jodyrathgeb

  • Home
  • About me
  • Fiction
  • Nonfiction
  • Blog
  • Mosaic Catalog
  • Mosaic Gallery

Summer solstice

6/19/2014

0 Comments

 
   Saturday is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year and what is usually noted on our calendars as the first day of summer. Most people won't celebrate it, though, or even notice.

   I am of two minds about that. We certainly don't need another "holiday" taken over by advertising and guilt (Oh, honey, did you buy the solstice gifts yet?), but I think it's a shame that more people don't recognize this natural milestone in the year ... or the Winter Solstice, Vernal Equinox or Autumnal Equinox.

   In a way, many of us do note Winter Solstice and Vernal Equinox, as the Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter have been superimposed on them. I suppose the early church fathers figured that since people were going to celebrate at those times of year, they might as well be given a "good" reason to celebrate. That's why those holidays contain so many pagan elements and symbols like Christmas trees and eggs, and why the hyperreligious want to erase those elements.

   I don't know how the Summer Solstice managed to escape religious layering, but I think that makes it an even more charming day to celebrate. We can make up our own activities and traditions: going on a picnic, pausing at noon to think about the sun at its highest point, having a glass of wine while watching the sunset ... anything to remind us of the gifts and natural miracles of the earth and heavens.

   Would that be considered pagan? Well, yes, but there's nothing wrong with paganism, which is simply an appreciation of and respect for nature. And perhaps a reminder of all that is pagan, or outside of religion, is a good way to get back to basics. From there, you can move on to the next layer, if you choose, and become a good Christian, or Buddhist, or Jew, or Muslim. But it starts with this wonderful orb we live on, which has its own cycles and rhythms that we must remember to follow and respect.

   So, happy solstice, everyone. Long, warm thoughts go out to you on a long, warm day.




0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    May 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011

    Categories

    All
    Aging
    Air-conditioning
    Aloe House
    Animals
    Artists
    Bahamas
    Beaches
    Beliefs
    Birds
    Book Marketing
    Book Publishing
    Books
    Carnivals
    Cats
    Characters
    Chick Lit
    Christmas Cards
    Cleaning
    Cliches
    Computer Failure
    Concrete
    Corner Stores
    Creativity
    Downsizing
    Editing
    Exercise
    Family Traditions
    Fish Eye Lens
    Fish-Eye Lens
    Flexibility
    Food
    Forgetfulness
    Friendship
    Gardening
    Grammar
    Greece
    Halloween
    Halupki
    Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
    Hurricane Irene
    Hurricane Sandy
    Interviews
    Island Economies
    Island Living
    Islands
    Island Traditions
    Island Trivia
    James River Writers
    Jimmy Buffett
    Journalism
    Liberal Arts
    Mosaic Art
    Music
    Nanowrimo
    New Orleans
    New Perspectives
    North Caicos
    North Caicos
    Onomatopoeia
    Organization
    Parrot Heads
    Photos
    Pirates
    Pop Culture
    Publishing
    Punctuation
    Purple Martins
    Readership
    Regional Vocabulary
    Richmond
    Rituals
    Sampler
    Scrabble
    She Pirate Of The Taino Islands
    She-Pirate Of The Taino Islands
    Shockoe Bottom
    Shoes
    Short Stories
    Social Media
    Song Lyrics
    Spaces
    Structure
    Tcspca
    Technology
    Thanksgiving
    Tools
    Towels
    Travel Writing
    Turks And Caicos
    Turks & Caicos
    Weather
    Women On Writing
    Words
    Work Styles
    Writer's Block
    Writing
    Writing Fiction
    Writing Tools

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly