Summer Solstice Activation Ritual

Summer Solstice Blessings!

In order to stay steady in the full solar power of Summer Soltice, we ground ourselves by inviting the earth, the sky, and the light of the Sun to meet in our bodies.

Summer begins on the longest day of the year, the Summer Solstice, June 21. The extra hours of sunlight allow us to harness our creative energies and shift from Spring to summer. By celebrating the Sun and the power it provides to all nature, humans are spiritually ignited, connecting to its life force.

I feel the shift of season as the sweet sounds of songbirds awakens me before first light. I am called to rise and begin another day. The early morning light energizes me before 6 am yoga with solar power, enthusiasm, and joyful happiness to sustain me throughout my day!

Embodying light as we celebrate the Summer Solstice, we can connect to the vibrancy of our aliveness with creativity and heart fire. It’s the perfect moment to focus on the year’s most magnetic and energetic days.

Through honoring this day of light, we energetically set in motion a period of awakening in our consciousness that lasts all summer until the wheel turns again at the Autumn equinox. Here are some ways to align with this day and harness its solar power to build the light within you.

Summer Solstice Alignment

During the Summer Solstice, the Sun reaches its highest point in the sky and gives us our longest day of the year. This day reminds us to celebrate the Sun’s nourishing light. It’s also a moment to harness the light that radiates outward from within each of us.

The Summer Solstice is deeply meaningful for people of all cultures worldwide. In First Natiion’s North American teachings, the Summer Solstice is one of the most potent days of the year. It symbolizes a new season of life, a chance to honor traditions and come together to dance, fast, feast, share stories, and seek visions. 

In last year’s blog, Lithia Solstice Magic, I shared that a doorway in time opens during the solstice, which our ancestors have historically revered as a sacred time-out-of-time. We can harness the Sun’s energy during the moments when the Sun and Earth meet each other in the paradoxical fullness of stillness.

The Sun’s radiance invites us to merge with solar abundance, illumination, and expansive freedom.  

The Circle Consciousness

Indigenous people who populated North America saw life as a circle — from birth to death to rebirth. 

“You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything and everything tries to be round.” –Black Elk

Stone medicine wheels have been built and used for ceremonies for millennia, and each one has enough unique characteristics and qualities that archaeologists have encountered.

The circle shape of the medicine wheel symbolizes the process of life and connectedness. It represents all aspects of one’s being and our interconnection with the natural world.

Many stone circles have been discovered throughout southern Canada and the northern United States.

To illustrate, one of the prototypical medicine wheels is in the Medicine Wheel / Medicine Mountain National Historic Landmark in Wyoming. The Bighorn Medicine Wheel is the best example among several medicine wheels scattered across the landscape. 

This circle is located at an elevation of 9,642 feet near the crest of the Bighorn Mountains of north-central Wyoming. Its 75-foot-diameter stone wheel has 28 spokes and is part of a vast set of sacred sites documenting 3,000 years of their history in that area.

If we embrace the teachings of the circle, we will remember that we are connected to all that live on the Earth. 

Astronomical Features

For most First Nations people, the sky was a compass, calendar, and clock. Medicine wheels were calendars that marked the Sun’s and moon’s passing. Thus, they have astronomical significance, where the spokes on the wheel are aligned to the horizon positions of sunrise or sunset during the solstices and equinoxes.

Native teachings honored the Summer Solstice as one of the most potent days of the year. During the Summer solstice, tribes gathered to acknowledge and celebrate the circles of their own lives so that they could flow and change with the changing energies of the seasons. They knew that they, like the seasons, passed through several life phases as time passed.

The stone circle architecture holds the structure for stability and social continuity for the people who gathered there. The intersections on the medicine wheel represent the alignment and continuous interaction of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual realities.

The medicine wheel has no beginning or end, as life constantly evolves. They remind us of our connection and interdependence – our humble place on Earth. They’re anchors for our experience, providing relatable totems, directions, and elements to help us journey toward self-discovery.

Seasonal Four Directions

The Medicine Wheel, also known as “the sacred hoop,” is used by many Native American tribes to symbolize healing and health. The Medicine wheel is believed to be a guideline for living life as a symbol of unity encompassing essential values.

Medicine wheels are divided into four quadrants: East, South, west, and north. The lines in the stone circle reveal the Four Directions, the cardinal astrological directions holding space in time, marking each change of season.

