SteamTherapy Tips For Celebrating The Summer Solstice

This article about celebrating the summer solstice is the first in a series offering SteamTherapy tips for living in and celebrating the world around us. 

Celebrate the Solstice

F. Scott Fitzgerald said it best in The Great Gatsby: “Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it?”

Solstice marks the day the sun appears to stand still in the sky, derived from the Latin words sol (sun) and sistere (stands still). In much of Europe, the day is called Midsummer. With over 15 hours of sunshine  - in New York, sunrise is at 5:25am, sunset at 8:27pm - we should celebrate the sun, not let the day slip by unrecognized.

Public Solstice Celebrations

Here in America, we tend to ignore the summer solstice. It wasn’t always so. The tradition of celebrating the longest day of the year stretches back more than 3,000 years, to the sun god Ra of Egypt, the Greek Apollo, and Toratiuh of the Aztecs, who kept the sun moving when satiated by enough human sacrifice.

And many parts of the world do mark the day. Modern-day Druids, whose Celtic forefathers built Stonehenge to align with the rising solstice sun, assemble at sunrise to mark Litha, the wedding of heaven and earth. In Greece, thousands come to Mount Olympus for the Promethia festival, celebrating ancient Greek culture, including Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods as a gift for humankind. Fire is also a huge part of solstice festivals in Northern Europe, where extensive sunshine is honored by bonfires and Maypole dancing.

Here in the US, various Native American nations perform ritual dances to honor the sun. The Sioux cut and raise a tree to connect heaven and Earth, arranging their teepees as the cosmos. In New York Times Square, a day-long yoga session stretches from 9am to 7:30pm. Yogis from around the world can join classes via live webcast. This year, the solstice will also be commemorated by the United Nations, who named June 21 as an International Day of Yoga.

Project Yoga Richmond 1 by Eli Christman. Wikimedia Commons.

Private Ways To Celebrate the Summer Solstice

Can’t make it to any of these worldwide celebrations? Consider these private ways to pay tribute to the longest day of the year:

• Wake before the sun to watch it rise. This is a wonderful time to take stock and reflect on your goals and self-care rituals. If you journal, include the sun in your gratitude list. If you don’t journal, this is a wonderful day to start.

• Cultivate a summer herb garden to flavor food and foster holistic healing. Like all intersections of sun and earth, magic abounds during the solstice. Remember how Shakespeare paid homage to the day’s mystical qualities in his Midsummer Night’s Dream? So plant St. John’s Wort to ward off evil spirits. This medicinal herb, ironically, is named for Saint John the Baptist, whose nativity on June 24 was introduced on the Church calendar to wean Christians from pagan solstice ceremonies!

Saint John’s Wort Flowers. Wikimedia Commons. 

• Spend the day outside. Take a bike ride, go fishing, lie in a hammock and read a book. This is a perfect time of year to go camping. And outdoor fun doesn’t need to end when the sun sets. The actual solstice takes place between June 20 and 21. Set up a telescope to observe the balmy night skies.

• Celebrate with the kids. Make suncatchers and create small sun symbols from straw or vines, decorated with daisies, marigolds, and other sun colored flowers. Use sticks from the yard and cross them to make a shape with eight spokes, braiding ribbons and yard around them to make a solar “God’s Eye” shape. Hold your creation up to the sun to bring mystic solar power inside your home.

• Pamper yourself. The sun may give us many great things, but there’s no question it can be harsh on your skin. Ancient rituals include walking barefoot in the dew to keep skin from chapping. If that remedy doesn’t appeal, consider the therapeutic qualities of steambathing and Tala Bath and Body essential oils, clays, scrubs and soaps. What better time to start wellness routines than at the peak of the sun’s power?

• Take a yoga class or practice yoga on your own. Greet the sun with the Sun Salutation. These movements balance your body and your soul in harmony through meditation and physical movement. Don’t know to perform this salutation correctly? See how to do sun salutations in yoga.

• Eat well! Summer is the season to feature seasonal fruit and vegetables, served fresh, in salads, or crisped on the grill. Remember to thank the sun for its role in growing this bounty of the earth.

• Focus on taking better care of our planet. Think of ways to improve your immediate environment. The longer day makes it a natural one to embark on local clean-up efforts or planting public spaces.

•  Hold a solstice party. If local authorities allow it, light a bonfire. Invite your guests to dance around a maypole as they do in Europe. Serve mead, a fermented honey drink. The first full moon of June was called the Honey Moon, the best time of the year to harvest honey, which led to the seasonal popularity of mead. And in addition to platters of fruits and vegetables, emulate the Swedish solstice feast of cheese, bread, smoked salmon, and Swedish meatballs.

Midsummer Fire at San River, Trepcza (Sanok) by Trzypiece. Wikimedia Commons 

The solstice is definitely a time to reconnect with earth and sun, to welcome the long days of the summer, and to engage in healthful practices. It’s a day worth observing. Do you have a favorite way to celebrate the solstice? Tell us about it!

 Image Credit: Summer Solstice Sunrise over Stonehenge 2005. Wikimedia Commons.