[6/13/03, 3:15am: this page has now been archived...click here for the Current Page.
Broken links on this archived page have been updated, where possible, on the newly revised page.]

My friend Sandra Stanton sent me an image of her latest painting today and I was awed by her powerful depiction of Egypt's lioness goddess, Sekhmet, awakening anew at a time when the Middle East is so ravaged by war and senseless vengeance.  Across the globe, the Divine Feminine in her many guises has been repressed and frozen in time by the three patriarchal monotheisms, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  Many of us, men as well as women, would indeed like to see a more ancient, pre-monotheistic Middle Eastern goddess "awaken" from the depths of time and show us her fiercely protective, regal, sensible, maternal face.  The world's political and religious leaders, whom I refer to as the "wrinkled puers" (i.e., "little boys"), have thoroughly messed things up for way too long.  Change is urgently needed.

Why do I view Sekhmet as an appropriate representation of the Divine Feminine at this crucial time?  This ancient lioness-woman is caring, fierce, and wise.  She can handle male leaders, no matter how arrogant and power-mad they are (she did, after all, according to Egyptian mythology, handle her own patriarchal father, Sun-god Ra, exceedingly well).  She also deeply understands an addiction to violence, for she herself once sought to destroy humanity in a frenzy of rage.  Yet deities, as Carl Jung suggests, must grow and evolve just as humanity does.  Sekhmet understands the madness, but having experienced it once, she has no need to do it again.   (For more data on Sekhmet, see this illustrated site: http://showcase.netins.net/web/ankh/sekhmet1.html.)

These are only a few of the thoughts I planned to share on this summer 2002 page, but several days ago I read a lucid, eloquent essay by Rev. Charles P. Henderson, a Princeton-trained Presbyterian minister as well as the Christianity guide at about.com.  He captures so well the deeper sense of "Sekhmet Awakening" that I have decided to let his words carry my message this summer.  He speaks from his own perspective in a voice very different from mine, yet there is a surprising resonance between us.  I am reprinting his work with his permission (click on his title directly below for his own page):

_____________________________________________________

Since we Christians, along with our Jewish and Muslim cousins have devoted 2000 years or more to God the Father, and our religions appear to be caught up in such a mess of trouble, both here in the US with the sex abuse scandal and in the Middle East, perhaps its time for a change of heart. I'm beginning to suspect that it's too late for tinkering around the edges. New policy statements from Rome, and new peace initiatives from the failed leaders of political entities that are at war with each other around the world may not be sufficient to address, let alone solve, the problems that confront us. It may be time for a more fundamental change.

For as long as most of us can remember, we've  been taught, by the very people who brought us sex scandals and warfare without end, that the God in whose name such things were perpetrated, is an all powerful, Father God. Could it be that there's something in this image of God that actually contributes to the problem and prevents us from finding the solutions we so desperately need?

Long ago, Jesus was able to infuse new life into a dying faith by speaking of God as "Abba," or Daddy, using the familiar term and the father/son relationship to communicate the most intimate, personal feelings about God. Since that time, I would submit, the intimacy of that image has become obscured by images of power and authority.  Today the vocabulary of our faith includes references to God as Warrior and King, Monarch and Almighty Ruler  ... something quite different from what Jesus had in mind. Between us and the teachings of Jesus, centuries have passed in which God has come to be defined by worldly rulers in words and images that mirror their own power and authority, rather than reflecting the spirit of the carpenter from Nazareth who preached a gospel of peace and put forward an ethic of compassionate love.

