The Summer Solstice is finally here. Those of you in the northern hemisphere, near the 45th parallel, will be graced with 15 hours and 41 minutes of light. Go boldly into the season of expansion, aliveness and growth!
Ideas for your Summer Solstice Ceremony
FIRE CEREMONY
To gather round the fire is at the very heart of ritual and ceremony. Place each piece of kindling and wood with mindfulness, prayers, affirmation and intention. Light with reverence and gratitude for the match and the energy released in a single strike. Gaze upon the flame and notice its heat. Invite the warmth to wash over you, bathing you, purifying you. Breath in the energy of a single flame and take notice of its colors. Bringing continued attention to your breath, inhale the energy of the fire Be-ing. Exhale and sense the dense energy transforming into light of which the Q'ero call Sami. Sit with fire until it turns to ash and is complete.
Note: fire ceremony can be held with a candle if you are in a fire danger location and/or don't have access to a safe space or fire pit.
SUN INSPIRED ALTAR
Create an alter that both honours and represents the sun and summer's abundance. Take a stroll through your own home and take notice of objects, tapestry/fabric, art, a single orange or a few strawberries, anything that feels representational of summer. Take to your yard, walk the block or a green space and take notice of color, blossoms, leaves, grasses, leaves, sticks, stones, moss. Gather what you feel both called to, while being mindful of what might not be yours to take. Place each of these gathered pieces with mindful intention, giving each placement the same honoring you would give a revered guest in your home.
FOREST BATHING
Take to the woods or the nearest green-space or trail and meander in nature. Let go of time, distance, completion or even, what happens next. Give your full attention to each step, each inhale, each exhale. Scan your body for tension and bring breath to soften. Notice a bird as if it is the first bird you have ever seen. Wonder and awe at feather, wing, flight.
SOLSTICE SUN TEA
Solstice sun tea is of the highest vibration.Simply add your favorite tea and water to a lidded jar and let the infusion begin. Enjoy after a day under the solstice sun, literally drinking in the summer sun's energy with each and every sip.
SUN MANDALA
Gather flowers, branches, leaves, even stones, and create a mandala. Be mindful and present with each placement pairing each offering with a prayer, affirmation and intention. Symmetry, balance and beauty are born of this ritual. Gaze upon your creation with wonder and awe. Take notice of what comes up; visual, auditory or feelings and/or sensation. Give gratitude for the abundance of summer and its fruit yet to bear.
SUMMER SOLSTICE POTLUCK
Invite friends to feast together on the longest day of the year. Share dishes inspired of summer’s abundance. Food, and the ritual in its preparation, is one of life’s simplest and highest forms of praise. Praise for the abundance before you and praise for the nourishment it bestows upon you. Make a toast of gratitude to the sun as it kisses the horizon at the end of this auspicious day.
EXTRAORDINARY
Bring something extra to the ordinary.
Take the most mundane, ordinary, possibly even most detested task, and turn it into an opportunity to practice presence and mindfulness.
When you do dishes, do you feel contracted, exhausted and resentful?
-OR-
Do you feel expansive, energized and grateful?
Each dish, glass, fork, spoon, has your full attention. Spoon. Spooning. Playing the spoons. Water. The sound of splash. Soap. Bubbles. The slick of the soap. Sponge. The hot water. Oh, the hot water! Just simply pay attention and turn the mundane and ordinary, into the extraordinary.
Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Team Rising Fire & Tadimdia Bridges, Rising Fire's Resident Writer
* Rising Fire does not earn credits/money/influence through links offered in this newsletter. Shared to inform and enhance your reading experience.
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