Summer Solstice: Litha
The Wheel of the Year keeps turning. Happy Summer Solstice here in the North and Happy Winter Solstice to those of you in the southern hemisphere.
Every year, the Sun travels (because of the Earth’s tilted axis) north to the Tropic of Cancer and south to the Tropic of Capricorn. These are the two limits of the Sun’s journey. We in the northern hemisphere experience the Summer Solstice in mid-June, while the southern hemisphere is experiencing its Winter Solstice. This week, the Summer Solstice marks the high point of light in the northern hemisphere, the longest day, the shortest night.
I just read that this is the earliest Summer Solstice in 228 years – the last time it was this early was in 1796 when George Washington was president. I find it interesting that we are back in the energies of the American Revolution, especially with the US’s first Pluto return that occurred in 2022, as well as Pluto’s subsequent entry into Aquarius. The last time Pluto was in Aquarius, the US broke away from England and wrote its constitution. (Hint: the Republicans also have astrologers and they’re using this energy in their bid to un-do that rebellion against the king and the wealthy upper class.
The turning Wheel moves us into a new season. A new energy. Full of light and warmth. Unfortunately, most of the U.S. is experiencing a deadly heat wave this week, thanks to climate change. But despite that, most of us will be out of school, taking vacations, picnicking outside. (Do we realize how blessed our life is here in the US?) The Sun is high overhead and vital! Everything is growing. Nature is blossoming. It’s the most fertile time of year.
This is the Sacred Marriage of Heaven and Earth, and it symbolizes that beautiful Garden that was our original home here.
At the same time, now begins the half of the year when the dark is rising. We might not consciously acknowledge it, but the body knows. Summer is the time when our bodies soak in the sunlight. After the cold and dark of Winter, we enjoy the warmth and the light but, after Summer Solstice, we also unconsciously know these days will soon be gone. So the body wants to enjoy life now.
The energy is shifting into the Yin part of the year (Summer to Winter Solstice), into withdrawal and ultimately darkness. For the dark will slowly begin to rise even as we celebrate the Sun’s power.
Light and Dark. Two sides of a never-ending cycle of change. The Sun stands still (the meaning of Solstice) for three days twice each year, as the Sun travels to its furthest points both North and South of the Equator before turning around.
Two sides of life. Both necessary. The Celts name them twins – the Oak King and the Holly King, one to rule the warmth and light, one to rule the cold and dark. They battle for the hand of the Goddess of Life. But let’s drop the battle language and imagine that they change dance partners gracefully and peacefully during these three days at Solstice, switching authority over the Sun as it continues its travels south now, until the next Solstice.
This journey of the Sun gives us our seasons. All things that live, decay and die. Life and death are woven together. Letting go of old habits, or old cultural beliefs and systems, are part of the natural process. As a culture, we are at the point of leaving patriarchy behind, although it is putting up the fight of its life to stay in power. Those old father gods just didn’t want to die! And neither do the patriarchal people running our world – idiot boy/men who waste lives and resources with their wars as they strut around trying to assert their dominance. But it’s time for them to leave the world stage so we can get on with creating a better world.
Life itself will finally win out, and the ‘rule of the fathers/patriarchy’ will finally be over. Until we make that happen, in the midst of these trying times, remember that new life and new growth are still available to us. This is one of the lessons of Summer/Winter Solstice. Eternal renewal.
Most ancient cultures were aligned with the Earth and the heavens, and so they celebrated the turning points of Light and Darkness, growth and death. While our modern society has forgotten the meaning and rituals of these turning points, it is surprising how we unconsciously still celebrate them. Before the Summer Solstice when we celebrate the gift of Light from Father Sky, we celebrate Father’s Day. And what is America’s 4th of July except a celebration of summer and the triumph of Life! And of course, there’s Midsummer’s Eve and its celebrations! Isn’t it time to remember the deeper meaning of Earth’s seasons? Won’t our lives be enriched by acknowledging their sacred meaning?
The Summer Solstice is the height of a symphony of sounds and sights, tastes and touches and smells that will slowly fade away with the year. We experience the orgasmic ecstasy of life as Heaven and Earth engage in the Sacred Marriage, the fullness and beauty of life. And also now, the over-heated threat of climate change. Gratitude and hope need to be coupled with determination and action so we finally face this existential challenge to life on Earth.
Like a Full Moon, Summer Solstice gives form and intention to the seed planted at Winter Solstice – the Seed of Light and Life returning. This year, what did you need to birth? What are you manifesting in your life right now? This is the blossoming of your Winter Solstice spirit.
(Check out your birth chart to see in which houses Cancer and Capricorn fall.)
