle through fields and a village. From the grand to the intimate, they invited us to slow down and feel the earth beneath our feet.
In this stone, I could almost see ritual dancers emerging to celebrate the season:
Among the fascinating traditions around the summer solstice are many involving fertility for the plants, animals, and humans. I just learned about this tradition in Greece:
“Klidonas” calls on young women (officially virgins) to gather seawater. Then all unmarried women in the village place a personal item into the pot and leave it under a fig tree overnight. The gals will dream of their future husband, and the next day all the village women gather to pull out the items one by one and make predictions about romantic partners for the younger women. Apparently the older women love to make bawdy jokes at this time. After that, everyone jumps over a bonfire for luck.
Maybe these goats from Karpathos didn’t get invited to the party!
Best wishes to all as you honor the day in your own way.
next week: back to Bangkok!
*****
You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here every Saturday. Sara’s latest novel from Book View Cafe is available in print and ebook: The Ariadne Connection. It’s a near-future thriller set in the Greek islands. “Technology triggers a deadly new plague. Can a healer find the cure?” The novel has received the Chanticleer Global Thriller Grand Prize and the Cygnus Award for Speculative Fiction. Sara has recently returned from another research trip in Greece and is back at work on the sequel, The Ariadne Disconnect. Sign up for her quarterly email newsletter at www.sarastamey.com
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