As another summer approaches, I've found myself remembering how my childhood summers in western Michigan were filled with reading fairy tales of wonder.  Buried in schoolwork the rest of the year, there was no time for such stories -- yet I felt starved for them.  I therefore used my summers to nourish my soul (even though I never would have thought of it in those terms as a child).  Every week my grandfather would drive me to our city's lovely castle-like public library, with its uneven stone exterior, winding staircases, oak floors, golden stained glass windows, lion-footed oak tables, and hidden niches with window-seats overlooking a park, and I would sit and pour over unexplored books and finally check out a new stackful of them.

As an adult, I try (not always successfully) to continue this practice although the books are now, not fairy tales, but science fantasy -- Roger Zelazny's Amber series, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels, Katherine Kurtz's Deryni books, Andre Norton's Witch World series, Anne McCaffrey's dragon novels, Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea Trilogy, and, most recently, the marvelous Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling.

Remembering this, I realized one morning in late May that this year's summer theme should be about wonder.......

The world around us, especially in urban areas, seems so drab, noisy, crowded, dysfunctional.  A sense of genuine wonder has died along with Aphrodite's bright, generous realm of beauty (we've reduced her to a sexy movie starlet, forgetting her powerful, profound role in all realms of creative beauty and magic).   The media bombards us with stories but they are too often toxic and do nothing to feed our ancient hunger for wonder, magic, miracles, myths, and rich lore.

If I were a sorceress, I ask myself, what would I wish for people this first summer of a new millennium?  World peace?  No, surprisingly not, because declaring peace does little to change the toxic stories in so many parts of the world that perpetuate conflict (look at the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Northern Ireland, Northern India, and so many other trouble spots).  Within weeks or months of declaring world peace, wars would erupt anew.  Wars simmer first in the human mind and heart, fed by intensely one-sided, unbalanced, dramatic stories.  You can't deal with such toxic stories at the level of guns -- only at the level of better stories.  (It used to be thought by many people that Christianity provided those better stories.  Clearly, it does not, at least not in the hands of the last two millennia of sword and gun-blessing Christians, East and West.)

Would I do away with nuclear armaments worldwide?  Yes, if I could wave a wand, I would.  Unfortunately, it isn't that simple -- and here too, since the know-how exists, some poor angry country would always start building a new warhead and innocents would die horribly.

I recently went through a whole series of such meta-questions and each time, assuming I were granted enough crone-wisdom to change things wisely, I realized that the status quo would eventually reassert itself.  Reforming only goes so far  -- and it's unfortunately driven by an edge of anger which is quite unhealthy for one's body, unless it's truly one's destiny to be a reformer.  A better approach, at least for me, seems to be one of healing.  Since I'm a mythologist, my way of healing is through stories, whether told at bedtime, in the workplace, the car, the garden, the grocery store, the streets, the theatre, or, most importantly, on TV and in movies.

So my summer's crone-wishes for 2000 are that we might all encourage new wonder tales, welling up from within, or re-discovered from earlier times.  I wish that we might, all of us, become skillful, clever Scheherazades, able to  mellow and heal those confused sultans (inside us and all around us) who crave a dysfunctional environment.  I wish that we might re-discover (or create anew) stronger stories to replace the toxic, hate-filled ones we've inherited; that we might send out magicians, clowns, street-theatre people, dancers, and mythologists all over the world to plant the new seedling-stories rising up from peoples in each land; that these new, wonder-filled stories might rapidly find their way into our mega-media conglomerates.   Finally, I wish that we might re-discover our sense of wonder and interconnectedness with all species -- and never again lose this precious gift.

Please understand that I'm not asking for the much touted "new myth for our age."  One myth, one story, won't work.  We're all too different -- and so are our needs.  As poet Peter Viereck expresses it:
 

Thirst is not reasoned.  There is for each own darkness
No general compass.

