The Summer Solstice: 5 Lessons Worth Coming Home To

Hey everyone, this is Adam Elenbaas from nightlight astrology, and today we're going to talk about some of the most valuable lessons that we can learn by reflecting on the annual summer solstice. Now, this could be a valuable reflection for you on the sign of Cancer, regardless of which hemisphere you're in. And so you could also take it as that if you're in the southern hemisphere and you're listening to this, you're like, Dude, this is not the time of year.

That's okay because the same lessons that we're talking about today, in terms of the solstice, are really, in a way, just lessons associated with the archetypal nature of the sign of Cancer, which the Sun is ingressing into no matter where you live. If you're looking at the if you're looking at this from the standpoint of the archetypal nature of the sign, you'll find that the same lessons associated with the astronomy of the Summer Solstice, they really permeate the sign of Cancer in relation to things like the moon and water and other asset elements of the sign of Cancer overall. So anyway, everyone should be able to find something useful in this video.

But before we get into it, don't forget to like and subscribe, and share your comments and reflections in the comment section. As you guys know, it really helps the channel to grow. If you want to find a transcript of today's talk, it is on the website nightlightastrology.com. I'm also really happy to be inviting my wife, Ashley, to the show today. Ashley is a clinical herbalist, longtime yoga teacher, and someone who is also a Cancer rising; I'm a Cancer Sun in Mercury. So we both are very familiar with the archetypal nature of the sign of Cancer, and it actually is just really fun to have around, as you guys know who watch my channel. So anyway, welcome back, Ashley.

Ashley
Hi. Good to be back.

Adam Elenbaas
Yeah, so today we're going to talk about the summer solstice, the entrance of the Sun into the sign of Cancer, and we're going to talk about three valuable lessons that come from the archetypal nature of this moment, as well as the season that the sign of Cancer points to overall. So that is our agenda for today; we have three points that we picked out of many that are possible to talk about, and we're going to illuminate them one by one. But before we do that, I'll just show you where we're at in terms of this moment and what it looks like on the real-time clock.

So we look at the summer solstice moment, we are always considering, you know, what else is going on around the time of the solstice. So you can see here is the Sun at 29,59 Gemini, and if we advance this by about an hour here, I'll just move my drawing, then we see that, by the best is about 10:45 in the morning, here in Central Time, Wednesday, June 21, the Sun ingresses into the sign of Cancer and so this ingress moment, this zero degree of cancer moment, marks a major transition in terms of the rhythm and logic of the Zodiac.

Some people think that the Zodiac was rooted in seasonal symbolism; that's only partially true. It was really all rooted in the solar symbolism of the year, which is properly understood in the alternation of light and dark. The seasonal variations and temperatures and weather patterns could change vastly from one region to another that are all still experiencing a basic rhythm of light and dark alternating throughout the entire year.

Which is why this is primarily archetypal and not about the weather where you live; I like to say that first because sometimes people will say, well, it's not exactly summer where I live, or it doesn't feel like, you know, summer in the south feels different than summer in Minnesota, or whatever and how much of an impact is that have, we're not really talking about weather, as much as we are talking about light quality and the interplay or dance of light and dark that constitutes the solar year.

So on that note, what I'd like to do is I'm going to see if I can pull this off. If it slows down my internet, then I'm going to have to stop it because I've never tried it before. But I'm going to try to show you an astronomy program that I use to illustrate what the summer solstice actually looks like because I think that that is super, super helpful. So what I'm going to do is, first of all, I'm going to put this up on the screen so that you can see it, and then we'll see we'll just we're going to see what happens; this will be a little bit of an experiment.

So here we go. Alright, this is my astronomy program, and what I'm going to do is let's see here. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to put into the view, first of all, the celestial equator, and that is a projection of the Earth's equator out into space; I'm going to put in the ecliptic, which is the path of the Sun as we see it through our sky, and then we're going to put in the Zodiac constellations, and we're why don't we give them some labels as well. So you can see them. Now this is going to be a sidereal Zodiac. So this is not our Tropical Western Zodiac; it's a little different. Why don't we put in the labels of some planets and moons and then what I want to do is I'm going to add in the local meridian line, so you can see it like that and now what I'm going to do, as you can see all of this, is we're going to simply advance this one day at a time.