I will be writing about a sacred myth that exemplifies Summer Solstice season, a myth about how to create a better world. You’ll find all these essays (some coming soon) at my new The Power of Story Sub stack page: https://substack.com/@cathypagano
Summer Solstice Chart
The Summer Solstice arrives on June 20, 2024 when the Sun enters the sign of Cancer at 1:51pm PDT/2:51pm MT/3:51pm CDT/4:51pm EDT/9:51pm GMT.
Cancer is the sign of the Mother, our home, our family and ultimately our soul. It’s a psychic sign and makes us sensitive to our feelings and to other people’s needs. With both Venus and Mercury in Cancer conjunct this Solstice Sun, our hearts and minds will be aligned in deciding what is important to us, especially around emotional and physical security.
The Moon, which rules Cancer, is in Sagittarius. Sagittarius is the search for truth and meaning. The Moon describes how we experience life – it’s our operating system if you will. So a Sagittarius Moon gives this Summer Solstice an intuitive knowing about looking for our truth and looking outside our usual perspective. It can help us go beyond what we’ve already experienced, whether we expand our psychic abilities, clairvoyance, intuition or mindset.
As you can see, we have a mixture of water and fire which can create lots of steam. But there is an Eastern belief that fire and water create the flaming pearl of enlightenment. The pearl was thought to be the result of lightning penetrating the oyster. Therefore, it was regarded as the union of fire and water. So use these energies to become conscious of your real needs. Time to tell yourself the Truth.
Dane Rudhyar’s Sabian symbol for the Sun at 1* Cancer is: Sailor ready to hoist a new flag to replace an old one. This symbolizes a desire to expand our beliefs and open ourselves to a new way, a new destiny, a new life.
Ellias Lonsdale’s Star Sparkes for this Solstice Sun is: A potter at work.
“There is a formative pattern that expresses itself when you can let it through with sensitivity and conscious attunement. It has a voice, a call, a characteristic feel. And when you get in the groove of letting the whole stream into this part, the tension dissolves, and Spirit reverberates everywhere.”
This beautiful image of letting Spirit in to do its work is the calling of this season. When we give over to the rhythms of life, we become part of life and instinctively know and resonate with it. To return to our natural state of being, but this time with self-awareness, is to be restored to an ancient way of being, a re-dedication to our original blessings. (This is what happens when we align our ego-consciousness with our higher Self.)
What if our true purpose is to remember our place in Mother Earth’s biosphere, and as spiritual human beings take up our Stewardship of her bounty?
Pluto in Aquarius is calling to us. It is time to join forces – outside the boundaries of our Capricornian collective culture. If we each remember and rededicate ourselves to our place in Earth’s biosphere, we can create that alternative better world. We can unite our energies through our collective mycillium network, Indra’s Net – our connected, united consciousness. Separate but united. If we all join together we can accomplish what our governments aren’t doing and probably won’t do, until we have new leaders with new visions.
When we consciously return to our ‘natural state’ as stewards of the Earth, we can access the wisdom we need to create a better future.
The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 16* Sagittarius is: A calm ocean, a motionless ship: lazily soaring seagulls. A perfect image of a summer’s day, a moment of pause before a coming change. This is the time to store up love and fun and enjoyment, so we’re energized to meet what is happening in the world.
Ellias Lonsdale’s Star Sparks give us this interesting image for 1 6* Sagittarius: A man sheering sheep. This image seems to indicate that there are a lot of sheep that need tending, and each of us might be the person they need. It’s a reminder that even if we don’t think we have something important to contribute to others, our centered presence might be all that’s required. And so we take up our leadership and our purpose.
Planetary Aspects in the Solstice Chart
The Cancer Sun is conjunct both Venus and Mercury, so our purpose is centered on home and family, as well as emotional security. Venus/Aphrodite is the initiator of our Soul, and Mercury is the messenger god. What does your soul need to feel secure in these changing times? This is what we have to discover this Cancer season.
These three planets are squaring the Lunar Nodes, challenging us to stop being so Libran and nice (did you know that nice originally meant stupid and inconsequential?) and use that Aries North Node to go after what we need and want with courage and enthusiasm.
The Sun in Gemini made a potent square to Neptune at 29*54’ Pisces just before it entered Cancer – its last aspect before hitting the Summer Solstice point of 0* Cancer. Neptune at the last degree of the zodiac – the Omega point – is the culmination of all the energies of the vast ocean of the collective unconscious that Pisces symbolizes. What do we human beings long for? What is our collective dream?
