Summer Solstice celebrations

A solstice (from Latin sol (sun) + stet (standing)) is simply the point in the year when the sun appears to be at its highest or lowest point in the sky. The earth's wobble means that this date and time varies from year to year, but it is easy to predict. The North Pole is tilted 23.45° toward the Sun, and at the time of the summer solstice, the noonday sun is overhead at the Tropic of Cancer.

The summer solstice is the date of the longest day, when the sun appears to be at its most northerly - over the years, many peoples have celebrated this day in many ways.

Ancient Britain

The Druids celebrated Alban Heruin. "This midsummer festival celebrates the apex of Light, sometimes symbolized in the crowning of the Oak King, God of the waxing year. At his crowning, the Oak King falls to his darker aspect, the Holly King, God of the waning year..." (Alban Eiler, "Light of the Earth"). It was a celebration of the midpoint between spring equinox and winter equinox, and usually took place in places of power, especially sacred grove and standing stones or stone circles such as Stonehenge.

These Ancient British traditions included the lighting of beacons or bonfires, both to provide light and to ward off evil spirits, as this time of year was considered almost as important to the faery folk and spirit world as Halloween. In Christianised Britain, these celebrations were incorporated into the St. John's Eve celebrations on June 24th, some of which continue to this day. Lanterns would be lit, and a vigil held until sunrise.

Northern Europe

As in Britain, other European pagans celebrated with bonfires. The celebrations had to do with fertility and love - it was said that lovers jumping through the flames of fires would be blessed. Maidens would learn of their future husbands by gazing into the fire.

In Sweden, a tree was decorated, and people danced about it. Communal bathing also guaranteed rain for crops. In ancient Gaul, the Feast of Epona (goddess of fertility and agriculture) was held, during which a mare was led around the streets. The Russians feared the witches who were abroad this night, gathered in and around pine and linden trees, and people gathered herbs to make charms to ward off evil.

Ancient Rome

The festival of Vestalia was held from June 5th to 15th to honour Vesta, goddess of the hearth. This was the only time when married women were able to enter the shrine of Vesta - normally only the vestal virgins were permitted inside.

Native Americans

The Natchez tribe worshipped the sun and believed that their ruler was descended from him. Every summer they held a first fruits ceremony - harvesting corn was prohibited until after the feast.

Men in the Hopi tribe dressed up as Kachinas - the spirits of rain and fertility who were also the messengers between mankind and the Gods. At Midsummer, the Kachinas were believed to leave the villages to spend the next six months in the mountains, where they would visit the dead underground and hold ceremonies on behalf of the living.

Many tribes constructed stone circles, notably Native Americans have created countless stone structures linked to equinoxes and solstices. One, referred to as Calendar One, in Vermont is in a natural amphitheatre of about 20 acres. Rocks and markers around the perimeter mark the rise and set of many stars, notably the Sun.

The Bighorn Medicine Wheel near Sheridan, Wyoming is perhaps the most famous of the 40 or more similar wheels on the high plains area of the Rocky Mountains. At Bighorn, the centre of a small cairn, that is external to the main wheel, lines up with the centre of the wheel and the sun rising at the summer equinox.

Ancient China

Celebrations centered around the feminine yin forces, and the subsequent fertility of the earth.

Neopagans

Of the neopagan groups, Wicca is the most common. Their summer solstice sabbat is often called Midsummer or Litha. Wiccans often celebrate the sabbat on the evening before, in keeping with the Druids, for whom the new day began at dusk. For Wiccans, it is a time of healing and divination.



Solstice Dates

Solstice dates and times can be calculated in advance - here are the dates for the Northern Hemisphere until 2020. Someone remind me nearer the time to update again! Times are given in GMT.

