SUMMER SOLSTICE | Earth School

FROM SUMMER SOLSTICE
TO LAMMAS

THE EARTH SCHOOL JOURNAL

A journey through the medicine wheel

SUMMER

Lena Brandt · Rituals for Summer Solstice · Celebrations & Rituals

As we celebrate this special moment of our journey through the wheel of the year, I reflect on my hopes and dreams that were but little seeds and ideas during the dark winter months. As the energy of the sun grew through spring, my tenderly planted intentions were fed with hard work, dedication, prayers, and love. Now they are in full bounty, glory, and ripe manifestation. I take a look at how far I have come, and what I have learned until this point.

Aligning with the Solar Energies

During the daytime, I consciously connect to the energy of fire, in the sun, and in my body.

I go outside and expose my belly, my solar plexus, the fire center of my energy body, to the sunlight and ask for healing, strength, and resilience. I like to speak words of gratitude to the sun that has given us all life.

It is my way to honour the earth and her sacred cycle, reminding me that even in moments of darkness, there is a flame within that is ignites miracles and great transformation.

An inner fire that enables me to transform experiences into medicine for growth and evolution.

Aligning with Earth's Energies

I also love to connect with and celebrate Mother Earth during this magical portal by gathering plants and healing herbs, just like our ancestors did, as it is long been believed that some are at their most potent during Summer Solstice.

Five common Celtic sacred plants associated with this portal are St. John’s Wort, Vervain, Yarrow, Fern, and Mugwort. I turn this gathering into a loving ritual, either by myself or together with friends.

I kindly connect with the plant spirit and ask for permission before picking them. I then only take as much as I need.

To give thanks to the plants, I leave a little offering, speak words of love and gratitude, sing a song, or create a mandala made from flowers and other objects found in nature.

Aligning with Pulsating Energies

The Summer Solstice is a celebration of light, activity, and mobility, where our inner energy is pulsing with peak potential. This moment in time beckons for us to celebrate and live wildly amongst the beauty and creativity brought into our lives.

In Sweden, the summer solstice - or “Midsommar”, as the Swedes call it - is a widely celebrated national holiday. With summery songs, crowns of flowers, breezy white dresses, and flowery maypoles to dance around, Sweden’s traditional midsummer festivals seem to come straight from a fairytale.

In North America, the Summer Solstice is traditionally celebrated by young warriors performing a Sun Dance. Tribes saw the Sun as a manifestation of the Great Spirit.

So have a bountiful gathering with friends, music, dancing, drums, maybe a bonfire. Stay up to enjoy the extended daylight hours, and celebrate Mother Nature in all her glory.

"There is a wildness under our skin which wants nothing more than to dance until our feet are sore, sing our beautiful grief into the rafters, and offer our bottomless cup of creativity as a way of life.“ - Toko-pa Turner

~ a summer solstice myth ~

For a little moment around midnight, the fern blooms and creates seeds. These seeds are a lucky charm and a universal remedy. Whoever succeeds in getting fern seeds can make him:herself invisible and, moreover, is lucky at cards and in love. But be careful when collecting the seeds, because panting hellhounds with fire eyes are guarding them rigorously.

source: Wolf Dieter Storl

Serap Kara · From Equinox to Summer Solstice · Reporting to Pachamama

Pachamama, since the equinox we have been very busy planting thoughtfully and tending the gardens of a connected global culture; in rhythm with the earth, sun, and planets, we tended to the gardeners and asked ourselves what we would like to harvest and share with others. We dream of a wild garden, a richly covered table under fruit trees, and abundant summer nights in friendship and community.

During seeding, we experienced your strong winds, full of ideas and dreams from many lands, bringing stories. We tried to listen carefully and chose our seeds with love, sometimes from a place of unclarity, yet we chose service and nourishment and dared to part with dreams that served one person’s imagination only. We grounded deeper into your lands to send our prayers and offerings on the wings of the wind into the heart of the forest.

