Summer Solstice also known as the Festival of Joy, Light of Summer, Gathering Day, Alban Hefin or Litha

21st December 2020

The Solstice this year has a special significance as it witnesses a 3000-year astrological triple conjunction (the Grand Conjunct). As these time lines merge, aspects of humanity’s unresolved ego will be displayed and there will be a reactive upsurge by humanity where the lightworkers and way-showers must hold the neutral space of love for others who do not yet understand what is occurring.

The Solstice is the longest day of the year and so has the shortest night-time hours; a celebration of light which represents Spirit at full power. Agriculturally, the crops are in their maximum growth period and coming closer to harvest time. Most wild herbs are fully mature by Midsummer and this is the traditional time for gathering magickal and medicinal plants to dry and store for winter use. It is also a potent day for candle magick where the element of fire is held as that of transformation, integration and manifestation.

People have been acknowledging the power of the rising of the sun on this day in sacred celebration since ancient times. Sacred sites around the world have been built intentionally to honour this powerful day; Stonehenge was built in alignment with the rising of the sun to shine exactly on the heel-stone marking the midsummer sunrise.

The Sun represents vitality, health, and life force; it is the true self, without doubts, without fears, without boundaries. The Sun rules the heart, upper back, spine, wrists, and inherited physical stamina so this a powerful time of healing for associated imbalances and to release imprints from the father’s bloodline.

The colours of midsummer are gold and green. Gold to celebrate the power of the sun and green to symbolize nature and the faerie realm. The Summer Solstice was sacred to goddesses of fertility, marriage, and love, but it was also considered to be a time when faeries, elves, and many other supernatural beings gathered in great numbers.