Esoteric Meaning Of The Summer Solstice

Summer Solstice

by Gregg Prescott, M.S.
Founder, Webmaster, & Editor, In5D.com

The summer solstice begins in the Northern Hemisphere begins around June 20-21st and is the official first day of summer, but what does the summer solstice mean in an esoteric sense?

Each season brings new energies and new beginnings along with the closing and ending of the previous seasonal energies.

The word solstice is Latin and means “sun standing still” as it represents the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere.

Celebratory Origins

You can find summer soltice celebrations, rituals and festivals dating as far back as over 5,000 years ago with the Stonehenge monuments. Even to this day, celebrations are held in Wiltshire at Stonehenge to observe the sun rising behind the Heel Stone in the north-east part of the horizon when its first sunrays shine into the heart of Stonehenge.

The summer solstice was especially important in Ancient Egypt because it heralded the coming of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Shortly after Sirius arrived each year, the Nile would overflow its banks and the flood season would begin, which the Egyptians relied on to nourish the land. They believed that Sirius was responsible for the flooding and set their calendar based on the star’s arrival in the night sky. As soon as the priests saw Sirius they declared that the New Year had begun.

The summer solstice was not a time for celebration in ancient Mesopotamia, but one of mourning. In Babylon the solstice meant intense heat, disease and famine. They saw it as a “dead season” and so they associated it with the rising power of the god Nergal, god of war and pestilence. They held a six day funeral for Tammuz, the god of food and vegetation because it was assumed he must die each year at this time. The belief in Tammuz and the ritual mourning period took place throughout Mesopotamia up until the biblical time of Ezekiel, and today the fourth month of the Hebrew calendar is the month of Tammuz.

Native American tribes celebrated the June solstice with great feasts and dances to honor the sun. One of the most well-documented and elaborate is that of the Sioux, a celebration that continues to this day. It is called the Wi wanyang wacipi, which translates to “sun gazing dance” and centers around a sacred cottonwood tree erected in the middle of a ritual circle. The tree is “a visible connection between the heavens and Earth.” Teepees would encircle the tree to represent the cosmos. Participants fasted during the dance, their bodies decorated in the symbolic colors of red (sunset), blue (sky), yellow (lightning), white (light), and black (night).”

Light Wins

Despite being the longest day of the year, it’s also a reminder that each season follows a cycle as from this point forward until the winter solstice; the days will be getting shorter.

Summer is the return to LIGHT and serves as a reminder for the inner light we all have within ourselves as well as how LIGHT always wins over dark. In an esoteric sense, it also represents eternal life over physical death.

The Tarot And Summer

In the tarot, all Aces, The Death card, and The Fool represent new beginnings. With water being the ruling element of summer, all Cups card would also reflect summer. Late summer is represented by The Empress, who is often compared to Demeter, the Greek Goddess of summer and harvest.

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Pagan Celebrations

For the Pagans, Litha, or Midsummer, celebrates the beginning of summer of the summer solstice. In some traditions, Litha is when a battle between light and dark takes place. In this battle, the Oak King and the Holly King battle for control. During each solstice, they battle for power, and the balance shifts. The Oak King, who represents daylight, rules from the winter solstice (Yule) to Litha. During this time, the days steadily get longer. However, during Litha, the Holly King wins this battle, and the days get steadily darker until Yule.

For some, Litha represents the holiday that celebrates the marriage of the God and Goddess, which was promised at Beltane. Holding festivals, creating bonfires, and hosting feasts are some of the ways modern Pagans celebrate Litha.

Litha:
Colors: green, gold, purple
Crystals: amber, garnet, obsidian, moonstone, jade, emerald
Flowers: honeysuckle, roses, chamomile, lavender
Animals: butterflies, robins, horses, fireflies
Plants: fennel, oak trees, mugwort, St John’s wort
Spells: Litha is one of the best times for protection or love magic

And, on this, the longest day of the year, Wiccans celebrate the Oak King’s wedding to the pregnant goddess. After the summer solstice, his strength wanes and, at the autumn equinox (Mabon), the Holly King takes power.

7 WAYS TO CELEBRATE LITHA

1. Enjoy Fresh Fruits

2. Have A Bonfire

3. Gather Herbs

4. Make A Dream Pillow

5. Get Married Or Handfasted

6. Decorate Your Altar With Flowers

Time to Build Your Spiritual Foundation

Summer is a time for utmost light and hence, enlightenment, as the light shines brighter now than any other time of the year. It’s a representation of the inner yearn for knowledge and truth and will shine its light in the direction(s) you need to be shown.

