Dacia Dyer

June is here and that means sun, heat, and mosquitos—oh my!

To tell the truth (because apparently that’s going to be a thing on my blog)… I Hate the summer.

Well, that’s not entirely accurate. I loved having summers off from school. I love the longer days and all the growing things. But I abso-fucking-lutely Hate the Heat. (And I’m not that big a fan of the sun in general, either.)

I’d much, much rather live in a colder climate and deal with snow, ice, and live under a million blankets than dealing with the high temperatures and dry lands. And this summer has already been scorching! It hit over 100º two days in a row, where I live in Colorado. In June.

That’s not right.

But there’s hope out there still. With this month, comes the turning of the wheel. The Wheel of the Year that is.
 

As a pagan, the Wheel is how I mark the year and celebrate each season for what energy it brings.

And although I do dislike the sun and heat overall, I am grateful for the life-giving energy it brings to all things. Flowers are blooming, fruits are bursting with juicy goodness, and animals are out and about playing.

Humans too, especially in Colorado, love to be outdoors in the summer. Everyone here seems to be hiking, biking, or kayaking. Basically, doing anything with “-king” at the end of it. :P

Meanwhile, me and my witchy friends are inside doing rituals at our altars – or better yet – walking among our gardens or trees and talking with all the plants and animals.

And at Midsummer, aka Summer Solstice, or Litha, we celebrate the turning of the wheel once more as the long days of summer start to shorten and we head back, albeit slowly, to the wintertime.

But winter is still far from everyone’s minds now (except mine of course), and so fire rituals and festivals abound during Litha. It is the time to rejoice and celebrate abundance, prosperity, joy, and give thanks for our good fortunes for the first half of the year.

It’s also a good time to reflect on the first half of the year and see how far (or not) we’ve come with our hopes and goals. I know I’ll be doing an end of quarter review to see what I’ve accomplished and what still needs to be worked on over the next six months.  

Mostly though, I’ll be celebrating the fact that even though it’s really not the middle of summer, we are in a cycle that will peak (here at Solstice) and then move on to the next season. It’s good to rejoice in the present, while we have it, while looking to the future of what’s to come.

How are you marking this Summer Solstice? If nothing else, I plan to eat a lot of ice cream and sit in the shade. :D