The Summer Solstice

June 21 is the Summer Solstice. In our Northern Hemisphere, this is the longest day of the year (the most light). In the Southern Hemisphere, they experience the exact opposite: Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year.

The word Solstice comes from two Latin words, "sol" meaning sun, and "sistere' (meaning "to stand still"). As we progress through the spring the sun seems to appear further and further north in the sky. Then it appears to stop at Solstice, and then gradually, day by day, reverses its course until it appears very far in the southern sky at Winter Solstice. At that point, it appears to stand still again, and then reverse its course and start back north.

This apparent movement is not the sun moving at all, it is due to the tilt of the Earth on its axis. As the Earth revolves around the sun, the tilt of the planet on its axis has the sun toward or away from each pole. This tilt, and the angling towards or away from the sun, is the reason we have seasons.

In many cultures the Summer Solstice is symbolic of fertility. Married couples would jump over solstice bonfires (made to increase even more the energy of the sun). Their crops would grow as high as the couple could jump. (Hope they grew a lot of root crops and had small fires!)

Some cultures consider the Solstices and Equinoxes the beginning of a season. Our culture does that. Other cultures believe that they mark the middle of the season. In fact, in some places, the Summer Solstice is called "Mid summer".

There seems to be less mythology about the Summer Solstice than the Winter one. Perhaps Winter Solstice was such an endurance test in many places that the mythology was more abundant.

There is some mythology, though, as cultures like the Chinese choose the Summer Solstice to celebrate Li, Goddess of Light. The Druids called Summer Solstice the "wedding of heaven and Earth" and believed June weddings were lucky. (hence June being a big month for weddings, even today!) Druids called the Summer Solstice "Litha".