I am writing this in the very middle of the year - the summer solstice. This evening it was still pretty light at 22.15 and this morning it was already light when I got up to visit the toilet at 03.45. There's hardly any proper darkness at this special time of year in northern England.
As I write Druids, new age travellers, pagans and romantics will be gathering at Stonehenge in Wiltshire to greet the sun as it rises above the heel stone. Thank heavens their peaceful presence is now tolerated - unlike the days of Margaret Thatcher when they found themselves confronted by police officers. They were not coal miners nor steel workers but they were treated as though they were.
As the solstice passes by, all too soon we will be back on the downward slope to wintertime. Days will shorten as nights lengthen. Summer days will give way to chilly autumn nights as deciduous leaves begin to fall from our trees.
And so time marches on and so we count the seasons of our lives passing by. This is how it ever was.. Upon this island off the coast of Europe, our ancestors venerated the sun and the passing of seasons countless centuries before Christianity appeared on the scene. A johnny-come-lately posse of connected religions that scorned and ousted those older belief systems. I find it impossible to forgive them.
Happy Solstice!
These long ago people knew much more about the solar system than we think.
ReplyDeleteIt was the same with Native Americans.
DeleteI dont think I have ever before noticed the shortness of the days before our southern hemisphere solstice like I have this year and I look forward to the lengthening days. Not so much looking forward to summer.
ReplyDeleteHappy solstice to you
In Sydney the differences are not as clear-cut as they are in Yorkshire.
DeleteHappy Solstice!
ReplyDeleteThanks.
DeleteHappy Solstice, Neil!
ReplyDeleteNot only on your island off the coast of Europe were the sun and the passing of the seasons venerated. It was the same here, where Germanic tribes roamed endless forests. At some stage, Norse gods were introduced into their system of beliefs and replaced the older Celtic ones, and I am sure there were other beliefs before that, too. 'T was ever thus. New ideas arrived, often on the backs of conquerors by sword and spear, but sometimes more by cultural osmosis when tribes migrated or came in contact with one another by trade.
Interesting input. Thank you Meike. I suppose that humans have always been captivated by the allure of novelty.
DeleteHappy Solstice back. True worshippers of the stones gather at Avebury I feel, though Stonehenge is the most famous. Today has dawned beautifully, it is even warm! But no matter where pagans gather, whether Castlerigg or Stanton Drew stone circles I wish them well in their new religion. Which as you say is so much better than the old religions who fight with such tenacity today.
ReplyDeleteIt's clearly something you have thought about a lot - probably more than me.
DeleteThe Celts invented sun clocks and built on ancient leylines. I will do a similar post later today.
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely warm day in Sheffield - Mid-Summer's Day. Let's hope it heralds more sunny days before Autumn raises her head.
DeleteA sleepless night for me, too bright a moon
ReplyDeleteDid you dance naked where Bosoms used to be?
DeleteMidsummer and it was so cold up until a few days ago, we needed the central heating on !!
ReplyDeleteSame up here ADDY but today has been gorgeous. I hope that summer has really begun now.
DeleteEnjoy the summer sun.
ReplyDeleteEnglish summers are notoriously fickle. We never know what we are going to get.
DeleteI didn't realize your days are as long as ours. Happy Solstice.
ReplyDeleteOur two cities sit roughly on the same line of longitude.
DeleteHappy Solstice, Neil. I will be glad for the darker mornings as I'm waking up too early these days.
ReplyDeleteHave you got blackout curtains Ellen?
DeleteHeathen.
ReplyDeleteChanneling your Druid ancestors! I suppose I must have some as well.
ReplyDeleteWith the spray painting incident at Stonehenge those police officers may be back soon.
ReplyDeleteI have heard that all of the first religions were based on the study of the seasons because that knowledge was so important for knowing hunting patterns and times to plant and to gather. And of course the original gods and goddesses controlled the outcome of those activities. Hopefully. If the right rituals were done.
ReplyDelete