Nor am I even asking for new myths, new stories.  Too many of these new creations tend to be pallid, bloodless, too full of morals, too deficient in wonder.  We mustn't sacrifice wonder for morals.  Morals may be fine but they're culturally determined (see my Animal Guides page for a brief quote on Marie Louise von Franz's views on this).

The longing for wonder is universal.  There are wonder-ful old stories still out there from many countries that don't elevate civil wars to the level of cultural epics nor celebrate combative puer-heroes.  Let's find them and bring them into the foreground of what we share with our children -- or watch on our media.

Let's also find ways to turn these wonder-tales into new earth-based, multi-species-friendly rituals celebrating life and all those magical realms that too many people fight too hard to repress, but that we need if our souls are to be deeply nourished.

May your summer be filled with nurturing stories,
and celebrations of wonder --

Warmly,

Kathleen

Summer Solstice arrives Tuesday evening, 20 June 2000 at 6:48pm (PDT),
Tuesday night, 9:48pm (EDT)
and Wednesday in the wee hours of  21 June 2000 at 01:48 (GMT)

SUMMER LINKS

Scheherazade's Midnight
(Courtesy of Russian Sunbirds)

Summer Solstice 2000: World Peace & Prayer Day

"A Call to All Nations to Heal Mother Earth for our Youth" is the theme for 21 June 2000.  Here you'll find information on this Native American-sponsored summer solstice day for World Peace and Prayer.  The site looks at global celebrations [also see below], children's activities, and many other excellent related issues.  (Note: some pages are linked specifically to summer solstice, but many are not -- they're valid year round.)

[Added 26 May 2000]: This page offers an impressive array of global peace conferences and celebrations running from mid-May to mid-December 2000.  Many include links to their own websites or e-mail contacts.

[Added 28 May 2000]: Kinship with All Life: A Conference Exploring Our Sacred Relationship with Animals and Nature is scheduled for July 8-10, 2000 in San Francisco (city of St. Francis of Assisi).  I'd like to draw your special attention to this summer conference, sponsored by the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and featuring such famous speakers as Bernie Siegel, M.D., Matthew Fox, Ph.D., and Jane Goodall, Ph.D.  If you're in the Bay area, I hope you won't miss this one.

This site is on "Aboriginal Star Knowledge: Native American Astronomy."  It's an engrossing site on stars, time, solstices, equinoxes, Medicine Wheels, and a wide range of rich indigenous lore related to the heavens.

[Added 26 May 2000]: Written for the Clark Foundation, this is "Solstices Are Milestones of Civilization" by Von Del Chamberlain.  It is a powerfully written, wise and passionate plea for integrating modern science & ethics into ancient lore instead of trying to regress:

...From earliest times until now people have struggled to understand natural realities, such as the causes of the solstices. They found interpretations that satisfied their needs, and they used their understanding for improvement of their lives. Differing cultures came into contact and shared their interpretations.  Such toil and dialogue eventually led to science, an intellectual endeavor committed to free sharing of knowledge for all who might be interested. Such knowledge is power, which, when coupled with wisdom, can expand horizons beyond what is possible in any other way....

...The people at Stonehenge, those who built and used the Big Horn Medicine Wheel, and the Anasazi at Chaco Canyon, all experienced religious, political and ecological problems. So do we, in context with desires to find and explore new frontiers. The problems and solutions are never easy. Responsible and compassionate uses of knowledge, coupled with retention of solid ethical values, is vital to growth toward our human potentials.

What does all this have to do with the coming of the solstice each year?  Annual repetitions are milestones of desired changes. Each time we arrive at this point to enjoy the increased illumination from the Sun, human history on planet Earth has yielded one more year of experience and discovery. We can still look out from the center of Stonehenge to see the Sun rise over the heelstone as it did thousands of years ago, but looking around in all other directions yields knowledge that revises and refines what we treasured before.  The traditions of earlier solstices belonged to the people of those generations, and solstice by solstice they transformed to become the ethos we claim as ours, here and now. We should honor and respect mores of past solstices, while we apply products of knowledge for the benefit of all mankind and the other creatures we share Mother Earth with....

