Summer Solstice 2023

At the Summer Solstice, I gave a talk at the local community center here in Longmeadow.  We have lived here for almost two years, newcomers to this lovely town. 

The blurb in the newsletter said:  Julie offers perennial wisdom associated with the summer solstice.  Astronomy, astrology and archeology illustrate why this day has been honored since ancient times.  Come learn about the great shift of ages we are in the midst of, and how aligning with the rhythms of nature lends a sense of stability in turbulent times.  Enjoy a guided meditation to awaken your inner light.

So I head over with my laptop and handouts, prepared to give this talk as I have done since 2012.  Back then, I sat with notes on my lap, in my living room, sharing the information with my newly-formed meditation circle.  Since then, my presentation has evolved into a PowerPoint; I tweak it every year, adding pertinent astrological info and current events that out-picture the archetypal energies at play in the heavens.

When I arrive at the community center, they point me to a large room set up with chairs in the front and tables in the back, as if lunch had been served.  There's a small stage.   

Am I supposed to sit on this stage?  

The activities director hustles in.  He sets up a card table for my laptop and connects it to a screen that, viola, lowers onto the stage.  This platform is about knee high off the auditorium floor, and I realize I have no other option but to sit there to deliver my talk.  He asks if I want a microphone and I decline.  I have never sat on a stage or used a mic for this kind of event so...no. Thank you, I think I'll be OK without it.

About 20 people filter in.  Only two men.  I introduce myself briefly and indicate that there is  information about me and Blue Heron Healing at the table in the back.  If they are interested in being notified of upcoming special events they can leave their email addresses.  

Can they hear me ok?  No, a couple of heads shaking no.  So I hop off the stage to get that microphone.  

Distinctly out of my comfort zone.

But maybe the mic is a good idea because I've had an oddly long-lingering head cold.  My throat is still a little raspy.  I'm concerned about straining my voice or having it give out altogether, which of course is not a good look. I ask my audience to excuse the lozenge I have tucked in my cheek.

So here's me:  Testing, testing.  Hearing my voice through the speaker system  reminds me that I spent many years in local politics, in my former life in Wethersfield, speaking into a mic.  This is not a big deal.

I give my talk sitting at the card table on the stage, right hand at my laptop, left hand holding the mic. This deprives me of gesturing; I feel oddly handcuffed, but forge ahead. Things proceed smoothly, except for one guy who appears to be napping, lol.  The rest are engaged.  Once or twice I get up to point out something on the big screen.

I speak for 40 minutes, then suggest a break before we settle for the guided meditation.  A woman raises her hand, reminding me that I haven't asked for questions or comments.

She says, in a flabbergasted kind of way, 

Who are you?  

Where have you been? 

 What's your story?

The esoteric info in my talk clearly resonates with her.  She says something along the lines of, this stuff is meaningful to me, but I rarely see out here in regular life.

I love this response!  

So I tell them how, many years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  How I was in Barnes and Noble after this distressing news, and found Louise Hay's little book, How to Heal Your Body:  The Mental Causes for Physical Illness and the Metaphysical Way to Overcome Them (heads nodding in the audience).  I look up: breast, left side of the body, and cancer.  

My diagnosis was a revelation: I wasn't nourishing myself.  

I was busy raising two daughters and volunteering in the community.  No one ever taught me the importance of taking care of myself. 

 Better to give than to receive and all that.

I've come a long way since then.  

All the women are nodding their heads.  They get it.

I describe my decision to study energy medicine as a result of that eye-opening moment.  It was a four-year program -- six long weekends from September to May every year, with plenty of assignments in between.  I have always been fascinated by energy dynamics, wellness, mind-body-spirit connections, the nature of reality and human nature:  Who are we?  Why do we do the things we do? How do things  get created?  Who/what is God/Source/the Life Force/The Great Creator/The Spirit of All Life?

I told them how I received reiki while undergoing radiation treatments at Hartford Hospital and it felt so good  I resolved to learn how to do it.  That led to the discovery of a local school of energy medicine.

I tell them I have a lovely healing space in my home and amazing clients that inspire me every day. They ask where I live.  It's a small town; everyone knows where our house is located.

Any other questions?  Another woman raises her hand and says, this is going to sound weird, but...and asks about extra-terrestrials (because they may have had a hand in some of material I presented).  In my world, this is not a strange question.  I elaborate a bit and then we take a five minute break.