If Jesus succeeded in restoring a vital connection between God and the people by evoking the love between father and child, perhaps, today, the vitality of faith can be recaptured by drawing upon the equally intimate relationship between mother and child. What better way to emphasize the intimacy of our relationship with God than to imagine a mother's love for her child? When you think of the devotion, the sacrifice, the tenderness, and sometimes the suffering that a mother pours out for her children, doesn't that reflect in some deep way the love God feels for each of us? _____________________________________________________

It should be noted that the monotheistic male god has no female mate, or consort -- and this may partially explain why the majority of the most deeply troubled and wartorn areas of the earth involve that god's rigidly repressed followers, for they have been denied all access to the Divine Feminine; many, in fact, pervert any healthy relational contact with the feminine -- this peculiar perversion is embraced alike by fanatical males, whether Jews, Christians, and Moslems.  Unfortunately, their indoctrinated women too often cooperate in their own debasement.

I should point out, by the way, that Charles Henderson isn't arguing for an end to monotheism in favor of a return to the goddess -- he simply, wisely, asks that Christians, at least, wake up and give a mother-face to the divine instead of the cruel warrior-face they've lived with for far too long.   In other words, he pleads for a mother-face because the king/warrior-face is so clearly toxic.  God-as-Mother, in fact, has a long theological tradition in Christianity (for example, see the writings of Lady Julian of Norwich in medieval times, or the work of many modern feminists who remain within their monotheistic traditions).  Thus, whether you see Sekhmet as a mother-face for a monotheistic god, or as one of the many cross-cultural goddesses who are reawakening and returning, is up to you.

Regardless, may She, whatever your perspective, step forward and bring some sanity to our ravaged world.  May She help us regain our sense of wonder so that may reach out to one another with shimmering new ideas, stories, choices, options.  It's time -- in fact, it's long past time.

Warmly,

Kathleen

Here you'll find information on an annual Native American-sponsored summer solstice day for World Peace and Prayer:

"...I, Chief Arvol Looking Horse of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Nation, humblely ask that the spirit of great Nations help us to heal our sacred Mother Earth (Unci Maka). I call upon other Spiritual Leaders and Ancient Storytellers to work together on this urgent effort!"

The site is updated annually and 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 13 June2003]: Eric Weisstein's World of Science is an excellent site for solid data on solstices.  A chart gives times through 2009.  There are also QuickTime movies.

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

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 22 June 2001]: For the pure science of this summer solstice event, see this engaging little page with charts and text explaining how summer actually gives us less, but longer, sunlight, which is why it's so much warmer than in winter when we get more, but shorter, sunlight.

[Added 26 May 2000]: Written for the Clark Foundation, this is "Solstices Are Milestones of Civilization" by Von Del Chamberlain.  It's 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....

Siberian Summer
(Courtesy of Tradestone International)

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/7280/midsumr.html

[Added 12 June 2001]: This is Mike Nichols' page on Midsummer.  I love his work (which appears on most of my seasonal pages) -- both his common sense and his wide-ranging knowledge and wit are very appealing:

...since most European peasants were not accomplished at reading an ephemeris or did not live close enough to Salisbury Plain to trot over to Stonehenge and sight down its main avenue, they celebrated the event on a fixed calendar date, June 24th. The slight forward displacement of the traditional date is the result of multitudinous calendrical changes down through the ages. It is analogous to the winter solstice celebration, which is astronomically on or about December 21st, but is celebrated on the traditional date of December 25th, Yule, later adopted by the Christians.
       Again, it must be remembered that the Celts reckoned their days from sundown to sundown, so the June 24th festivities actually begin on the previous sundown (our June 23rd). This was Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Eve. Which brings up another point: our modern calendars are quite misguided in suggesting that 'summer begins' on the solstice. According to the old folk calendar, summer begins on May Day and ends on Lammas (August 1st), with the summer solstice, midway between the two, marking mid-summer. This makes more logical sense than suggesting that summer begins on the day when the sun's power begins to wane and the days grow shorter....

Since "old" Midsummer's Eve of June 23rd is also the eve of the Feast of John the Baptist, here is Nichols on St. John's Eve:

...St. John himself was often seen as a rather Pagan figure. He was, after all, called 'the Oak King'. His connection to the wilderness (from whence 'the voice cried out') was often emphasized by the rustic nature of his shrines.  Many statues show him as a horned figure.... Obviously, this kind of John the Baptist is more properly a Jack in the Green! Also obvious is that behind the medieval conception of St. John lies a distant, shadowy Pagan
deity, perhaps the archetypal Wild Man of the Wood, whose face stares down at us through the foliate masks that adorn so much church architecture....