So we're going to take this to June 21, and then what I'm going to do is I'm going to advance this a couple of hours at a time so that we get the Sun right at the midheaven. So this is our view, and what I want to point out is that this view takes the Sun the arc of the Sun, which is the green line, which is our Zodiac, that's the ecliptic, it takes it to the highest point that it can possibly get to in the 24 hour day at high noon, this is the Sun as high as it will get the path of the Sun, the arc of the Sun is so high and so long that it makes for the longest day of the year, and if we scroll this up even just a little bit more, I'm going to put in the celestial poles.

If we go all the way back up, you're going to see that behind the Sun; if we were to keep going up the Sun and follow that line all the way up, you're going to see that up at the top is the north celestial pole and I'm going to see if I can actually draw a circle around it. So that's the north celestial pole.

Now for ancient astrologers, when the Sun was at this point in the sky, it was the closest that it would get to that pole star, and they perceived the Sun moving up in the sky and its arc as yearning for, reaching for the pole star, which is a kind of the ideal point of light because it doesn't change, it stays the same. All the other fixed stars they're moving, but the pole star is this constant steady presence.

Ancients were interested in the eternal in staying closely connected to it because that was considered to be of great spiritual value to stay connected to that which is eternal. What happens from the time that the Sun reaches that point, that longest day of the year, the summer solstice moment, and the closest that it will get to that ideal pole star, that unchanging point that was a kind of emblem of eternity, or of the Divine is that from that point forward, every day the Sun will start coming down, watch this, I advanced this now one day at a time, the same time High Noon, now I've artificially made it dark.

So it's a little weird that the Sun's out, but it's dark. But it kind of gives a better effect. So watch what happens a day at a time. Notice how the path of the Sun along the meridian is coming down in the sky. See that, and when it gets to the celestial equator, which is a projection of the Earth's equator out into space, that's going to be our Fall Equinox. So this is right about September 21. At that point, the Sun is halfway between its highest point and its lowest point in the day, is about equal light and dark, and this is a passageway into the underworld because below this line, the days will now be shorter than they are longer, or there will be more darkness than there is light and then the Sun will descend along that meridian line all the way down until we get to the Winter Solstice. Everyone knows the winter solstice is going to come right around December 20, 21st, right in that range. So see, as it gets all the way to the bottom, it's closest to Earth.

So what ancients were looking at when they looked at the Sun turning, remember the cardinal signs were called Tropical signs, which comes from the word troppos which means to turn. So when we get the Cancer, the Sun is turning, and it's starting to go downward, and that final point that it reaches is closest to the Earth. So you have to think of all of that astronomically when you're considering what the summer solstice means.

For the ancient astrologers, it was a turning point from an ideal from something spiritual descending down to the Earth into matter. So Cancer was called the gateway of mankind because it was associated with the birth of materiality, the material universe itself, as coming from a divine spark, sort of visualized as above, it doesn't have to be thought of literally as above, but it's sort of someplace that sort of transcendent, and otherworldly and then it's pictured as descending into matter and you know, you can almost think of it like, in birth, isn't there a moment actually, when the baby actually descends? There's, like, a descending moment in the womb before actual delivery, right?

Ashley
Yeah, well, I mean, you feel the baby drop, like, weeks ago, maybe like a week or so before birth. So like, there's like a preparation where you can feel that drop and then yeah, and then once you're in labor, you can feel when the baby is starting to move through the, you know, the pelvis, you can start to feel that pressure and that's when you when the baby reaches out. That's when you get that urge to push.

Adam Elenbaas
Yeah, yeah. The tropical sign, the tropical nature of any sign, is associated also; it was sometimes called moveable signs, and they're associated with things needing to move through a passageway of transformation that's being initiated at that moment. So we have that in the air. We also have the sacred ancient symbolism of life coming into form; what's happening in your garden around this time, and how would that be symbolic of this moment of manifestation that this time was pointing to, for example?

