Midsummer 2019

Midsummer is the period of time centered upon the Summer Solstice, when the Sun completes its northbound journey in the sky and appears to stop in its tracks (for 3 days) relative to Earth, and more specifically the cultural celebrations that accompany the actual solstice between June 20 and June 24, for it marks the longest day of the year.

During the Summer Solstice, the Sun will appear to stop and then begin declining slightly each day in a southward direction. The summer solstice also marks the start of Cancer season in astrology, as the Sun appears to pass directly over the Tropic of Cancer, or 23.5 degrees North latitude. This is the moment when astrologers say that the Sun has “entered” Cancer, meaning that it’s now traveling through the part of the zodiac band represented by Cancer.

 

On Thursday June 21st, the summer solstice will occur at exactly 11:53:07 am EDT. There will be 13 hours, 46 minutes and 41 seconds of daylight.

 

The summer solstice marks the midpoint, not the beginning, of the summer season that begins on May 1st during the traditional first day of summer celebration, the festival of Beltane (May 1st – 6th), and ends after the harvest festival of Lammas (August 1st – 6th).

Midsummer is when the Sun is in its greatest strength of the solar current and marks a turning point, for the Sun also begins its time of decline as the wheel of the year turns. The Druids in Britain greeted and celebrated the Sun during this time, for Midsummer was one of the most  important festival of the Druid traditions, due to the great focus on the Sun and its light as a symbol of divine inspiration. Today, modern Druid groups in England and pagans, alongside some 9,500 other visitors, flock to Stonehenge to celebrate the summer solstice at the ancient stone monument to witness the Sun rise above the Heel Stone. The longest day of the year offers a rare chance to go inside the sacred site.

The Feast of Saint John

The Feast of Saint John closely coincides with Midsummer. The Christian Church designated June 24th as the feast day of the early Christian martyr St. John the Baptist, which the New Testament Gospel of Luke records as being born six months before Jesus. As the Christian Church marked the birth of Jesus on December 25, Christmas in 336 A.D.,  the Feast of Saint John (Saint John’s Day) was established at midsummer, exactly six months before the former feast by the late 6th Century, counterbalancing at Midsummer (Litha) the Midwinter (Yule) feast of Christmas.

Midsummer Celebrations Around the World

The summer solstice has been celebrated for thousands of years. The Midsummer celebration and its influence has reached into many countries around the world. The main event is the burning of a large bonfire accompanied by music, circle dancing around the maypole with feasting, merry making, and general revelry.

Midsummer is a traditional day for weddings and handfasting, a folkloric custom in which a couple holds a commitment ceremony, for it was customary of arranging mock weddings, as a wedding was meant to symbolize the blossoming of new life.

Traditional Midsummer- Saint John’s Day-related traditions, church services, and bonfire celebrations are culturally significant in northern Europe – Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Belarus, Germany, Netherlands, Flanders, Ireland, parts of the United Kingdom (especially in Cornwall), France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Ukraine, other parts of Europe, and elsewhere – such as Quebec, Canada, and the Unites States.

Midsummer celebrations held throughout the United States are largely derived from the cultures of immigrants who arrived from various European nations since the 19th century. With the rise of earth-centered spirituality, many, including Unitarian Universalists, celebrate the summer solstice as both a cultural and religious holiday.

Since 1974, Santa Barbara has hosted an annual Summer Solstice celebration, typically on the weekend of or the weekend after the actual solstice. The parade is the largest single-day event in Santa Barbara County, attracting crowds of 100,000 people or more.  It includes a festival and parade, which makes it one of the largest celebrations after the ones held in Leksand and at the Skansen Park in Stockholm, Sweden.

Midsummer Magic 

According to traditional sources, the Midsummer is when magic is said to be strongest, and folks often perform rituals to look into the future. Herbs plucked by mages during the Summer Solstice are considered to be highly potent. Midsummer is a perfect time for doing spell work, for its one of the best days of the year to work to increase personal power, strength, energy, along with prosperity, change, and love. Since fire is one of the major the themes of Midsummer celebration, the use of a candle spell or oil lamp spell can provide that same level power and energy from dancing around the Midsummer bonfire.

Therefore, a Midsummer Spell for personal power, youthful vitality, abundant creativity, and living with passion would be most ideal on the Solstice.

For this spell you will need the following

• An Oil Lamp or a Sun Virgil Glass Encased Vigil
• Orphic Hymn to the Sun
• The Emperor Tarot Card: To be in a position of strength and taking a leadership role
• The Empress Tarot Card: To welcome lavish abundance of all kinds and having more then enough
• The Sun Tarot Card: To get charged up with burning enthusiasm and shine forth brilliantly
• Strength Tarot Card: To have unshakable resolve and ability to endure despite setbacks
• The Magician Tarot Card: To take action and carry out plans bring out one’ creative  talents in producing magical results
• The Lovers Tarot Card: To tap into one’s inner libido energy, feel a physical attraction, experience desire with another, and have sexual fulfillment
• Sun Oil: To keep you on the path of self actualization and personal development.
• John the Conqueror Oil: Charisma, enhanced leadership, physical vitality and prowess, cultivate strength and courage, and provide good fortune and luck in matters of risk, speculation and love.
• Attraction Oil: To draw money, love, success, and all good things.

Directions: Place 7 Drops of Sun Oil, 7 drops of Attraction Oil, and 7 drops of John the Conqueror Oil in the oil well of the. Align the 6 Card around in the Oil Lamp in no particular order. Write on a paper a clear set of short term goals and outcome that you want to achieve by Summer’s end (September 21) or sooner and place it under the lamp. Light the Oil Lamp when the Sun enters Cancer (e.g. June 21, 2019 at 8:53 am PDT) and recite the Orphic Hymn to Sun and close the ritual by reciting the 23^rd Psalm. Keep the Oil Lamp burning for 3 days with the cards surrounding it until sunset on St John’s Eve on June 23^rd.

---

William Stickevers is an astrological consultant, hypnotist, life coach, and business strategist, advising clients from 28 countries for over three decades with strategy and insight to live a more fulfilled life according to their soul’s code and calling. A trends forecaster, William’s annual global forecasts are backed by a deep study of economies, geopolitics, archetypal cosmology, and modern astrological forecasting techniques.

Continuously interested in the most effective approaches to self-discovery and transformation, William has studied Jungian psychology, holotropic breathwork, and Life Between Life hypnotherapy and has been immersed in the Tony Robbins Mastery University, enabling William to counsel his clients with expertise few astrologers have on the economy affecting the client, psychology, the psyche, metaphysical and transpersonal growth, and effective strategy according to the client’s natal chart, transits, and economic environment.

William has been a guest on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory (four times, including the 2019 annual New Year’s Predictions show), The Unexplained with Howard Hughes, Sandra Champlain’s We Don’t Die Radio, Spiritual Explorers with Susanne Wilson, The Jerry Wills Show, and Alan Steinfeld’s New Realities. An international speaker, William has lectured at the New York Open Center, Edgar Cayce’s Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.), the United Astrology Conference (2018), and two Funai Media events in Tokyo, Japan.

More information on Consultations and Forecast Webinars are at his website www.williamstickevers.com.