Sisters and Brothers,
I finished my sessions today and went to the Grandmother Land to be there as the dynamo of the local cosmos reversed directions — the northern solstice. There I did me some deep thinking and filled pages in my notebook. Interestingly, some time before the solstice my cell phone ran out of batteries, so I lost track of my exact place in time. I had planned to come back here to my studio and write something, but contemplating my innerverse at the waterfall, I decided I needed to maintain my silence here for a while longer. I continue to leave you in the good hands of Planet Waves readers and writers.
Thanks for your indulgence.
Yours & truly,
 |
I have been trying to simplify my life and to cut down on the endless information which comes my way these days! It seems to me that we can read endless books and sift through magazines, emails, etc. but they are a waste of time unless we can adhere to some of the information we relate to. So I thought for about 10 seconds about giving Planet Waves a miss and not renewing, and realised I couldn’t do it!
Please tell Eric and all concerned what a wonderful service it is to us all that you send out around the world. He has generosity of heart, warmth and great wisdom, attributes which are all but missing in most politicians and world leaders, anywhere you care to look. To put it simply, I believe that those of us who can read his words, are blessed. –Kali
Dear Friend and Reader:
Mercury retrograde in Gemini is finally over, do you feel the difference yet? Those days of electronic confusion and emotional magnification have passed, and we’re on to new and better things: particularly, the northern solstice at 7:59pm EDT, and the Sun in Cancer. For those of us in the northern hemisphere, summer is officially (almost) here!
To celebrate the return of warm, long, sunny days, I’ve grabbed you a nice little piece called “Solstice Mythology and Tradition” by Constance Perenyi which was showcased in the
summer solstice issue of Planet Waves Astrology News in 2003. The archives are a wonderful feature available to Planet Waves Astrology News subscribers, especially on significant days like today when there are years of articles to read on solstices and significant aspects from the day. Of course, you also have access to the weekly and monthly horoscopes.
Eric Francis will be writing this evening; so please check in on us later today for an updated Daily Astrology and Adventure. His weekly horoscope is available today via Planet Waves Astrology News, and the July monthly horoscope will be published on Tuesday.
In addition, we’ll now be accepting all reader comments, questions and testimonials; we’ll be posting them and answering you here on a regular basis. Please email us at: editorial -at- planetwaves.net and let us know what’s on your mind.
I’ll be back tomorrow with a piece celebrating the beginning of Gay Pride Week, so stay tuned.
See you then,
June 20, 2003
Solstice Mythology and Tradition
By Constance Perenyi
On June 21 as the twins of Gemini yield to Cancer the crab, we observe the longest day of the year. Summer Solstice, or Alban Hefin as it is known in Welsh, heralds solar celebrations across the British Isles. At dawn, the sun’s rays illuminate astronomical markers of the great megalithic circles at Stonehenge in England, the Ring of Brodgar on Orkney, and the Callanish standing stones in the Outer Hebrides.
Midsummer is closely associated with Druidry, and even today the British Druid Order is permitted to celebrate the day at Stonehenge. The festival traditionally begins at dusk on Solstice eve when fires are lit to ritually encourage the sun to rise full, to climb into the sky and ripen the fruit of the trees, the grains of the field. At the first light of dawn, celebrants who kept watch through the night honor the power of the solar deity. And then at noon, the rite switches tone in recognition of the cycle of the seasons. After the sun hangs high for three days it begins its descent into the darkness of winter. The Sun King is fatally wounded at his peak and the process of his death and rebirth begins anew.
The spiral of the year was and continues to be enacted with bonfires, a tradition revived in the 1920s in Cornwall. The rites hearken back to the ancient practice of rolling a burning wheel down a hillside. In the vale of Glamorgan in Wales, crowds once gathered to watch the spectacle with anticipation. If the cartwheel was no longer aflame when it reached the bottom, it foretold a poor harvest. If however it was still blazing, farmers cheered their good fortune.
In Ireland, Solstice was understood as one of three nights of the year in which the spirit world was more accessible. At Samhain, or Halloween, and at Beltane the veil parted between the domains of the living and the dead. At midsummer, it was the fairy folk who joined human revelers. Knockainey, the hill in County Limerick considered sacred to the fairy Queen Aine, glowed with torches in her honor. It is said that Aine revealed herself as the flames died down and lead the villagers home. Her name translates as ‘brightness’ and she is likely related to an ancient solar goddess. As late as the nineteenth century, families in the area still claimed connection to the fairy queen speaking in endearing terms of her as a woman, indeed ‘the best-hearted woman that ever lived’.
On June 24th, when the days begin to get shorter, the celebrations came to a close. After Christianity took root throughout the Celtic lands, the 24th was reserved for the feast of John the Baptist. Preceding Jesus by exactly six months, John was born early to announce Christ’s coming. In Britain, St. John’s wort is harvested at midsummer. Valued by Celts as an herbal ‘demon chaser’, the plant is now valued by modern medicine for its anti-depressive qualities. With its vivid yellow flowers, St. John’s wort is a symbol of both its namesake and the brilliant solstice sun.
Friday 20 June 2008
Eros (7+ Cancer) quintile Logos (19+ Virgo)
Ceres (3+ Cancer) sextile Saturn (3+ Virgo)
Sun (29+ Gemini) sesquiquadrate Nessus (14+ Aquarius Rx)
Amor (20+ Taurus) quincunx Juno (20+ Sagittarius Rx)
Ceres (3+ Cancer) quintile Eris (21+ Aries)
Pallas (12+ Taurus) septile Kronos (3+ Cancer)
Ceres (3+ Cancer) conjunct Kronos (3+ Cancer)
Venus (2+ Cancer) square Arachne (2+ Libra)
Sun (29+ Gemini) opposite Pluto (29+ Sagittarius Rx)
Venus (3+ Cancer) quincunx Hylonome (3+ Sagittarius Rx)
Mars (23+ Leo) trine 1992 QB1 (23+ Aries)
Mercury (13+ Gemini) trine Atlantis (12+ Libra) – Near Miss Only
Mars (23+ Leo) quintile Chariklo (5+ Scorpio Rx)
Sun (0 Cancer) square Aries Point (0 Aries)
Sun enters Cancer (direct)
Today’s Oracle takes us to Jun 01, 2003 – Leo – Monthly
Recent turns of events have completely recast your role within your social existence, though the rest of the Sun’s transit through Gemini (through June 21) will tell that story. Any true creative must balance their outer life with their inner life as sources of strength. Often when we have one, we want the other, but in reality, when we are experiencing one, we can see the other so much more clearly from that vantage point. No matter how many friends are around you or how they may perceive you, you are aware of something far deeper and more cosmic about yourself, and this is the mysterious other side of you that so few get to see. Only you know what truly motivates you because only you can experience it directly. But the people who gather around you can feel it emanating from you quite clearly.