Mapping the Summer Season
sacred mysteries, personal growth and creativity
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The summer solstice (literally, the sun stands still) and the scorching and humid weather always elicit a pause in my everyday life. The heavy work in the garden is done. I’m down to weeding, watering, trimming, and enjoying the occasional addition of a new plant or two that I couldn’t resist.
The weather often drives me back inside by nine o’clock in the morning, signaling that I need to return to the figurative cave of my air-conditioned home and my art studio in particular.
It gets a little easier to recognize this pattern each year, and I learn to embrace it more easily and thus reap more significant benefits from it.
The Sun is in Cancer as of June 20th, moves into Leo on July 22nd, Virgo on August 22nd, and Libra on September 22nd. This progression from inward homebody (Cancer/cardinal water) to outward attention seeker (Leo/fixed fire), practical and orderly as the harvest begins (Virgo/mutable earth), and finally balance and stability (Libra/cardinal air) as the earth comes once more to its equinox. This predictable pattern sets the flow of energy for the summer season.
The summer season offers many fascinating events and holy days to contemplate and explore. Here is a list of my favorites, which I revisit each July, and a few new ones I’d like to explore through art, active imagination, and ritual.
July 16th - Rosa Mundi, Rose of the World, Heart of Creation, The Consuming Fire, Mary Flower of Carmel.
I have an entire art journal dedicated to this from a few years ago.
July 19th, Day One of the Six-day Great Panathenaia. The Panathenaia occurs during the height of the summer heat when the need for rain is the greatest. Known to the Greeks as the month of Hecatombaion, it is the first month of the Athenian year and marks the birthday of the goddess Athena from a tradition long before she became a goddess of war born on Mount Olympus. This ancient celebration focuses on an older tradition of Athena, emphasizing her birth season as one of returning life and her inheritance of the gift of wisdom from her mother, Metis, one of the Oceanids, a Titaness revered as the goddess of wisdom, prudence, and deep thought, embodying the intellectual aspect of the divine.
July 22nd - Begins Leo Season and is also the Feast Day of Mary Magdalene.
This is another subject I’ve explored deeply through visual art, writing, and research.
July 27th commemorates Queen Hatshepsut, the Pharaoh of Egypt, a historical figure I find fascinating. I like to remember her, especially because those who came after her tried to erase any memory of her by chiseling out her name and image from temple walls, monuments, and carvings.
Create a Map of what you will do in July
If you want to maximize your engagement with the summer season in July, I offer you this three-part plan, which can serve as a map of the season.
During this slow, hot time, consider focusing on these three areas: Evolution, Creativity, and Sacred Mystery.
The unfolding summer season offers opportunities for personal growth and evolution.
Personal Evolution
Make time to read books that challenge, inform, and excite your mind. Explore topics that cause you to reevaluate your assumptions or introduce you to new ways of thinking and being. Take a class or two online or in person that’s different from anything you’ve done before.
Start a new project that will challenge you and stretch you. Let it be something that helps you expand your edges and teaches you new ideas or skills.
Lean into being a life-long learner.
Activate and Embrace Creativity
Create time, place, and space to create, make things, write, sing, dance, or any other creative expression.
Allow your creative endeavors to be explorations without any attachment to a final product.
Explore what “creative time” means to you.
Honor your need to create by setting boundaries that protect your time as a maker.
Lean into creativity as a conduit for voice and expression.
Sacred Mysteries
Make connection to the Divine a priority during July.
Set aside time for prayer and meditation each day.
Focus on time in nature, time to read sacred works, and time to think.
Create and enact rituals that are meaningful to you.
Spend time in solitude and silence.
Become aware of daily and seasonal rhythms and how they affect you. Discover ways to mold your life around them. Notice when you are in harmony with these rhythms.
If you would like something more directed and filled with lots of inspiration, direction, and examples, don’t forget that on a hidden page just for Hedge Mystic Subscribers, you will find the Summer Solstice Exploration & Experience.
There, you will find out why the summer solstice is sometimes called Litha and the many gods, goddesses, and mythic figures associated with the Sun.
There is also a personal ritual video to help you celebrate, and it will inspire you to create your summer solstice celebration.
Next, you’ll explore the myth of The Battle of the Oak King and the Holly King and the symbolism of the oak and the holly.
A section called The Nine Questions guides you through the process of pattern play using Tarot or Oracle cards for profound summer solstice illumination.
There’s an art invitation and journaling opportunity and an entire section on the spirit animals of the South, oriented toward the summer solstice.
Finally, there is a deep dive into inner work about your comfort or discomfort with shining in the world and being seen.
Sending you magical wishes for a fruitful July exploring your evolution, your creative maker-self, and your engagement with the sacred mysteries
Get it HERE»> Summer Solstice Exploration & Experience.
The comments section is a safe and welcoming space to share your insights and experiences.
Comments and conversation are always appreciated and enjoyed, so feel free to let your voice be heard. I read them all and try to respond to each one.
(Check out the Post Script below for Personalized Summer Solstice Tarot Readings)
Thank you for reading Hedge Mystic and participating in this vibrant and growing community of creative, spiritual humans. You are always welcome here, appreciated, and loved.
PS
I’m now booking personalized Tarot readings. The summer solstice, the pinnacle of the Sun’s illumination combined with the deep insight and sweet wisdom of the Strawberry Full Moon in Capricorn, an Earth sign corresponding to nature, practical matters, life on the physical plane, and all things earthy, is a perfect time to see things in the clear light of day and through the mysteries of the moon. Learn more and book HERE. When you email to book, tell me you’re a Hedge Mystic subscriber and Save $10 in honor of the summer solstice! If you're a paid subscriber, you will get a 20% discount on Tarot Readings and Tarot Coaching packages.
Thank you for this thorough and interesting post, Jan. You give us a treasure of goodies to think about. My goal is to make small incremental changes this summer. Little by little grows my practice. Sending Solstice blessings to you.