Summer Solstice in World History
Image: Fajada butte Chaco Canyon. On summer and winter solstices, a beam of sunlight crosses the spiral in a precise way, leading some people to call the place, “Sun Dagger.”
As expert observers of Nature, ancestors since Neolithic times around the world have been watching the Sun’s movement in the sky. They also noticed that as summer matured, the path of the Sun stopped moving Northward, paused, and then began moving Southward into the season of Autumn.
This is something that you can notice too. For many years, I have been stepping outside to greet the morning sun, and simply because I’m out there each day, I notice that the place where the sun rises each day moves “back and forth” (North to South) over the course of the year.
Neolithic humans may have used the summer solstice as a marker to figure out when to plant and harvest crops. For example, in Ancient Egypt, the summer solstice corresponded with the rise of the Nile River, and observing the path of the sun may have helped to predict annual flooding.
In some Ancient Greek calendars, Summer Solstice was the beginning of the New Year and also marked the one-month countdown to the Olympic Games. Perhaps some vestiges of the ancient calendar still remain: the start of this year’s Summer Olympics is also set for almost exactly one month after summer solstice.
In the days leading up to the summer solstice, the ancient Romans celebrated Vestalia, a religious festival in honor of Vesta, goddess of the hearth. During Vestalia, married women could enter the temple of Vesta and leave offerings to the goddess in exchange for blessings for their families.
In ancient China the summer solstice coincided with the harvest season for wheat, and so it was customary to engage in earth worship and ancestor worship rituals to give thanks for the harvest and ask for blessings on the coming year’s crop. The summer solstice was and is also considered the time with the most bright, active “Yang” energy. Today, while summer solstice is not a major holiday in China, many people do note the time by eating cooling foods to balance the heat of the season. There is a popular saying throughout China: “冬至饺子夏至面” (dōngzhì jiǎozi xiàzhì miàn), which can be translated as, “winter solstice dumplings and summer solstice noodles,” indicating that certain foods are appropriate for eating in different seasons.
Pre-Christian cultures in ancient Northern and Central Europe (including Germanic, Celtic and Slavic groups) welcomed Midsummer with bonfires. It was thought that bonfires would boost the sun’s energy for the rest of the growing season and guarantee a good harvest for the fall
It seems that all ancient and living cultures who observe the sun and celebrate the milestones in its cyclical relationship with our earth, do so in a way that is specific to the land where they live, along with its unique seasonal activities of animals, plants, stones, waters, and weather elements.
This is something that each of us can celebrate as well. At my home right now, summer solstice looks like perfectly ripe mulberries, hummingbird fledglings napping in their nest, and blooming Matilija poppy flowers. What is blooming, singing, walking or flying right now where you live?