Does anyone have any plans for the Solstice?
This year, I've found myself thinking about what this festival is really about. Most years I haven't done all that much, just lit a candle and meditated on the sun reaching it's full power, and asking for such fulfillment in my own life.
Yet this year I've been thinking. Why is it that I've always linked this festival to fulfillment? Of course, the sun has attained it's 'destiny' as it were, as it is at the height of it's power. But after midsummer the days are slowly getting shorter. What does this therefore mean about the concept of fulfillment? That it is only a temporary state, and must soon begin to wane?
At Yule, the days are slowly getting shorter and many stay up till dawn to welcome the sun during the Winter Solstice. Does this therefore mean, in the cycle of things, that at the Summer Solstice I should be welcoming the dark? To my mind that therefore diminishes the fact that we are in the midst of summer right now- I love summer.
So, I've decided that this midsummer I am going to concentrate less on the desire to achieve fulfillment, and more on being thankful for the things that have granted me fulfillment. The past 12 months have been really up and down for me; I've got married, I went travelling, I've relocated to a different country. Yet I'm beginning to slowly feel settled. It's mine and my husband's 1 year wedding anniversary in 2 and a half weeks time, and so I'm going to dedicate this Summer Solstice to being thankful for the fact that I'm beginning to feel settled and fulfilled in my new life.
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