We take that dream with us into this Cancer season with it’s special lunar energies, because there are two full Moons during Cancer – the first (2* Capricorn) on the day after Solstice and the second (30* Capricorn) Full Moon, which is the astrological Blue Moon. The lunar cycle shifts back to the natural New Moon/Full Moon in a sign cycle. (For the past few years it’s been Full Moon/New Moon.) Capricorn is the sign of our social structures, which are supposed to support our common good. So far, our governments haven’t been doing a good job of it. But Capricorn also calls us to our personal dharma – our path of rightness. Perhaps it’s time to take a stand for what we need for life, personally and collectively.
The Solstice Sun inconjuncts Pluto retrograde in Aquarius, so it might be harder to expand our concept of home and family to everyone else, but that is a necessary adjustment we all need to make in our thinking. We have to know in our souls that we’re all in this together.
The Sagittarius Moon is widely opposite Jupiter in Gemini and squares Saturn in Pisces. This is another call to use our imagination to listen deeply to what is happening in the world or at least in our corner of it. The Sagittarius Moon stands up for her truth, and that truth needs to align with a larger truth – what do you and everyone else need right now? Open up to the World Soul/Anima Mundi. Listen to its song. Dance it through your body. Be Wise.
First Capricorn/Cancer Full Moon on June 21st
The Capricorn Full Moon occurs on June 21st at 6:08pm PDT/7:08pm MT/ 8:08pm CDT/9:08pm EDT and on June 22nd at 1:08am GMT.
This Capricorn Full Strawberry Moon is the culmination of June 6th’s Gemini New Moon, two days after Venus ‘kissed’ the Sun in her Superior Conjunction on the far side of the Sun, beginning her new Venus Star Point as an Evening Star. This is Venus’ Wisdom aspect. Perhaps she is encouraging us to look at our Gemini information/social media ‘junk food diet’ and cut back to only work with information we really need.
Then this Capricorn Full Moon can help us ‘make it so’ as we set about making only the important stuff our priority.
The big difference from the Solstice Chart is that the Moon has moved into Capricorn, and it is very out-of-bounds (OOB), a phenomenon that happens when the Moon or planets escape the physical bounds of the ecliptic, as ruled by the Sun. OOB Moons tend to be wild cards, more emotionally sensitive and with a tendency to be more curious about life. An OOB Moon are more spontaneous, liberated, independent, rebellious, zany – the archetypal outcast and bringer of great change through genius, passion, heresy, or all of the above. When the Moon is OOB, we tend to go against the grain of societal expectations, rejecting social norms. It’s a time to go forge our own path through life. (For more on the OOB Moon see Steven Forrest’s work on it.)
This is a bonus with a Capricorn Moon, since usually Capricorn energy is very conservative and straight-laced. Venus and Mercury in Cancer are also OOB, so they are open and willing to share some of their unconventional needs with the Moon.
In more astrological news, both Pisces planets are about to go retrograde. Saturn will turn retrograde on June 29th and Neptune will turn retrograde on
July 2nd. They will take us on a deep dive into the Collective Unconscious (Pisces), so tune into your own unconscious through dreams and journeying to see what’s brewing down there.
Dane Rudhyar’s Sabian symbol for Saturn’s retrograde at 20* Pisces is: In the quiet of evening, the farmer’s supper awaits him. After all our work is done, it’s time for some nourishment. This is the time for spiritual nourishment, so take some time to just let go of the outer world and turn within.
The Sabian symbol for Neptune turning retrograde at the very end of the zodiac at 30* Pisces is: A seer’s dream now lives: a face carved into hugh rocks. It’s time to manifest the high, enduring truths of life.
Ellias Lonsdale’s Star Sparks for Saturn at 20* Pisces is: Palm trees laden with dates. This is a symbol of that paradise garden I mentioned before. A tuning into Earth’s rhythms, a tuning into our inner world of dreams and imagination. Being in touch with Source.
The Star Sparks for Neptune at 30* Pisces is: A large halo in a ring formation around the Moon. A new Earth is coming alive – the old Earth is dying. It’s time to merge our smaller Self with the larger Earth community. It’s time to merge with Earth’s evolutionary energies.
May your Summer Solstice be full of Light and Love and laughter.
Merry Meet. And Merry Part. And Merry Meet Again!
Cathy
https://lauriecorzett.substack.com/p/joyous-litha
Joyous Litha
The Moon is adrift in the wind above
our sheltering craft in the sea
and all the world of Summer is ours
to ride the fire, toast to the stars
sway with warm desire, open our hearts
create a Summer of Love
.
Celebration waves the streets, with drums,
lucid bells, a call to play
Carnival cheer brings heat to flame
Chants blend to sing with drinks and games
Grand gestures expand, to applaud such a day
fueled by smiling Sun
Cathy Pagano for President!