Summer Solstice Illuminates Footpath of Life
By C. Austin
Astronomical events are interesting. For one thing, humankind has
marked celestial events, such as solstices, eclipses and the like, for
millennia. What is seen in the heavens above is often considered to
be experienced in the temporal world below.
Solstices, like the one on June 20 at 5:01 PDT, are particularly
shifty. Solstices occur when Earth's tilt is oriented directly away
or toward the sun - giving us our "shortest" and "longest" days of the
year.
The summer solstice then, is the pinnacle of the summer, it will
get no brighter and the days now begin to shorten. But things are not
as bad as they seem because the summer solstice is also the beginning
of our summer "season," thus we can look to beginnings rather than
endings. However, June 20 is also "mid-summer," located as it is,
between the commencement of the Celtic summer on May 1 and its
conclusion on August 1. Perhaps not an end, or a beginning, but a
middle.
Or perhaps all three. In the Celtic worldview, a thing that
encompasses its own beginning, middle and end represents a cycle of
time - like a year and a day - and is thus eternal.
An eternal moment then - that is what summer solstice must be, the
dizzying height of our sun, our own destiny. A moment of clarity
after which all moments should be modeled, where we sense our time and
the tide of the universe - that which directs our feet. What are we
here for? Where are we going? A moment, a life rich in
meaning...except when there is an eclipse, like one that will occur on
August 1.
An eclipse is also a celestial event and it occurs when there is an
alignment between a star and two other bodies, like the sun, the moon
and our earth. As the moon moves between the sun and earth, light and
energy traveling between the sun and the earth diminishes.
For us, the interloping object that occludes our energy and view of
the path might be a relationship - the overwhelming energy of the
Other or it might be events long passed, it may even be our own
shadow, a deeply profound lunar expression.
The world "eclipse" comes from the Greek "ekleipsis" meaning an
absence and "to leave out." How often do we leave out what is
important to us, the meaning of our life because we are "eclipsed" by
something other?
Those familiar with European mythology will recall the symbolism of
the Holly and the Oak king - twin brothers who duel at the solstices.
Theirs is not a polite demur, a "guilt trip" or a quiet forgetting of
purpose under the influence of an oppressive personal or work
relationship - it is battle. A heated conflict when change is at the
fore. There is a winner, there is a loser and there isn't a happy,
fuzzy, negotiated ending - one wins and one dies...at least for six
months until the sequel come out.
We cannot forever stand in the light of our brightest moment, but
we can accept the wisdom offered us in the stars. By acknowledging
the shifting status of each moment we can move more freely through and
out of the shadow of those energies in life that would eclipse the
unique light of our own journey.
The dark Holly King (having been drubbed by the bright Oak King in
December) holds sway at the summer solstice and the solar and
vegetative year moves imperceptibly toward decline. Change has come.
From the heavens above, to the souls below, change has come.
| 