Gathered by Weather Doctor, Keith C. Heidorn, this is a wonderful collection of quotes, "The Elders Speak: About Summer," ranging from Jane Austen to Thoreau to Ray Bradbury.

[Added 26 May 2000]: This is "Light and Dark Meet Again at Midsummer" by C. Austin for the Celtic Connection.  It is a brief, but lyrical essay on the season.  Here is a small passage from the conclusion:

...The wheel is turning, oh so quickly it seems. Live this moment while we have it. Pause and listen for the song of the birds of summer, breath the fragrance of a beautiful flower or take a moonlit walk.  Soon the shadows of the coming season will turn us inward once more.

Harvesting Wheat
(Courtesy of Tradestone International)

[Added 26 May 2000]: This is an interesting paper, "Old Russian Summer Solstice Mythology," by Dr. Eileen M. Starr.  As part of EarthWatch, Dr. Starr visited a rural area in southwest Russia in 1997 for her folkloric research.  Despite her hopes for rich data for a planetarium exhibit in the US, she found no starlore, and nothing about the sun nor moon.  What she found instead were scattered remnants of summer solstice lore, which she details in this paper.  She also briefly discusses why a larger body of cosmological lore has vanished in this region of Russia.

Waterfall Woman
(see below for a closeup)
Courtesy of Tradestone International

[Added 26 May 2000]: From "Sacred Serpent" comes this beautiful essay on summer solstice in Baltic lands, "RASA: The Summer Solstice," from Ramuva/Lithuania (translated by Audrius Dundzila, Ph.D. and first published in "romuva/usa", Issue #4, 1991).  Here's an excerpt:

At the end of June, at the time of the solstice, when nights are longest and nature blossoms and grows, the Balts celebrate the festival of Rasa (dew). Many written sources document the celebration of the Summer Solstice....T. Narbutas wrote: "The name Rasa probably reflects the belief that water, like dew, is born from the depths: the seas, the earth, etc." In ancient traditions dew principally revealed life. The amount of dew on the morning of the feast foretold the size of that year's harvest. Before the sunrise on Solstice morning, dew possesses exceptional healing powers....

...S. Daukantas wrote: "Before the feast everybody went to the holy rivers and lakes, where they washed and bathed, hoping to stay young.  Whoever did everything they could suddenly discovered themselves to be immensely wise and possessing the power to see evil people, charlatans and witches. No other holiday was as joyous, because--as according to the pasakos (folk tales) and rumors--the sun dances across the sky!"....

The essay offers rich Baltic lore.  Some of it could be adapted if you wish to create a ritual to greet this joyous season of the "dancing sun" in your own personal way.

[Added 26 May 2000]: From "Slavic Pagan Holidays" comes a page that looks at Slavic summer solstice customs -- here, as with the Balts, there is a strong focus on water:

Kupalo [summer solstice] comes from the verb kupati which means "to bathe" and mass baths were taken on the morning of this holiday. On this holiday, the sun supposedly bathed by dipping into the waters at the horizon. This imbued all water with his power and therefore, those who bathed on this day would absorb some of that power....

Waterfall Woman
(Closeup -- see above for full version)
Courtesy of Tradestone International

[Added 28 May 2000]: Still in keeping with the water theme is this lively and informative page from Lady Bridget.  She discusses several wonderful ways of using the element of water in your summer solstice rituals.  For example:

...Since the Sun at Litha is entering Cancer, a water sign, this holiday is one of the best ones for gathering your magickal water which will be used on your altar and in your spells for the coming year. We usually go to the [Florida] beach at Litha, and gather salt-water. We bring offerings of flowers and nuts, and 3 pennies or 3 dimes for prosperity and throw these into the waves before we take our water. We honor Aphrodite and Yameya as the Goddesses of the Sea by taking some jewelry as an offering....