Ashley
Well, right now, as we reach the summer solstice, things are starting to come into their peak; it's a little different here because we are so far north in Minnesota. So you know, our blooming times a little bit later than most of the rest of North America and, you know, other places that are a little bit further south. But, you know, typically, this time of year is the harvest, you know, this is when we start to harvest, especially the flowers, a lot of our flower medicines start to come into bloom and, in particular, you know, St. John's wort, which is a herb that's associated with the summer solstice, and St. John the Baptist, who has his feast day on June 24 and so that plant has a close association with St. John the Baptist and there's, there's a lot of really interesting things, but it is considered to be a solstice flower, and there's a lot of other flowers, to that really are at their peak at this time.

Adam Elenbaas
Yeah, that's beautiful, especially when you think of St. John the Baptist; you're also thinking, of course, of baptism by water. This is a water sign in Cancer. That's the exultation of Jupiter, who was a planet that was associated with sperm, the proliferation of life, you know, children, and, you know, like, development of your family and birth of kids and all sorts of stuff like that. So it's, it's a really rich sign.

There are three lessons that we're going to talk about that are associated with this interesting astronomical moment, which is, again, really archetypal. It's, you know, I don't believe that the symbolism of the Zodiac is tied, literally, to the seasons. Or that's why I believe it works just as well for people in both hemispheres because it's a symbolic language.

But there are three Solstice lessons; we could call them Cancer lessons as well if that makes more sense to where you're located. But the first one is, and I just kind of jokingly put this from the Joni Mitchell song, you know, we are stardust, we are golden. We've got to get ourselves back to the garden. But that's an archetype that is so deeply associated with the sign of Cancer.

In the sign of Cancer, we have both the idea of the descent of spirit into matter and the birth and the biomatrix of life in the womb, and you know, children and mothers, but in a sense, we are all children of the universe, the Great Mother, we all come from the creation all come from a source. So you could think about it as a great mother archetype in Cancer, not just the mother, the mundane mother, which is super important too, like our mothers or something.

But when you think of Cancer, you're also thinking of the idea that God is like a mother, that there is a great mother that we all come from, and that we are all eternal in some way that our lives, the meaning of our lives are very nature extends beyond the ground of our being into the stars that it reaches up somehow and I think that there's a lot of ways in which plants naturally reminded us of this, too, that if you meditate on a garden or the plants in a garden that, you can come to some of the same realizations.

Ashley
Definitely, there's so much, you know, the garden itself from the Earth that's made out of last season's, you know, composted plants. You know, everything is in this cycle of rebirth and regeneration and, you know, if you try to do things artificially in a garden, it doesn't, it never works as well as if you follow the and use the actual elements of this Earth, and so there's something that, you know, gardening teaches us about the importance of the organic matter and organic process, that the closer we stay to that and I was, I was just thinking to when you were talking about Mother Earth, how last night we have this book that we read to our kids, it's 365 questions and so every night, there's a question and the book, and it has a date on it.

So last night's question that we asked the girls was, would you rather be outside or inside, and why both girls said outside and, and then why and Summer, our younger one said because it's fresh, and it's always fresh, and there's so much to do, and there's so many plants and she just like went off, you could just see her like, you know, like being outside almost in her psyche and the mothering that I think you know, being outdoors does, because there is a there's a freshness, you know, we become refreshed. When we take a deep breath of air outside, we become mothered again when we step into the green world and feel the support of nature and all that it provides.

So yeah, this time of year, because it is so warm, and we can be outside, especially for those of us who live in places where the winters are not very nice to be outdoors for long periods. You know, there's this great refreshment that comes.

Adam Elenbaas
It's an amazing thing that it's such a simple insight, one that we take for granted that we come from the stars, that our bodies are made up of stardust stuff that's up in there somehow that's also right here in the flesh and bone and sort of the dirt and soil of our being and that there's this connection between the two is, you know, I feel like most of the best astrological insights sign by sign are so simple and it's almost like we don't want to; we want there to be something more profound. But it's like, well, what's more, profound than the fact that you're an eternal being that took a body, you know, like, it doesn't really need to get more complicated than that, and Cancer is a sign that says, you came from the stars, and you've somehow you're also made of planty, earthy stuff, and that's amazing.