They honor Father Sky, Mother Earth, and Spirit Tree—all of which symbolize dimensions of the cycles of life, which help us comprehend the interrelational connections of nature through the seasons and in our bodies.

Each direction represents time in our unfolding lives and the life-giving forces of nature. The Medicine Wheel is a powerful circle that holds all of these teachings. 

Along the wheel, the Summer solstice marks the Sun’s passage from the East to the South direction — the season of continued nurturance. As we begin our turn toward the South, the Summer solstice helps us to prepare for the rapid growth in the warmth of the summer.

Elemental Fire Energy

If you recall my Spring Equinox blog, Spring Alchemy Meditation, this season is ruled by the expanding element of air reflected in the green of new growth and the golden light of the East.

At the Summer Solstice, we also begin the change of elements from air to Fire. From an elemental perspective, the element of the East, Air, feeds the element of the South, Fire.

The Fire Element stimulates abundance during this peak season. Everything is bright, alive, and filled with light.

Here at the onset of Summer, the promises of Spring are fulfilled. It is during this season that luxurious growth toward maturing takes place. We learn to trust our ambitions, intuition, and visions. We gain momentum on the path we have chosen toward realizing our goals – the intentions we set earlier in the year.

Tapping into your fire energy can keep your heart open, create more energy, fuel a project, or expand into something new in your life. It’s about using this energy to focus and be in the now.

Heart Fire

Moreover, the Fire Element energizes the heart – the ruler of the spirit. As expected, the color associated with Fire is red. To be all fired up is to be propelled by enthusiasm and fulfillment in your life.

The emotion of compassion is Fire’s path, drawing upon the radiance of spirit to accept the self. When balanced emotionally, the Fire Element is about joy, laughter, warmth, love, and partnership.

Unsurprisingly, the extra hours of sunlight give us more time to nurture creative energy. It’s easy to say “yes” and feel more engaged during this season. I know I’m feeling these natural energetic shifts as I fill my calendar with home improvement projects, outdoor activities, vacations, and the impetus to fulfill my goals.

As you may have guessed, Fire can have a way of flaring and spreading. Because Fire tends to flare up and get out of control, this may lead to hyperactivity, anxiety, scattered, unfocused thinking, and over-activity. Our go-go-go lifestyle gets ignited by the summer fire.

Besides the heart, the Fire Element also governs blood vessels, sweat, blood, circulatory, and adrenal systems. Excess heat or movement can lead to too much yang energy in our bodies, leading to fatigue, sleep problems, brain fog, inflammation, and general malaise.

We can bring excess Heart Fire into balance by working with its color and emotions, utilizing cooling aromatherapy, foods, and rest.

Harnessing the Sun’s Cycle

The Summer Solstice is a celebration of light, activity, and mobility, where our inner energy is pulsing with peak potential. Nurturing this moment in time beckons us to celebrate and live wildly amongst the beauty, natural abundance, and creativity brought into our lives.

The solstice is a time to fill your heart with love and acceptance for the verdant beauty surrounding you. With so much light being propelled onto the planet, it is a powerful time for growth, prosperity, and healing.

It is also an opportunity to release dense, heavy energy that may still be lingering from the winter months. It’s best to purge these energies before moving back into the season of darkness.

Summer Solstice Initiation Journey

As many spiritual traditions suggest, the most remarkable initiations occur at the solstices and equinoxes. The Sun was believed to be a manifestation of the Great Spirit.

Change is an inevitable part of our journey, and honoring it through rituals and ceremonies allows us to acknowledge and navigate transitions with grace and intention.

Creating a ceremony or ritual celebration is a way for you to acknowledge the life force energy inherent in the Sun’s zenith, help embody the Sun’s radiance, and accelerate spiritual awareness.

Disclaimer: This is NOT a traditional ritual – I intuited this Solstice ritual through meditation. I borrowed some elements from Native and esoteric teachings.

In this ritual journey, you’ll work with the Solstice Sun to activate the positive qualities of the chakras to empower you in all you do and are during the Summer season.

I invite you to slow down, pause, be present, and cultivate mindfulness. As you engage in this ritual, you’ll become attuned to the present moment, connect with your surroundings and nurture your overall well-being.

