The Summer Solstice is the peak of the year! The world is fully expanded, the sun reaches the highest point in the sky and provides us with the longest day of the year.
The word "Litha" ("mildest, most pleasant time of year") comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for time time of year that is June and July.
There is little known about how the summer solstice was celebrated, or what ceremonial practices were involved in early folk traditions, since Christianity overtook pagan celebrations. However; there are many early temples, sun wheels, stones, markings etc. that align with the sun's light on the summer solstice, suggesting the significance of the time.
Energetically, this is the time of year when we stand in our power, acknowledge and celebrate what has been birthed in us this cycle, and take the step towards easing back slowly.
I like to think of this as letting the creation take the paintbrush from the creator as she witnesses and surrenders fully to where the creation wants to go (and will be harvested at Lammas!) There is a last inhale, ready to release into the exhale of shortening light.
References
I will offer a short ceremony: we will light candles, sing a song or two, and do a nature-based meditation.
I will share a prompt for a visual journal practice to listen to your inner journey
There will be an optional sharing.
It's free/by donation! Contact me with questions at: connect@monikadenise.com. Click below to signup and receive the link and donation info.
I am offering you a soulful creative process that I have engaged with the last 10 years to support my own journey.
In this virtual workshop series, Soul Medicine through the Seasons, I will share how to develop your own visual journal practice, which is a sort of mashup between a mindful and expressive art process with creative journaling.
We will enter into our time together as a space of ceremony. I will guide us in song/chant as we gather. We will have a brief introduction to the season, followed by a guided meditation that will invite you to connect with the more-than-human ones as a part of your process. Following the time for you to work in your visual journal, there will be a time of optional sharing.
Give your soul some medicine around the Wheel of the Year to honor the season in ceremony and listen to your inner wisdom!
There aren't many rules to visual journaling, and you don't need to be an artist--just willing to try the creative process!
The essence of Visual Journaling includes using art processes and materials to intuitively express something you are feeling or want to explore about yourself. This allows access and expression to the right side of your brain. Then, we include creative writing to draw out more from the image that our left side of the brain can understand and make sense of.
These practices are all done in one sketchbook, this allows for you to witness the evolution of your inner process, and give some support and ability to "closeup" something once you are done exploring it for the moment. It can also be meaningful to decorate the cover of your visual journal to fit the chapter of life you're in.
I love how I can quickly release a confusing emotion, get more clarity on my inner longings and wisdom, and meet myself with more compassion through this process!
This process is a beloved one in the art therapy world, and was taught to me by my professors at Eastern Virginia Medical School in 2013. You may have a practice of your own very similar!
The Celtic and Norse people, along with many other indigenous traditions, lived so aligned with the rhythms of the year, that they honored the turn of each season. This includes the 4 solar festivals (solstices and equinoxes) and the 4 fire festivals (halfway between the solar festivals).
Living in alignment with the Wheel of the Year is both a physical practice and one of practicalities--eating root vegetables in winter, planting in the spring, harvesting in late summer--and an energetic one--tending our energy in winter, celebrating our achievements in summer.
In our modern lifestyles and from the impact of dominator systems (where land, feminine, bodies, color, queerness and more were feared and hence oppressed), we have become disconnected by what these rhythms mean for us.
As a cultural Mennonite, I am grateful for having grown up with a sense of the impact of the seasons on my life, and more recently, am learning to more deeply align my external life (schedule, choices, lifestyle etc) to my inner rhythm and consequentially, the rhythm of earth. I have gratitude for those who have not lost the connection to earth, despite the persecution for it.
Copyright © 2023 Monika Denise - All Rights Reserved.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.