Sunday, June 21, 2009. Happy Summer Solstice. I did a half assed blog post this morning since I had worked until the wee hours finishing the July Horizons Magazine. Then I woke up and had to leave right away to drive to The New Way to hang with the POD. A mile from my house, I stopped to get gas, and also filled the small 2 gallon can I use for my lawn mower. I decided to drive it back home rather than keep it in the hot car with me for several hours. Even though it would make me late, I felt strongly about taking it back to the house before continuing on my day. Inexpicably, as I dropped the can inside the garage, I was compelled to go inside and change clothes. That’s something I rarely do. I throw something on and that’s that. I keep it simple. A fashionista, I’m not. I put on a short knit sundress I hadn’t worn in 18 years, with a pair of leggings and ran out the door. All in all, I dawdled and it was a good 20 minutes later before I was back on the road.
As I was driving north on I-95, there were a lot of cars on the road. I passed a rig trailering several horses and thought how happy they all looked, peering out their little windows. Just after the Viera exit, traffic suddenly came to a standstill and I said a prayer for the trailer with the ponies. I was glad I didn’t have 2 gallons of gasoline in the trunk. Up ahead, I could see a flashing red light and what appeared to be a tractor trailer sideways across I-95 northbound. I could hear the emergency vehicles coming from behind. I immediately began saying prayers for the victims, for the first responders, for the families. I thought, That could have been me if I was on the road 20 minutes earlier. I figured maybe the Universe put me here right now and made me be late, going through the charade of changing clothes and taking the gas can back home, to put me here at this accident scene at this exact moment so I could say prayers for everyone. And maybe my prayer is like the final prayer needed to actually make the miracle work, like The Hundreth Monkey. Within minutes we were through the maze of emergency vehicles, and in fact they had all left the scene by the time we got clear.
After church, I ate lunch at my favorite Vietnamese Pho Cali and had a broccoli and cauliflower pho and two summer rolls with fish sauce. I proof read the final draft of the July magazine I’d just finished earlier this morning. I brought home half my soup. I remember when I could eat the entire soup in one sitting – three or four times a week. Now I invariably bring home almost a quart of broth and veggies each time I go. I was glad to have the day off. I’d hoped to finish the magazine by the end of yesterday, and finish it I did – at 3:30am Sunday morning.
So this is Summer Solstice! A friend, A. Venefica, writes in Summer Solstice Symbols: The summer solstice is a time of intensity, renewal and great potential. This is a time when the sun lingers the longest of any other day. This is symbolic of the light of our consciousness shining more brightly in our awareness. It’s also symbolic passion, desire and sensuality burning more intensely within the hearts of both humankind and animal kin. The sun is a warming entity, so it fires our passions and heats up our hearts to the potential of life that abounds. This is a high time to celebrate the bounty fueled by life-giving solar rays.
Fire: The element of fire is most obvious and common symbol of the summer solstice because of its affiliation with the warmth of the sun. Fire is symbolic of passion, creativity, creation, rebirth, renewal, action and clarity. It’s also a masculine element. Mentally incorporate the element of fire in your meditations and ruminations this summer season to intensify your experience with these attributes.
I typically do a burning bowl ceremony at Summer Solstice. Just making some symbolic notes of things I’d like to be free of, which I then burn in my chimenea. I think of it as a time of renewal. A time to make things new and get clear what I want at this next stage of the game. And I am totally enjoying the game.