The Sun rose today at 5:29am and will set at 9:03pm. Happy Solstice Everyone! …also, Big Blessings to all the First Nations on today and everyday for National Aboriginal Day!!
And we have sun today to boot! Hooray.
Interestingly, although today is acknowledged as the Longest Day, roughly speaking it hovers for a few days. Check out the following chart… so Welcome to Solstice Week!
I remember how much easier it was when I was travelling in India to acknowledge the sun rising and the sun setting. It seems these days, I’d have to make a point of it to catch these special moments, but back then and there… it was a part of daily life. I spent 6 months in South India in 1995, and besides the million other things I noticed while I was there, I noticed that many people, no matter how old or young, no matter what they were doing, would pause at sunset, for a moment.
In India literally thousands of Brahmin priests perform the ancient Agni Hotra ritual twice each day, honouring fire and sun, and gratitude for life. I wonder if being on the soil of the history of this practice, and breathing the same air, is what made it just so easy and natural for people to just pause for a moment. Back on this soil, it seems to take a concerted effort to notice, and find time for acknowledging the natural rhythms. It is a nice practice though. I like to take note of the times and make a date with the sun every once in a while. We don’t even have to see it to acknowledge what is happening and count our blessings.
This Friday we will be meeting at the Studio on Purcell’s Cove for an evening of chant, sound, silence up until the Agni Hotra mantra at Sunset. Doors open at 7pm. Call 229-9642 or email for further info.
namaste’
Mandee