(Note:  Nichols takes issue with the usual assertion that the Holly King defeats his dark rival, the Oak King, at midwinter, and that the Oak King in turn kills the Holly King at midsummer.  Nichols does this is a further essay, linked near the bottom of his Midsummer page: he argues that the conquests and deaths belong to the equinoxes, not to the solstices.  I found it well argued and convincing.)

Siberian Summer
(Courtesy of Russian Sunbirds)

[Added 12 & 16 June 2001]: This is a fine page on worldwide summer solstice traditions from the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Celebrations covered include: Alban Heflin, Alben Heruin, All-couples day, Feast of Epona, Feast of St. John the Baptist, Feill-Sheathain, Gathering Day, Johannistag, Litha, Midsummer, Sonnwend, Thing-Tide, and Vestalia.  Cultures and traditions belonging to the above celebrations include ancient Celts, Chinese, Gauls, Germans, Slavs, Romans, Swedes, Christians, Native Americans (including solstice wheels), neo-pagans, and the pre-historic peoples who built astronomical stone structures.  In addition to interesting text (footnoted), there is a useful list of websources at the end.

[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.

[12 June 2001 update:]  The above essay is no longer at this link -- Austin updates his essays annually -- all are fine but I wish he provided an archive of his earlier ones.

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 [5/20/02: his link, unfortunately, is now dead -- if anyone has an update, please let me know]).

[Annotation expanded 17 May 2002]:  Gathered by "Weather Doctor," Dr. Keith C. Heidorn, this is a wonderful collection of quotes, "The Elders Speak: About Summer," ranging from Jane Austen to Thoreau to Ray Bradbury.  Here are two lovely examples:

Summer gathered in the weather, the wind had the proper touch, the breathing of the world was long and warm and slow.
                                                     Ray Bradbury

Today the summer has come at my window with its signs and murmurs...Now it is time to sit quiet face to face with Thee, and to sing dedication of life in this silent and overflowing leisure.
                                                    Rabindranath Tagore

Summer Feast in Sunny Fields
(Courtesy of Russian Sunbirds)

[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.

[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
(Detail -- see last year's Summer Solstice page 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.

[Added 12 June 2001]: This is my own page on water.  In three years of gathering and grokking links from all over the world, I've found many that have become personal favorites.  For simple, stunning significance, however, none can match the work of Japanese researcher, Masaru Emoto, and his book, The Message from Water.  I now own the book and am awed every time I explore it.  The first four links on my water page look at Emoto's work.   Trust me -- you'll be amazed and moved.  Don't miss this one.

[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, an activity 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.  (Note: updated annually.)

[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 personal screen saver to remind me to stay grounded among all the pixels <smile>).

July 7th Tanabata ("Star") Festival
[see directly below]

[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....

Archived Summer 2001 Greeting page

Archived Summer 2000 Greeting page

Archived Summer 1999 Greeting page

August harvest celebration: Lammas or Lughnasa

Autumn Equinox

Wheel of the Year

European Earth-Based Ways

Note: my complete Site Map and e-mail address will be found on my Home page.

<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 © 1999-2003 Kathleen Jenks, Ph.D.

Summer 2000 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.
Summer 2001 page designed 19 April 2001;
Wrote new essay, checked all links,  changed some images, added new links,
& finally published the page: 12 June 2001 (last year's is now safely archived).
Latest updates: 13 June 2001(revisions to essay); 16 June 2001; 20 June 2001; 22 & 23 June 2001.
Summer 2002 page designed, essay written, and links-check begun on 17 May 2002 and continued until 5/20-21/02.
Published 5/21/02, 1:20am & again at 2:26am.  Archived 6/13/03.

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