RCG-I Seasonal Salon Summer Sosltice 2005
|
Summer Solstice 2005 Home Page |
Sunshine WomanBy Deborah Hoffman-Wade When someone talks about the moon, we feel the intuitive wonder of Diana. When someone talks about the sun, we feel the heat of passion and the excitement of ardor. We honor the sun women, women who live with their fire energy in delight and fervor. Those women who adore the sun, who live in the ring of fire are brave and courageous. Women of fire celebrate the sun as female and therefore celebrate She who is Inferno and She who is Lava. She is Saule in Latvia and Lithuania reflected in the amber found throughout the country. She is Freya in Germany from her golden locks she shakes flowers. Cinderella, the Goddess of the Hearth fire. To reclaim the power of the Sun is to reclaim the power of self. The sun is the radiant center and the liberating force of the universe. She is the place of inspiration, strength and expanded awareness. Nothing hides from her rays. She is fulfillment, happiness, glory and success. She is the golden crown and the sparkle that makes jewels brilliant. The Sun is the power of heat: She who heats the earth and brings life from light. She is the Ram who moves swiftly, the Lion who has no fear and the Fiery Arrow of action. Forceful at times, regal to down right arrogant at others and would rather move anywhere than process ONE more minute, sun selves just like the eternal dance are content in movement. She is Shakti the healing golden sun. She is the Celtic Brunissen the Goddess found in the sunrise in India, and sunset. To the Irish she is Caillech, the winter sun and Aine, the summer sun. She is Sul, the Gaelic sun of all seasons. She is Sunna or Sol to the Scandinavians, riding Her Sun chariot or fiery wheels across the sky. Fire women need to be comfortable in their fire self. Misunderstood, fire women take an immense amount of time to realize that not everyone thrives on bonfires. Maturity, wisdom, and compassion teach fire women to smolder not to constantly blaze. Goddess teaches that being a coal, the base and core, is no less powerful than being the blaze and the flash. As the sensitive Priestess struggles to work with their sensitivity to energy, the fire Priestess struggles to simmer instead of blaze. She is Repunzel, the spring sun, letting down her golden locks, and Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) awakening from her seasonal slumber in Bavaria. She is Ostara in Saxony, the fresh beginning of the spring sun. At the Summer Solstice we are in full sun glory, the sun is at her height and full of power. All nations and tribes in some way honored the sun. Aboriginal nations celebrate the power of the sun with the Sun Dance. The Sun Dance is a ritual of prayer and sacrifice performed by virtually all of the High Plains peoples, including the Arapaho, Blackfeet, Blood, Cheyenne, Plains Cree, Crow, Gros Ventre, Hidatsa, Kiowa, Ojibway, Shoshone, Lakota, and Ute. The overall significance of the sun dance involves the spiritual renewal of participants and their relatives as well as the renewal of the living earth and all its components. Sundance is a new year’s ceremony celebrated in the summer, usually on a full moon. In the broadest aspects, kinships within both the social and natural realms are reaffirmed. To the Cherokee She is Igaehindvo, the sun sister to Mother Earth and Corn Mother. In Australia She is Walu, the one who dreams us awake and streams light through the sky. The Shinto of Japan worships Her as Amatersu, who dances Her Power across the sky. Teutonic peoples gathered at the “Thing” at the Solstice. Ancient Germanic, Slav and Celtic tribes in Europe celebrated Midsummer with bonfires. It was the night of fire festivals and of love magic, love oracles and divination. It had to do with lovers and predictions, when pairs of lovers would jump through the luck-bringing flames. It was believed that the crops would grow as high as the couples were able to jump. Through the fire's power, maidens would find out about their future husband, and spirits and demons were banished. Another function of bonfires was to generate sympathetic magic: giving a boost to the sun's energy so that it would remain potent throughout the rest of the growing season and guarantee a plentiful harvest. She is Hathor in Egypt, the queen of beauty and the desert, Isis the Queen Mother of Sun and Moon and Sekhmet, the Flaming One. She is Bast, Sekmet, and Hathor (Egypt), Brigid and Etain (Ireland), Bila (Australia), Shamshu and Shapash (Arabia), Aditi (India), and Sul (English, worshipped at Silbury Hill). The element of fire is the dragon, the phoenix, the volcano, the salamander, and the molten lava. Sun women are those who hold the feet to the fire when needed. Sun women are loyal, strong and always moving forward. Fire celebrates the freedom to journey head high, with great excitement and little fear of what is ahead. She is the Goddess who emergences from Her cave of mystery: Omikami Amaterasu (Japan) and Paivatar (Finland). She who travels across the sky: Xatel-Ekwa (Hungary), Wuriupranili and Walo (Australia), Sunna (Scandinavia and Germany) and Saule (Lithuania and Latvia). The Sun is She who triumphs over adversity: Bila (Australia), Hae-Sun (Korea), Olwen (Wales), and Tach-I (Louisianan Tunica). Lachen, lachen, lachen, lachen Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing Rejoice in the Sunshine that is Her face on Summer Solstice. Sing the German folk song (above) to Her as She rises this solstice, for She lights the way, She who is all beauty and dazzling radiance. She illuminates the path for us so that we may take action. May She shine upon your face! |
Copyright © 2005; Re-formed Congregation of the Goddess,
International.
All Rights Reserved