A couple approaches and the woman says, Julie, you're not going to remember me but....  It turns out she is the sister of two dear friends from high school.  We both grew up in Utica, NY and now live in Longmeadow.  She has family news to fill me in on.  This connection is a joyful surprise.

And it turns out the mic is great for guiding the group into meditation because, at times, I almost want to whisper, and my quiet voice can still be heard.  Everyone is sitting with eyes closed, shoulders relaxed, journeying inward to their own light-filled core essence.

Afterwards, everyone makes a point to express their appreciation.  They leave their contact info for future programs.

As any speaker knows, this is gratifying.  In the weeks leading up to my talk, I spent time reviewing my presentation, making it more fluent and concise. I added relevant material I've come across since the last time I gave it.  I updated the design of the slides themselves.  All the while wondering if it's worth the effort.

It almost always is!

It's my practice to pick an oracle card on the solstice and 2023 is no exception.  From the Spirit of the Wheel Meditation Deck, I pick Freeze Up Moon.  Hmm, seems opposite the themes of the day of longest sunlight.

But the message is spot-on.  The keywords are:  Identity, Self-discovery, Vulnerability.

Like the snake shedding its skin, Freeze Up Moon represents letting go of outworn roles to reveal your true identity.  

I mentioned my former life in Wethersfield.  All those roles?  Gone. Only wife, mother, and friend remain.  New role?  Grandmother.  A role I embrace wholeheartedly.

Courage and patience are required to let go of the roles that have been smothering your inner light.  This is exactly what our meditation was about -- uncovering our inner light.

Shedding old skin may leave you feeling somewhat vulnerable.  The people around you, who are accustomed to your old roles, may resist this change.  

This one merits its own blog post!  Let's just say this dynamic has been up in a big way recently.

As you allow...your true identity to emerge you will feel your spirit lighten.  There is real freedom in true creative expression.

In my experience, this is absolutely true.  While nothing in my PowerPoint is original, what is original is how I pull it all together.  Arcane information from many fields of study, arranged to make the summer solstice as relevant to us as it was to indigenous cultures who honored the cycles of Nature in ways that we simply do not.  We rob ourselves of the richness of archetype and myth that pervade perennial philosophy when we are out of tune with Mother Nature.

I also highlight the tremendous transformative shift we are undergoing.  I describe it as fast and furious.  Does it feel like this to you?  Like circumstances that might have happened over the course of months or years are now coming at us at such an accelerated rate we can hardly keep up?  I provide archeological evidence of The Great Shift, foretold by more than one ancient culture.  I don't know how people manage the rocky times we are living through without this contextual knowledge. 

Finally, the oracle card says:  Now is the time to let go of the roles that limit your potential and take up the call to explore and express your true self.

This reflects the potential I spoke of at the center of the galaxy and the center of ourselves.  The principle of as above so below applies as I explain how the galactic center and our deepest core essence are described in remarkably similar terms -- a velvety black void, empty and yet teeming with unlimited potential.

The deepest place within us and the far reaches of  the Milky Way mirror one another.

Identity.  Self-discovery.  Vulnerability.

How do these resonate for you?

For me, they tie together like this:  

Self-discovery reveals that we are far, far more -- identity-wise -- than we were ever taught to believe.

 And self-discovery depends upon one's willingness to risk ever-so-tender vulnerability. 

Like putting together decidedly non-mainstream material that could easily be dismissed as woo-woo...

And stepping up onto a stage in front of a bunch of strangers...

And magnifying my voice.

Are you on a voyage of self-discovery?  Willing to risk vulnerability in the venture?  Where are you called to  magnify your voice?  What talent might you step up and share it with the world?

These are the invitations of the sun as she peaks in her annual arc across the sky. 

At the summer solstice energy culminates.  From this day forward, the days gradually become shorter until it becomes noticeable in the mellow light of Autumn.  Until then, enjoy the long, light-filled days  and the summer stars when night finally falls.  Most prominent is the Big Dipper, part of the Great Bear, Ursa Major.

May the blessings of the Summer Solstice 

Spill from the celestial dipper 

Onto your home and into your heart 

As we venture forth on the path toward Oneness

Into the unity of All That Is