This Sunday, we will be having a special practice for the Yoga of the Sun to honor and connect with the energy of the summer solstice. We will be meeting in the morning. Great if you can arrive for the sunrise, which pokes through lines of trees and is powerful to be present with. Otherwise come by 8:30 and we will move through the first cycle of the practice to align with the day. Around 10 am we will be carpooling to PA for a traditional Native American style celebration. Please RSVP so we know to wait for you! We are kindly asking for love donations for the hosts of the gathering. Thank you in advance for the interest in doing this work and joining us in prayer and divine communion. Blessings to all ~

The June summer solstice marks one of the four cardinal points in the solar year, in which the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer, and the northern hemisphere experiences the longest day of sunlight. Solstice is Latin for “Sun stands still”. As the sun is hereby directly above us, we receive the full quanta of its light. Because the summer solstice is the climax of the sun’s journey across our sky, it equates to being a time to celebrate the light of consciousness within and the potential for us all to awaken to this inner light as reflected by the cosmic portrayal of the sun’s movements.

The physical progress of the Sol is metaphysically the process of the Soul’s journey of enlightenment. Thus the increasing and diminishing levels of light shining down to us are reflections of the cosmic undulation of likewise shifts in spiritual illumination as we spiral perpetually further along this sojourn of life. Ancient cultures from every corner of the globe recognize(d) this universal spiritual analog to the inner spiritual journey we can undertake on earth. This is why many monuments, cities, and lifestyles were aligned with the solstices and equinoxes, and these cultures sought to orient their lives to the spiritual principles displayed above them in the heavens.

Celebrating the cosmic meaning of these events honors the divine unfolding of life that is displayed in the heavens so that it can be made manifest in our own lives here on earth. We recognize the divine, creative powers latent everywhere, in the space between that which has taken form, the empty space within every atom, the void out of which springs all of Creation, the field of infinite possibilities, and that this field is within our very soul, the essence of who and what we are, waiting to be kindled, for us to breathe this potentiality into form, to move the waters of life through our being and Create!

“Our ancestors built huge bonfires on this day to celebrate their tangible connection to the vital power of the immense burning star that keeps our planet bright, warm and alive. It’s a good time to remember that we, like the sun, contain the power to nurture and sustain, and that we have a responsibility to burn as brightly as we can. (It) is the time to invite fire into our lives fire to burn away all that we have outgrown and all that no longer serves us; fire that makes the wild things grow in us, for which our inner selves have longed.” -Cait Johnson and Maura D. Shaw from Celebrating the Great Mother

The summer solstice is an opportunity to step into our power as co-creative, manifesting beings, to embody the light and power we have developed through the course of the year and bring it into being. The seeds that were planted in the spring are coming now to bloom. So at this point in the solar year we gather to connect with this cosmic journey of the soul on a more intimate level, to feel its significance in our lives in a new, more profound way, and to inspire each other to strive towards the ultimate realization of the supreme enlightenment that the celestial bodies shine into our lives by walking this path.