2000 : 21st June at 0148
2001 : 21st June at 0738
2002 : 21st June at 1324
2003 : 21st June at 1910
2004 : 20th June at 0057
2005 : 21st June at 0646
2006 : 21st June at 1226
2007 : 21st June at 1806
2008 : 20th June at 2359
2009 : 21st June at 0545
2010 : 21st June at 1128
2011 : 21st June at 1716
2012 : 20th June at 2309
2013 : 21st June at 0504
2014 : 20th June at 1051
2015 : 21st June at 1638
2016 : 20th June at 2234
2017 : 21st June at 0424
2018 : 21st June at 1007
2019 : 21st June at 1554
2020 : 20th June at 2143
2021 : 21st June at 0332
2022 : 21st June at 0914
2023 : 21st June at 1458
2024 : 20th June at 2051
2025 : 21st June at 0242

updated 15th March 2020, requested by Nemosyn


Encyclopædia Britannica
http://www.religioustolerance.org/summer_solstice.htm
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/EarthSeasons.html

A description of how the Northern hemisphere Summer Solstice looks at different places on the Earth.

The (Northern hemisphere) Summer solstice is the longest day of the year only for points on the Earth North of the Equator (and South of the Arctic circle). It is the shortest day of the year South of the Equator (and North of the Antarctic circle). (Days and nights are strange in the Arctic and Antarctic circles…)

On the Equator, the sun rises at a point about 23.5 degrees North of due East, climbs to an altitude of 66.5 degrees above the horizon due North at noon, then sets about 23.5 degrees North of due West, following a semicircle in the sky. It travels to the right across the sky all day (except at dawn and dusk where it is moving directly up or down with no sideways movement). From every point on the Earth, it will appear that the sun travels in a circle on the celestial sphere with a radius of 66.5 degrees, centred due North. On the Equator, this circle is centred on the horizon - so half of the circle is above the horizon, and half is below. This means that the day has 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night (like every other day on the Equator, actually). The further North you go, the higher the centre of the circle gets, so the more hours of daylight you get, until the entire circle is above the horizon - and the sun never sets. Conversely, the further South you go, the lower the centre of the circle gets, the fewer the hours of daylight, until the entire circle is below the horizon - and the sun never rises.

Between the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer, the sun rises and sets closer to due North, and gets higher during the daytime than at the Equator (but always stays in the North half of the sky). Just after sunrise, the sun travels up and left across the sky, at noon it is travelling right, and just before sunset it is travelling down and left again. The further North you go, the more the sun travels left and the less it travels right. On the Tropic of Cancer, the sun hits zenith at midday, when it is travelling neither left nor right (but it goes left all the rest of the day).

Between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic circle, the sun rises still further North of East and sets equally North of West. It travels to the left across the sky all day. It reaches it's highest point due South, and this highest point gets lower the further North you go. On the Arctic circle, the sun follows a circle in the sky, grazing the horizon tangentially to the North at midnight and reaching it's highest point 47 degrees above the horizon due South at noon. On the Arctic circle and further North you get a full 24 hours of daylight.

Between the Arctic circle and the North pole, the sun is higher at midday and lower at midnight, but is in the sky the whole time. At the North pole, the sun stays at the same altitude above the horizon all day (23.5 degrees), and traces a circle around zenth. It travels left all day.

Going South from the Equator, between it and the Antarctic circle, there are many things the same as between the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer. Again, the sun rises and sets at points closer to the North than at the Equator. Again, the sun stays in the North half of the sky and travels right all day. The big difference, of course, is that the highest altitude the sun reaches (at noon) gets lower instead of higher the further you get from the Equator, and the daylight hours get fewer. (On the Tropic of Capricorn, the sun actually hits nadir at midnight - but this cannot be observed directly, so it is not nearly as significant as the sun hitting zenith on the Tropic of Cancer.) On the Antarctic circle, the sun grazes the horizon (due North) but doesn't rise. Inside the Antarctic circle, the sun never gets above the horizon at all during the day.

It is worth noting that the Northern hemisphere Summer solstice is called the Winter solstice in the Southern hemisphere, and the Southern hemisphere Summer solstice is called the Winter solstice in the Northern hemisphere.

There are such effects as the refraction caused by the atmosphere, and the fact that the Earth's orbit is slightly eccentric causing it to orbit faster at perihelion and slower at aphelion, that I have not taken into account in this writeup.

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