If you don't live near the sea, another excellent source of magickal water, is rain water from a thunderstorm, and there are plenty that occur at this time of year. The more electrical energy the storm puts out, the more energized the water is, so the fiercer the better! Collect in a glass jar, or porcelain, avoid metal containers. Store on a shelf, and don't leave the jar on the ground, or the energy will ground. We only use our water for 6 months, after that we return the water to the source, and collect fresh....

Lady Bridget looks at the role of John the Baptist, whose feastday was supposed to replace summer solstice, just as his cousin's was meant to supplant winter solstice.  She also discusses herbs, mead, and honeymoons.

From Frances Donovan at about.com comes this sensible little essay on Litha, or Summer Solstice.

Here you'll find well chosen Litha, or Summer Solstice, links from Frances Donovan (see above) on myth, lore, history, and rituals (also a surprisingly evocative Flamewolf poem).

Summer Feast in Sunny Fields
(Courtesy of Russian Sunbirds)

[Added 26 May 2000]: Again from "Sacred Serpent" comes "The Baltic Sun Goddess - Saule" (first published in Sacred Serpent: Journal of Baltic Tradition, Issue #2, 1994).  The rich essay begins with:

The Great Goddess, Saule, (pronounced SOW-lay) whose name  means the sun itself, is queen of heaven and Earth and matriarch of the cosmos. She is a beloved and popular deity of the Lithuanians and Latvians, as many old hymns and prayers attest. Her main feasts occur at the summer solstice (Rasa or Kupolines), winter solstice (Kaledos) and the equinoxes....

...On summer solstice morning, Balts anxiously awaited the sunrise, in order not to miss even Her first blessed rays. Everyone wanted to see how the sun danced, how it ascended and then descended for a moment, and how it finally shone in various colours. In Latvian songs about such feasts we find the refrain: "The sun, dancing on the silver hill, has silver shoes on Her feet"....

[Added 26 May 2000]: "Celebrating Midsummer" is from Waverly Fitzgerald's School of the Seasons.  If you follow my seasonal pages, you'll already be familiar with Waverly's work.  She writes beautifully and has a keen eye and ear for great lore.  I love her folkloric weavings.  This page is no exception.  Here's a passage from the very beginning of her page:

...As the name midsummer indicates, this is considered the height of the summer. Yet there is an undertone of darkness in the light. While we celebrate the power of the sun, we also note its decline. From now on the hours of sunlight will decrease....

 ...Flowers and May Day wreaths are tossed into the fire. They burn and die just as the heat of the summer consumes the spring and brings us closer to the decline of autumn and the death of vegetation in winter. As we begin the decline, it's important to remember that the wheel of the year is a circle. The spring will come again. The sun will triumph over the darkness again. Thus, the circle is an important symbol. Wreaths are hung on doors. People gaze at the fire through wreaths and wear necklaces of golden flowers.

Before the calendar was changed in the 18th century, Midsummer fell on 4th of July.  When you celebrate Fourth of July, think of all those brilliant fireworks and blazing Catherine wheels as devotions in honor of the sun....
 
 

The Wreath
(Courtesy of Tradestone International)

[Added 26 May 2000]: Here Waverly continues with a page on summer solstice wreath-making, something she does poorly, which is why her details are so great.

...Until I saw a copy of Elizabeth Jane Lloyd's The Enchanted Circle, I did not think I had the ability to create a wreath. All my attempts were pitiful things, limp and disheveled with bits and pieces sticking out here and there. Looking at the photographs of the gorgeous wreaths Lloyd created I was inspired. Reading her directions on how to create a wreath, I recognized that it was a craft, like baking, which is best done when following directions. Although I know people who can bake a cake from scratch without a recipe, I am not one of them....

