Summer Solstice

LIVING IN BALANCE FROM THE HEART

with JoAnne Dodgson, Ed.D.

www.pathwaysforhealing.net  • joanne@pathwaysforhealing.net

Dear Friends:

We live in a universe of cycles within cycles within cycles.  As we move into the passage of the Summer Solstice here in the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere of the earth is settling into the heart of wintertime. The changing of the earth’s seasons is just one of the countless cycles unfolding moment by moment, within us and around us, in the vast and richly diverse web of life.

In many ancient traditions, the earth’s seasonal transitions are honored with celebrations and sacred ceremony.  The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year as measured by the hours and minutes passing between sunrise and sunset.  Summer Solstice ceremonies involve the honoring of our sun, of the essential natural light, heat and energies which nourish life on our planet.

In the Peruvian tradition Ka Ta See, sacred ceremonies involve calling in the Four Directions for assistance, guidance and support.  Each direction has a kinship with a particular season.  In the ancient Peruvian ways, the South is associated with Summer.

The gifts of the South are about knowing who we really are, feeling and living our truths, freely expressing what the elders poetically referred to as our “Song.”  Summer, with the radiant shining of light, illustrates and symbolizes this full and free expression – no hiding, no diminishing of our love, creativity, beauty, passions or joy.  Connecting with the gifts of the South and medicines of Summer, we are invited to let our light shine, to know, express, feel and be our unique individual Song – no holding back, no toning it down.

In celebration of the Summer Solstice, I’d like to share an excerpt from a prayer offering I’ve written to honor and call in the Gifts of the Four Directions.  Below is the section for welcoming the Gifts of the South.

In the spirit of Summer Solstice, may your life be filled with freedom, with the passionate and joy-filled expression of your Song.

Manaole U Manaole,

from my heart to the heart of mother earth to your heart,

JoAnne Dodgson

To the Spirits of the South -

Thank you for the Gifts of Song

For the invitation to remember and reclaim all of who I am

To thrive in the vibration of uninhibited aliveness

To live freely and fully in my own skin

Wild as the Full Moon

Radiant as the mid-day Sun

Passionate as the blossomings of Summer.