Use the wisdom of cyclical living and intentional co-creation to explore, prioritize, and set a path for all realms of your life that creates sustainable success and progress in the coming months.

Gathering Ritual Tools

In this ritual, you will need to gather.

• Initiation Ritual Essence
• Calling Your Spirit Helpers Spray
• Amore Love Oil
• Corn meal
• Smudging Herbs: Sage Bundle, Cedar, Sweetgrass 
• A lighter and container (shell or ceramic) to hold the smudging herbs
• Spirit Offering: No-additive loose Tobacco
• A red cloth
• Rattles or Drum
• Any ritual objects such as crystals, feathers, and shells that you would like to include.

Time: The hour before Sunset on the Summer Solstice.

Step 1 – Preparation

As with any ritual, you’ll need to prepare yourself. Here are a few suggestions on what to consider in preparation.

• Upon waking in the morning, go outside, stand barefoot on the Earth, and connect with the planet.
• Eat lightly during the day or fast.
• Hydrate with pure spring water.
• Bathe and wear soft, clean natural fiber garments such as cotton, silk, or linen.
• Determine a quiet space where you can view the setting and won’t be disturbed by other people or animals.

Step 2 – Set Up

As the sunset hour approaches

• Set up your ritual space.
• Place three drops of Initiation Ritual Essence on your tongue and the top of your head. Anoint your heart.
• Pause, close your eyes, and take a moment to connect with your intention, the Earth, and the Sun.
• Draw a circle in the soil with the cornmeal large enough for you to stand or sit comfortably.
• If you prefer, you may use flowers, leaves, twigs, and things from nature to create the circle. 
• Place your ritual tools and objects inside the circle atop the red cloth at the center.

Step 3 – Smoke Clearing

• Remove your shoes and step into the southern quadrant of your circle.
• Turn toward the setting Sun.
• Light your sage, cedar, and sweetgrass, and smudge yourself. Pull the smoke toward you and gently inhale the sweet aromas.
• Repeat three times:

Once for Mother Earth,

Once for Father Sun,

Once for Great Spirit,

Once for all the ancestors and people that walked this Earth before me.

Step 4 – Spirit Offering & Intention

• Hold the tobacco in your left hand in front of you and make your offering to the Sun. 
• Recite the following:

I offer you this tobacco for … (be specific. for healing, connection, anchoring the light, activating light codes….)

• Add your tobacco to the herbs in the shell or ceramic bowl when done.

Step 5 – The Solstice Meditation Activation

To get the best results from doing this ritual, don’t overthink or analyze. Open your mind and heart, and let the solar activations come through.

• Mist: Calling your Spirit Helpers around you.
• Close your eyes and take a deep breath through your nose and then exhale slowly through your mouth.
• Repeat three times: breathing in and exhaling out.
• Now allow the breath to settle into a pace and rhythm that is naturally comfortable for you.
• Notice the presence of your Spirit Helpers and ancestors holding space for you.

• Breathing in and out, bring your awareness to the top of your head to your crown chakra – feel it opening to receive the Sun’s light rays.
• As the Sun’s light rays permeate your crown, draw this energy down into your body, connecting the heart and the base of your spine.
• Focus on the cooling white light descending through your mind and body as a thread of light.

Pause to honor your process so your choices are rooted in what is right and aligned for you going forward.

• As you breathe, face the Sun with your eyes closed. Imagine your body filled with a bright white light of loving, soothing energy.
• Feel your feet on the ground and feel your energy descending to connect with the core of the Earth – the heart of Mother Gaia.
• With each exhale, allow any stress, worries, fear, pain, or uncertainty in your body to let go gently…
• Visualize the flow of negativity and what no longer serves you, being pulled through you to be absorbed for instant transmutation.

Pause and feel the clean, cool white light ascending back up through your feet to settle in your pelvis.

• Become aware of the root Chakra, the seat of belonging, and your fulfillment of basic needs, physical safety, and survival. 
• Receive space to feel how this energy center activates stability, confidence, energy, and strength.
• Acknowledge all you have done, how you’ve grown and stretched, and your progress this year.
• Breathe into this vital center between the physical world and your energetic internal system.

• As you continue to breathe, feel the light energy expand to your Sacral Chakra, just below your navel, clearing away any dense energy. 
• This is the seat of your body’s rhythm and flow, sexuality, and sensuality.
• Feel the activating energy awakening the power of your creativity, enabling you to shape your desires and your ability to feel joy and pleasure in all you do.

