Summer Solstice 2015

Sunday, June 21 is the Summer Solstice, the longest daytime of the year. As we bask in the Global Warming heat, or contend with the storms, droughts, and other extremes of this year, on a personal level, it used to be the general goal for most folks to have a stable and productive job that would provide enough to raise a family with some measure of security and stability. During a couple/few weeks a year a family vacation would provide a sense of freedom or adventure. We will grow towards no longer content to work in indentured slavery, which is where the vast majority live. We will no longer be content to work to make someone else money and hurt the Earth. We will no longer be content to be "lying for a living". When we make just enough money to get by and pay for the basics with no hope or expectation of having the luxury to be free ... to discover ourselves and to live a passionate, creative, and fulfilling life each and everyday.

The vast majority of us in the western world are a couple missed paycheques away from being destitute. When we see a TV commercial about buying a certain car to feel free, we are beginning to be aware that the 5 year payment plan is the opposite of free.

Is not the word "mortgage" French for "death cage"?

This is the attitude that is changing for us all. Many will be able to reflect upon fresh ideas and creative concepts that we had in 2010 for the creation of more freedom in our lives. The summer of 2015 is going to be one of excitement, freedom, adventure, rebellion, scientific advancement, and revealings of what was concealed.

This represents the need to bring spiritual awareness and human compassion into analytic methods and systems, both personal and institutional. Beware of the creative conundrum that receiving inspiration is a different mindset than producing a rational message or creating tangible form.

We will learn to shift gears without loosing the inspiration.

With the turning of the Solar Year, we have 4 significant corners marking the seasons of the year. This week the Sun enters Cancer, which is the time of the Solstice, and we welcome in Summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Cancer is a sign that honors our roots, our heritage, our homes and homeland, the past. It is that which gives us a sense of belonging. These quarters of the year have been celebrated and marked as ancient harvest and earth festivals that bound us to each other, as well as the Earth in a respectful and sacred dance.

Cancer’s association is primarily with the past, with family, with our heritage. It is also about connecting to our deep emotional roots, whether that be our common bonds, our sense of belonging, our sense of identity... it is also about our coping methods, and where and who we go to when we look for support and security.

    I am planting a garden to teach me to gather strength from my deepest roots.

Litha, the Solstice, was honored in ancient times with fire and drums and celebration, and even as late as the 18th century bonfires would be lit on all the hilltops in the countryside of England. And so with marigolds intertwined, in dedication to the sun, Let us dance and pay homage.