Fruits and flowers come into full bloom before their Autumn harvest, so inner growth is optimal at this point of the year. The sun radiates heat and encourages us to slow down and see what’s in front of us. In other words, take the time to smell the roses!

You might want to take the time to ask yourself:

• What new beginnings am I ready to experience?
• Am I prepared for an unexpected summer storm?
• What have you accomplished this year and what more can you accomplish for the remainder of the year?
• With the summer brining new beginnings, is there something you need to let go of?

Powerful Summer Solstice Quotes

“[Midsummer] is the time to stay out all night reveling and then gather plants before calling it a night. It is a magical time for divination, communing with the spirits, and finding true love – or at the very least romance, flirtation, and fun.”
~ Judika Illes in The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft

“The power of the sun at the [Summer] Solstice is protective, healing, empowering, and revitalizing. It adds a powerful charge to all spells, crystals, and herbs; so divination was traditionally practiced on this night.”
~ Lisa Lister in Witch: Unleashed. Untamed. Unapologetic.

“Like Beltane, the Summer Solstice is said to be one of the times of year when the fairy court changes residence. Anyone who has ever seen fireflies flitting around on Midsummer might believe this is true, and certainly Shakespeare thought there was enough connection between the fey and Midsummer to write an entire play about it.”
~ Thea Sabin in Wicca for Beginners: Fundamentals of Philosophy & Practice

“The sabbat of Midsummer is a potent and magickal date. This is a great time for fire magick, bonfires, garden witchery, herbal and green magicks, and the best night of the year to commune with the elemental kingdom and the faeries. This is a time of celebration in nature: everything is green and growing. Nature is celebrating her achievement!”
~ Ellen Dugan in Seasons of Witchery

“Just as the sun is at the height of its power at Midsummer, it also begins its decline…When we think of the sun in its decline, we note that it does not scatter its power in fear and desperation. It does not attempt to turn back time or change the way things are. It simply shines fully, brightly – just as it is – fading, fading, into an ever-darkening year. In our own lives, this symbolizes the practice of accepting fully our lives as they are in the moment without fear or striving for effect.”
~ Timothy Roderick in Wicca: A Year and a Day: 366 Days of Spiritual Practice in the Craft of the Wise

“Despite the dominant awareness of summertime in relation to the land, the sea and its beautiful wonders are also very much a part of the summer season…Even if we can’t go the the seashore and touch the warm sand or let the waves crash against our legs, we can still call upon the energy and magical inhabitants of the ocean for use in our [Midsummer] magic and to build greater spiritual connection to the mystical realm.”
~ Michael Furie in Supermarket Sabbats: A Magical Year Using Everyday Ingredients

“The sun shines brightly overhead as witches dance around a bonfire and feast on fruits and vegetables fresh from the fields. Children laugh and play, rolling wheels that symbolize the sun and chasing shining bubbles that float through the air like faeries. It is the Summer Solstice, also known as Midsummer or Litha. The earth rejoices in abundance and light, and so do we.”
~ Deborah Blake in Midsummer: Rituals, Recipes, and Lore for Litha

“Because this is a sabbat which glorifies the sun, and the sun is a symbol of protection, many pagans choose to make protective amulets in the week before the sabbat that are later empowered over the Midsummer balefire…Rue, rowan, and basil, tied up in a gold or white cloth, is a good protective trio that can be carried in your pocket year round. A few cinnamon sticks tied over the door of your home is another good protective charm.”
~ Edain McCoy in The Sabbats: A Witch’s Approach to Living the Old Ways

Wishing you an amazing summer solstice, Litha, Midsummer, or however you may celebrate it!

Sending you all infinite LOVE and Light!

Gregg

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Gregg Prescott, M.S. is the founder and editor of In5D and Zentasia.  He co-owns In5D Club with his beautiful wife, Ali. You can find every episode of “The BIGGER Picture with Gregg Prescott” on Bitchute while all of his In5D Radio shows are on the In5D Youtube channel. He is a visionary, author, a transformational speaker, and promotes spiritual, metaphysical and esoteric conferences in the United States through In5dEvents.  Please like and follow In5D on Gab,  In5D Telegram, In5D Bitchute, Instagram, TikTok, Rumble, Twitter, and  In5D on Facebook!

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Tags: esoteric, pagan, solstice, summer, summer solstice