Summer Solstice...
Yay, today (or now-abouts) is the summer solstice, or, I guess, in the northern hemisphere it is the winter solstice. In Dunedin today the weather is cold and raining. It has hailed and it looked as if it would snow. But not so much now. Outside this morning, at about 0830, my fingers were freezing with that sharp cold in the air that makes me think of glaciers and Antarctica - an icy cold one would call it then. Generally, this seems similar to what those having the winter solstice now might be experiencing.
The winter solstice is also known as Yule, in English culture, and although it gets a bit weird with all the different cultures mashed together in the generic Pagan year, the summer solstice mightbe Litha, or simply Mid-Summer, according to my sources. This is clearly ridiculous as it is not summery at all. Seldom is it even warm in December the last few years, generally reserving any good weather for January and February, but the last 2-3 years at least there have also been hot days stretching into March and April, which is autumn of course.
I always think I should celebrate these seasonal festivals in the year, simply because celebration is fun and celebrations based on the natural world help connect you with it rather than just going to work and using computers and carrying on as usual. I usually don't do anything, because I forget, am not prepared and am busy. But I always think I should. It doesn't really seem like a summer celebration kind of day today for some reason....
Of course, Christmas is in only 4 days, or 5, depending on how you count it. Christmas is a Yule celebration, I mean if you look at all the bits that aren't about the birth of Jesus. So we will be celebrating in just a few days anyway, but Christmas has so many trappings and traditions of winter it always seems a bit out of place, and is hard to have a traditional Christmas while still adding in the celebration of summer. Especially if it is cold and raining. I remember when it was hot on Christmas days, 5 or 6 years ago and more.... Damn weather, global warming weather pattern anomolies...
What with the annoyance of Christmas/Yule in summer, don't even get me started on having Halloween in spring, Easter in autumn and May-day in winter. It messes everything up!
Perhaps I will make more effort to incorporate celebration in my year, and will write about it here, and perhaps it will provide a few ideas to those also in the southern hemisphere who want to do the same. That's if I actually have any ideas.
I believe it is a lot easier in North America and Europe where Halloween, for example, is actually in autumn, so even if the mainstream culture is not celebrating AUTUMN exactly, the spirit of the decorations and the themes in the shops and so on match the feel of the season and everything makes sense as a coherent whole. Here, when you are in the midst of spring, the shops are filled with dark coloured halloween things and people are trying to buy pumpkins. And when you try and think autumn, the shops are filled with eggs and rabbits and chickens for Easter.
The winter solstice is also known as Yule, in English culture, and although it gets a bit weird with all the different cultures mashed together in the generic Pagan year, the summer solstice mightbe Litha, or simply Mid-Summer, according to my sources. This is clearly ridiculous as it is not summery at all. Seldom is it even warm in December the last few years, generally reserving any good weather for January and February, but the last 2-3 years at least there have also been hot days stretching into March and April, which is autumn of course.
I always think I should celebrate these seasonal festivals in the year, simply because celebration is fun and celebrations based on the natural world help connect you with it rather than just going to work and using computers and carrying on as usual. I usually don't do anything, because I forget, am not prepared and am busy. But I always think I should. It doesn't really seem like a summer celebration kind of day today for some reason....
Of course, Christmas is in only 4 days, or 5, depending on how you count it. Christmas is a Yule celebration, I mean if you look at all the bits that aren't about the birth of Jesus. So we will be celebrating in just a few days anyway, but Christmas has so many trappings and traditions of winter it always seems a bit out of place, and is hard to have a traditional Christmas while still adding in the celebration of summer. Especially if it is cold and raining. I remember when it was hot on Christmas days, 5 or 6 years ago and more.... Damn weather, global warming weather pattern anomolies...
What with the annoyance of Christmas/Yule in summer, don't even get me started on having Halloween in spring, Easter in autumn and May-day in winter. It messes everything up!
Perhaps I will make more effort to incorporate celebration in my year, and will write about it here, and perhaps it will provide a few ideas to those also in the southern hemisphere who want to do the same. That's if I actually have any ideas.
I believe it is a lot easier in North America and Europe where Halloween, for example, is actually in autumn, so even if the mainstream culture is not celebrating AUTUMN exactly, the spirit of the decorations and the themes in the shops and so on match the feel of the season and everything makes sense as a coherent whole. Here, when you are in the midst of spring, the shops are filled with dark coloured halloween things and people are trying to buy pumpkins. And when you try and think autumn, the shops are filled with eggs and rabbits and chickens for Easter.
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