Pachamama, now we stand in the eye of the solstice, the zenith of the sun, with bare feet touching the songlines of your earth. We have hopes within our hearts and are afraid of the unknown, yet we are ready to receive the unifying consciousness of the earth-sun-alchemy within ourselves.

We ask for your powerful spirits and a blessing while we open to maximum solar power to be received and shared abundantly.

Medicine Recipe ~ Incense blend FREYA

with Mary’s grass, rose blossoms, rosemary, lavender blossoms, angelica seeds, comfrey, ground ivy, dandelion leaves, and alant root.

This summery blend in honor of the goddess is made from local plants. It stimulates a sensual, peaceful togetherness. It can also be used to bless and freshen up rooms, clothes, and bodies in a smudge ceremony. Instructions: Collect grass, herbs, blossoms, and root from the garden or sustainable agriculture over the summer. Dry, chop into small pieces and mix in equal parts. If stored airtight, the mixture will last for about 3 years.

Simone Meentzen · Mary's Grass · Plant Diary

This wonderful sweet-scented grass has many names that indicate its use since pre-historic times. Better known nowadays as Sweetgrass, it is considered sacred grass. The ritual use of Mary’s Grass has almost been forgotten in Europe, today the Sweetgrass braids from North America are more known. They are loved for their sweet scent, healing, and blessing effect.

The different names show us how Mary’s grass (Hierochloe odoranta) was used. The Latin term „hierochloe“ is made up of hieros (holy) and Chloe (grass, sapling). Other names are holy grass, sweet grass, vanilla grass, herb of harmony, Mary’s bedstraw, bison grass, buffalo grass, Freya’s grass, and Freya’s hair.

In Europe, the grass was once dedicated to the goddess Freya, the Germanic goddess of love, fertility, and growth. Her weekday is Friday, and in her honor on Fridays, the lovely sweet-smelling grass was offered and burnt in ceremony. Like many Pre-Christian customs, this beautiful tradition was passed on and related to the Virgin Mary. A patroness of childbirth, mothers, and children, Freya’s grass became Mary’s bedstraw, promising healing and protective powers. The protective magical Mary’s grass as a symbol of peace and love can often be seen on medical images of the Blessed Virgin. · Read more

Alexandra Neubauer · Willkommen in Triggerland · Regenbogenmedizin

Gefühle sind wie ein Kompass, mit dem wir durch unser Leben navigieren. Wir nutzen etwa die Wutkraft zum Verändern oder nehmen in Trauer an, was wir nicht ändern können.

Als nicht verarbeitete, in uns gespeicherte Emotionen der Kindheit werden sie allerdings zu mühsamen Umleitungsschildern, die uns in die Irre führen und auf dem Weg potenziell Schaden anrichten lassen, wenn wir etwa beleidigt und gekränkt reagieren, weil wir getriggert wurden. Wie gelingt es, den Exit aus Triggerland zu schaffen, um ein Leben in Freiheit und Liebe zu führen?

Im Verständnis der uralten, aus Mexiko stammenden Lehre des Regenbogenschamanismus haben die Gefühle ihren Sitz im Süden des Medizinrads.

Unsere Gefühlswelt wird durch all unsere Erlebnisse in der Kindheit und Jugend geprägt, Erfahrungen, die uns zu Erwachsenen formen und von denen wir uns schwer lösen können. Oftmals beschränken sie unseren Handlungsspielraum.

Triggert etwa ein aktuelles Ereignis eine nicht verheilte Wunde der frühen Jahre, folgen wir zwanghaft unserem eingeübten Verhaltensmuster, sei es in Widerstand zu gehen, zurückzuweichen oder vor Angst einzufrieren – wir sehen keine andere Möglichkeit, dem Schmerz zu entkommen und das macht uns unfrei.

In der schamanischen Schildarbeit nun wird unsere Gefühlskraft aktiviert und an ihren richtigen Platz gestellt: Die Kindheitserfahrungen gehören in die Vergangenheit, wo sie im besten Fall verarbeitet und integriert sind, uns den Rücken stärken und den Weg frei geben für ein Leben unseres wahren Selbst. · Weiterlesen