Welcome Summer
We rush into Choleric season
Midsummer, when the days and nights are of equal length marks the culmination of the year, just as midwinter is the nadir. Officially timed when the Sun enters Cancer, this year on 21st June at 09.31 (BST), midsummer is also a pagan fire festival which continues until the night of the 24th of June.
This week, 7th-15th of June, is the festival of Vestalia. Vesta was the Roman goddess of the hearth. In Ancient Rome privileged matrons walked barefoot through the city to the temple, bringing offerings of food. Vesta was rarely depicted in human form, and was more often represented by the fire of her temple in the Forum. Vesta was both at the centre of family life and the Roman state as it was acknowledged that one could not thrive without the other. The Greek equivalent was Hestia1.
Mothers tend the fires, both biological mothers and clan-mothers by transforming raw food into cooked, providing warmth and safety in the home. Their fires bring light and draw people inside to warmth and community.
The heart of the home used to be the hearth, John O’Donohue says this was where the spirit was refined focused and preserved (The Four Elements 2010: 111) Today, we might think of the campfire or the kitchen table, where people meet and exchange their news and where experiences are shared. Traditionally the hearth was where tales of the past were told, the teachings of the clans passed on;
‘the fecundity of the past in conversation with the possibility of the future’
(O’Donohue, 2010, p.113)
’Today we have the ersatz fire of the flat screen, which provides a sterile focal point where the tales of others, cynically constructed, imprint upon us a bogus, empty, mono culture’ Women Healers through History
Real fire excites and warms the heart, even the smallest
candle flame.
Fire is the element for the summer season, June 21st-Sept 21st. Fire is visionary, self-willed, hasty and aggressive; fearless, assertive and dynamic. It is the genius which interrupts, picks up ideas and acts on them, disrupting the status quo. It does not obey reason (Air), consider the practicalities (Earth) or respond to feelings (Water). Fire acts. It is Spirit, the divine spark. Too much fire burns, too little is experienced as a lack of joy, listlessness and low energy. Too much gives ego-mania, too little lack of self confidence.
info and waiting list here
Fiery herbs come into their own in this time. Marigold, St John’s Wort, Rosemary, Chamomile and Saffron all offer their warmth and healing.
Chamomile encapsulates the Vesta energy, she is safe for all ages, is gently warming and soothing, helps to defuse anxiety, fears and nightmares. Chamomile is often overlooked by more ‘sexy’ stronger herbs, but her simple goodness waits quietly and modestly.
‘Chamomile works on the solar plexus chakra and is good for children (and adults) who have temper tantrums, who express anger which is related to fear and the need to protect themselves. For people who are prickly, over-sensitive and volatile. Chamomile quietens, relaxes and centres the person and gives a general sense of well-bring, nourishment and security. It is for people who feel emotionally deprived, who feel unloved and uncared for. Chamomile generally helps to ease obstructions, to melt frozen panic or warm up inertia and allow for movement of some kind. Take as a tea whenever you feel in need of nourishment and mothering. Chamomile can help to seal off the solar plexus and protect a person from draining people or places.’ from A Woman’s Book of Herbs.‘
The summer wind, the Zephyr heralds in the long, lazy days of summer. Zephyros was the Greek god of the west wind, the gentlest wind, particularly compared to the colder north wind, Boreas. The Zephyr brings warm rain which the earth absorbs and brings forth flowers and trees and all crops.
Meadowsweet has the qualities of the Zephyr, warm and moist, it circulates fluids in the body, bringing on a sweat to safely bring down a fever, increasing the flow of urine to support elimination and stimulate the liver to increase bile and boost immunity.
Midsummer is a magical time, for fertility rituals, hand fasting and erotic play. No coincidence that the sensual rose, honeysuckle, lemon balm and jasmine blossom now. The gentle Zephyr cools passions and fevered brows, while scattering the pollen to fertilize the plants. More on solstice rituals here.
The New Moon on the solstice is exact 15th June at 02.55 BST at 24’03 Gemini
The Next Full Moon is on June 29th at 23:58 BST at 8’15 Capricorn.
I write about Hestia in Goddess Astrology, Aeon 2020.