![]() Summer Solstice On Summer Solstice we experience the longest day and shortest night of the year. If you live in the northern hemisphere, Summer Solstice falls on or near June 20th. On this day, the sun reaches its northernmost point in sky. It’s the sun’s pinnacle moment, after which the days will progressively grow shorter until the Winter Solstice in December. At Summer Solstice, the energy supports creative expression and full blossoming of your heartfelt desires. Summer Is Here Summer officially begins at Summer Solstice. In previous articles on Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, I explain how our personal creation cycle shifts through stages of yin and yang and how the seasons mirror the yin/yang creation cycle. In the seasonal creation cycles, summer is the most yang (active, outward, hot, expansive) time of the year. We move more, we spend more time outdoors, and we receive the heat of the sun. During summer, the seeds that germinated over the winter and spouted in the spring are now plants growing to maturity, flowering, and bearing fruit. The coming of summer brings us into the season of the fire element. In the Five Elements of Chinese medicine, at Summer Solstice we move from the wood element of spring to the fire element of summer. What are the properties of fire? When in balance, fire is cleansing, life-giving, alchemical, transformative, and high-energy. An imbalance of fire can be unstable, uncontrollable, and all-consuming. Focus Your Energy Although we are in a creative state all through the year, during summer we see creation in full action. It’s visible, tangible, and apparent to the senses. We see this in the flora and fauna. We see it in the behavior of people and animals. We feel within ourselves a great permission, invitation, and desire to go out, be active, and take action. This summer you are supported to be in action with your desires and dreams. Using your inner fire for its greatest good will require balance. Too much activity without purpose can scatter and drain your energy. Be discerning with how you spend your time. Take care not to overdo. Enjoy the party that is summertime, but continue to take care of yourself, rest when needed, and maintain that connection to your inner voice. What has been calling to you? What aspect of your life is chirping in your ear, asking for attention? What yearnings of the heart are surfacing? What will you focus on this summer? Whatever you choose to create, summer brings the energetic support for it to come forth into physical action or physical form. The wood is primed to catch and begin to burn with creative fire when you provide the initial spark of focused desire in action. |
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