Pause to gather your energy’s fullness and potential.

• Steadily and calmly breathe in cool white light. Feel the light energy rise to your Solar plexus Chakra in the center of your tummy, activating self-power and enabling your sacred purpose to do what needs to be done.
• This brilliant energy allows you to stand in your power, the source of your personal empowerment, and make decisions with ease and trust. 

• As you breathe in and absorb the Sun’s cool white light, notice how this energy ascends now into your heart space — in the center of your chest, the center of your being.
• Honor this energy bridge between the upper and lower energy centers connecting the physical and emotional realms.
• Feel the energy connection in your heart Chakra ignite with fiery love.
• Notice how this energy radiates love through your entire being, activating your ability to give and receive love with empathy and compassion in all you do unconditionally.

Pause and honor the receptive energy stored in the lungs flowing through you with life force energy.

• As you continue to breathe in the cool white light of the Sun, feel the light now ascend to your throat Chakra, the gateway to authentic expression, integrity, and values.
• As the energy expands through your throat, it activates your ability to speak your truth, express your emotions, and listen with presence.

• Breathing in the Sun’s cooling rays, the light ascends to the center of your forehead between your eyebrows.
• As the light penetrates your third-eye Chakra, it activates your pineal gland, strengthening your connection to your higher self and allowing information for all frequencies to come through easily.
• The radiant light activates your power to connect you with your intuition, imagination and heightened perception illuminating and inspiring your destined path in life.

Pause to honor your vision for the life you want, clearing away doubt and confusion.

• As you breathe in cool white light, it ascends to connect you to your crown Chakra, the bridge between your physical self and the spiritual dimension of the Sacred.
• Here the energy expands to activate a guiding light that reveals the mysteries that lie within.

Pause in the brilliant unity of your higher self in sacred space, here and now.

• Notice your awareness ascend higher and higher into the sky as you focus on the flow of light and breath.
• Feel the light and the love radiate through your body, heart, and mind.
• Feel the bidirectional flow of radiant light through your chakras as you become one with the Sun’s loving embrace, gifting you with healing wholeness.

Pause to honor the Sun’s intelligence activating your soul’s wisdom.

Step 7 – Prayer of Thanks

• When you are ready, open your eyes and gaze softly at the Sun just above the horizon.
• Bask in the golden light.
• Continue to breathe and feel the light activation in all its healing uniting power as the polarities of the Earth and the Sun ground you in the here and now.
• Place your hands on your heart and repeat the following prayer:

As the sun spirals its longest dance, Solstice energy courses through my veins and connects me to the ancients. 

I draw the light of the Sun into my body and feel its life-giving blessing.

As the Sun shares its potency and bounty, I am blessed.

I thank my ancestors, my spirit helpers, and all who have gone before for their guidance and wisdom.

May I live with loving intent, to fulfill my truest destiny.

And so it is with gratitude from my heart — Blessed Be. Aho!

Step 6 – Celebration

• Holding your prayers and intentions within, you may choose to dance, rattle or drum a steady rhythm of celebration, building up as the Sun descends past the horizon.
• Or just let the energy and spirit of the moment guide you as you celebrate the turning of the season that has been so important to the people of this land for thousands of years. 

Step 7 – Conclude your Solstice Ritual

• Anoint yourself with Amore Love Oil to seal your Chakras to hold the Solstice energy. Rub or tap a small amount into each Chakra, specifically focusing on the heart Chakra.
• As you feel an energetic inner sense of aliveness vibrating within, you can more immediately connect with the aliveness of life around you.
• Drink plenty of spring water, and break your fast with a luscious meal.
• Be gentle with yourself as you continue integrating the higher frequencies you absorbed.
• If you are inclined, journal the highlights of your meditation and any insights you discovered that serve your life journey.

Blessed Be

The radiant Sun is the source of all human life. The cycle of human life revolves around it. People come and go, but the Sun remains shining day after day. It never fails us.

The Summer Solstice is an opportunity to pause and appreciate the Sun’s unceasing life-giving nature. Bringing intention and awareness to the Summer Solstice event is a remarkable opportunity to honor and harness the Sun’s energy bringing us into alignment and balance with our life, living in harmony with the cycles of the seasons.

All my aromatic love,

Vidya