For the beautry of the day…
the rising of the Solstice Sun,
in perfect conjunction
in perfect bliss,
The young ones join
the long dance,
The older ones smile
sweet memories,
Here it is: The biggest dose of Light
On this day – Solstice Bright….
Join us tonight (Wednesday the 21st) to dance the Solstice down at the Oregon Zoo with Mariam et Amadou… A good time, a wild time promised for all.
There is no better way to celebrate the ripeness of the Earth than to dance the Sun into the Western Lands, there is no better way to connect to the pulse of life than raising your voice in song and your body in the Sacred Dance, the long dance…
Join us, we will be there with friends, lovers, kids, food and very, very good times…
Big Love, To You All….
Gwyllm
——
On The Menu:
The Summer Solstice (From the BBC)
The Poetry of the Solstice….
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(From the BBC)
Summer Solstice
21st June (sometimes 20th)
Standing stones on a summer’s day
As the sun spirals its longest dance,
Cleanse us
As nature shows bounty and fertility
Bless us
Let all things live with loving intent
And to fulfill their truest destiny
Taken from a Wiccan blessing for Summer
Solstice, Midsummer or Litha means a stopping or standing still of the sun. It is the longest day of the year and the time when the sun is at its maximum elevation.
This date has had spiritual significance for thousands of years as humans have been amazed by the great power of the sun. The Celts celebrated with bonfires that would add to the suns energy, Christians placed the feast of St John the Baptist towards the end of June and it is also the festival of Li, the Chinese Goddess of light.
Like other religious groups, Pagans are in awe of the incredible strength of the sun and the divine powers that create life. For Pagans this spoke in the Wheel of the Year is a significant point. The Goddess took over the earth from the horned God at the beginning of spring and she is now at the height of her power and fertility. For some Pagans the Summer Solstice marks the marriage of the God and Goddess and see their union as the force that creates the harvests fruits.
This is a time to celebrate growth and life but for Pagans, who see balance in the world and are deeply aware of the ongoing shifting of the seasons it is also time to acknowledge that the sun will now begin to decline once more towards winter.
When celebrating midsummer Pagans draw on diverse traditions. In England thousands of Pagans and non-Pagans go to places of ancient religious sites such as Stonehenge and Avebury to see the sun rising on the first morning of summer. Many more Pagans hold small ceremonies in open spaces, everywhere from gardens to woodlands.
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The Poetry of the Solstice….
The Haymaker’s Song
In the merry month of June,
In the prime time of the year;
Down in yonder meadows
There runs a river clear;
And many a little fish
Doth in that river play;
And many a lad, and many a lass,
Go abroad a-making hay
And when the bright day faded,
And the sun was going down,
There was a merry piper
Approached from the town;
He pulled out his pipe and tabor,
So sweetly he did play,
Which made all lay down their rakes,
And leave off making hay.
Then joining in a dance
They jig it o’er the green;
Though tired with their labour
No one less was seen.
But sporting like some fairies,
Their dance they did pursue,
In leading up, and casting off,
Till morning was in view.
——–
The sun is shining
The sun is shining –
The sun is shining
That is the Magic.
The flowers are growing-
the roots are stirring.
That is the Magic.
Being alive is the Magic
being strong is the Magic.
The Magic is in me-
it is in me.
It’s in every one of us.
From the Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett
——-
The Fairy Ring
by George Mason and John Earsden
Let us in a lovers round
Circle all this hallowed ground;
Softly, softly trip and go,
the light-foot Fairies jet it so.
Forward then and back again,
Here and there and everywhere,
Winding to and fro,
Skipping high and louting low;
And, like lovers, hand in hand,
March around and make a stand.
——-
I Stood Against the Window
By Rose Fyleman
I stood against the window
And I loked between the bars,
And there were strings of fairies
Hanging from the stars;
Everywhere and everywhere
In shining, swinging chains;
The air ws full of shimmering,
Like sunlight when it rains.
They kept on swinging, swinging,
They flung themselves so high
They caught upon the pointed moon
And hung across the sky.
And when I woke next morning,
There still were crowds and crowds
In beautiful bright bunches
All sleeping on the clouds
——-
MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM
SHAKESPERE
Be kind and courteous to this gentleman;
Hop in his walks and gambol in his eyes;
Feed him with apricots and dewberries,
With purple grapes, green figs, and mulberries;
The honey-bags steal from the huble-bees,
And for night-tapers crop their waxen things.
And light them at the fiery glow-worm eyes,
To have my love to bed and to arise;
And pluck the wings from painted butterflies
To fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes:
Nod to him, elves, and do him courtesies
(Midsummer Nights Dream Act 3 Scene 1)
——
PUCK
How now spirit! Whither wander you?
Over hill, over dale
Through bush, through brier,
Over park, over pale
Thorough flood, thorough fire
I do wander everywhere
Swifter than the moones sphere:
And I serve the fairy queen.
To dew her orbs upon the green
The cowslips tall her pensioners be:
In their gold coats spots you see
Those be rubies fairy favours
In those freckles live their savours:
I must go seek some dewdrops here
And hang a peaarl in every cowslips ear
(Midsummer Nights Dream)
——-
Through the Looking Glass 1872
Lewis Carroll
Child of pure, unclouded brow
And dreaming eyes of wonder!
Though time be fleet and I and thou
Are half a life asunder,
Thy loving smile will surely hail
The love-gift of a fairy tale.
——-
QUEEN MAB
P. B. SHELLEY
I am the Fairy MAB: to me tis given
The wonders of the human world to keep:
The secrets of the immeasurable past,
In the unfailing consciences of men,
Those stern, unflattering chroniclers, I find:
The future, form the causes which arise
In each event, I gather: not the sting
Which retributive memory implants
In the hard bosom of the selfish man;
Nor that ecstatic and exulting throb
Which virtues votary feels when he sums up
The thoughts and actions of a well-spend day,
Are unforeseen, unregistered by me:
And it is yet permitted me, to rent
The veil of mortal frailty, that the spirit
Clothed in its changeless purity, may know
How soonest to accomplish the great end
For which it hath its being, and may taste
That peace, which in the end all life will share
——–
THE FAIRIES
ROBERT HERRICK
If ye will with Mab find grace,
Set each Platter in his place:
Rake the Fier up, and get
Water in, ere Sun be set.
Wash your Pails, and cleanse your Dairies;
Sluts are loathsome to the Fairies:
Sweep your house: Who doth not so,
Mab will pinch her by the toe.