I, alas, also have a dreadful time with sensate instructions, and so I'm not likely to make a wreath just yet.  But one day.......yes, I'll try one.  I appreciate, by the way, Waverly's insight into how ritual symbols tend to bridge seasonal dyads:

...Candles are prominent on Christmas and Candlemas.  Eggs show up on Easter and on May Day. Maypoles are danced around on May Day and Summer Solstice....

Like Maypoles, wreaths too, as she points out, figure in May Day as well as Summer Solstice celebrations.

[Added 26 May 2000]: This page, again from Waverly Fitzgerald, looks at how summer "begins" in many parts of the world.  Summer's beginning, as you might guess, is rarely related to a calendar date, which makes for a fascinating little essay......the theme continues in the link directly below ---

[Added 26 May 2000]: -- this fun page collects worldwide insights from people who write to Waverly and comment on how summer begins for them.

[Added 26 May 2000]:From the Celtic Connection comes Herne's page on Litha, or Celtic Summer Solstice. Herne give a good overview and also lists the feast's special foods, herbs and flowers, incense, gem, wood, and activities.

[Added 26 May 2000]: Again from the Celtic Connection comes a Litha ritual by Akasha -- it is a moving, powerful tribute to both Goddess and God at this time of the sun's height.  The ritual works for solitaries as well as groups.

[Added 26 May 2000]: This is a much more elaborate, dramatic ritual from Yasmine Galenorn.  If you have at least 15 people and a strong sense of ritual theatre, this is a great celebration.

[Added 26 May 2000]: Regardless of your path, whether in daily life or ritual-space, this little page on "Grounding & Centering" from Robin Wood (of tarot fame) is highly recommended.  In addition to a simple but crucial exercise, there is a remarkable image of a human body shimmering with 7 glowing chakras (I use it as a screen saver to remind me to stay grounded among all the pixels <smile>).

Ajisai, hydrangea, a Japanese flower that blooms in June's rainy season
[see directly below for source]

[Added 26 May 2000]: Going to the other side of the world, this is an enthusiastic page (with many clickable photos) of Japanese summer feasts and celebrations in June, July and August.  Here is one of the most famous:

...On July 7 th Japan observes another of the seasonal events that originally came from China, way back in the 8th century. It is based on the legend of two stars ---Weaver Star (Vega) and Cowherd (Altair) --- who are supposed to have been lovers and could only meet on the seventh night of the seventh month, though on opposite banks of the River of Heaven (Milky Way). On this day people decorate bamboo branches with ornaments and long strips of colored papers on which they write their  wishes and romantic aspiration....

RELATED MYTHING LINKS PAGES:

To Current Summer Solstice Page

To archived Summer 1999's Greeting page

To the early August harvest celebration:
Lammas or Lughnasa

To Autumn Equinox

To the Wheel of the Year

To European Earth-Based Ways

To a further discussion of toxic versus healing stories on the
Kosovo/Serb Invocation page

My complete Site Map and E-mail address are on my Home Page.

On May Day 2000, the same people who started the Hunger Site started the Rainforest Site.  It works the same way -- click on the link below, then on the site's button, and sponsors pay for donations to buy rainforest land:

Here's yet another new, worthy site, a spin-off of the above two, where sponsors pay to plant trees when you click on the link below:

 

<BGSOUND SRC="sumer.mid" LOOP=infinite>

Music: "Sumer is icumen in," courtesy of Curtis Clark of the Renaissance Internet Band.

Lyrics to this music (c. 1250 A.D.):
Sumer is a-coming in,
Loudly sing, cuckoo!
Groweth seed and bloweth mead [i.e., meadow]
And springeth wood anew.
Sing, cuckoo!
Sing, cuckoo! Sing, cuckoo!Sing, cuckoo!

Text and layout © 1999-2001 Kathleen Jenks, Ph.D.
Page begun 21 May 2000;
revisions & new links & art added 26-28 May 2000.
Published 28-29 May 2000.
Updates:
2 June 2000; 18 August 2000.
Archived: 12 June 2001.