Well, number two on the list is that, in order for us to stay connected to who we really are in the magic and beauty of who we are, that we have to remember where we came from, just in the same way that a child is always looking in the early stages of its development as it's getting its shore footing in the world, it's looking back to its mother. That's where I came from. That's what studies me.

So ancient philosophers and, you know, mystics from a variety of different traditions looked at the pole star, as an image of steadiness, like a great mother, something that we can look back to and remember and hold on to; we have prayer beads of the number of the moon, and we recite mantras on them to remember who we are, where we come from. We reach for our literal mothers; we reach for each other in our lovers in a sense to connect and stay in remembrance of one another, and the love stays alive because of that.

So there are so many different ways that remembering and devotion is like an expression of remembrance; all the different ways that we manifest devotion in our lives are to remember to remember the person, to remember our love to remember, and then spiritually to remember ourselves and who we really are in the grand scheme of things. Cancer is such a sign of devotion. You could think about it as the mother and the child and the maternal sense of devotion, but it's really a much deeper romantic and cosmic sense of devotion, grounded as it is in the descent into this world from the pole star.

Ashley
It reminds me of when I first had Virginia, our first daughter, and anytime I had to be away from her like my physical body ached, it like hurt it physically hurt to be away from her for very long, and you know, I think a lot of mothers can probably relate to those early days and that pain and yeah, this time of year when there's a lot of that Cancer energy, it is it's like we feel those dull aches and those pains of separation, you know, of law. I mean something so much, but not being able to, like, I remember I used to say this to the girls, you'd be like, I love you so much I don't know what to do. Like, it's like, I love. There's no; there's not enough stuff for me to do about how much I love you and like I eat you up, and there's that feeling of just like, having so much love and just feeling so welled up with it that there's almost like there's no outlet. That's enough for that.

Adam Elenbaas
You hear, sometimes people will get to that point, they'll say, I want to just eat your face, something crazy like that. But yeah, I mean, one of the things that I've noticed about you in your mantra that we've talked about since Jupiter entered Taurus about tending the living things first. There's a lot of different practices in the world that lend themselves to devotion and remembrance, like parenting is obviously a big one.

But being in a relationship of any kind, you have to tend and care for; I mean, this morning, we walked out, and we have a little arbor, and what is the name of the flower again? I always forget clematis. So the clematis, which had grown up over the arbor and is sort of my favorite plant, I think that we have; I don't know why I just love it.

But it finally opened its flowers, and I got so excited; I've been watering that plant every single day, and it just, you know, the process of remembering and devotion are essential, not only in terms of where we come from, and remembering it and staying connected. Like we stay connected, hopefully, ideally, to a healthy family. Not all of us ever have that, but it's also about where things are going, that if you tend with remembrance and devotion, that the things that come into matter into bodies, plants, from seeds, and so forth, will share their fruit.

That leads to point number three, which is that we have to forget to remember now; this might sound a little weird, but what I mean by this is that there's, Well, I think, for example of Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, saying that forgetting and remembering are an eternal paradigm, the source of both and that's a way that you could say, of this avatar, you know, a manifestation of the divine saying that both remembering and forgetting are divine.

So when we come into a body, when we come into a life, there's a way in which we, we will forget because will become absorbed in what we're doing in life and it's drama, and it's pain, and it's joy, and it's excitement, that will become enmeshed to the point where we occasionally forget who we are and where we come from and I remember periods of time in college I'd be so absorbed in my friends, and then I would go home during the summer and see my family, and I was just like, I remember walking into my bedroom, you know, or something where my stuff was, and being like, oh, yeah, there's all of this.

But this happens, like throughout the day, like even, you know, I joke with Ashley that throughout the day, there are these long intervals where I'm absorbed in work, and then suddenly remember, Oh, I get to go see, you know, my wife and kids, now it's time to go back to them and having been absorbed and sort of lost track in the days, you know, the day's business, so to speak, makes it really a lot sweeter to remember and this is tied to this idea that we're here to foster devotion to our lives to the living and being embodied. It's not just well; you're embodied, so hold tight, as close as you can to the pole star. So you don't forget it. So you don't get lost in this Miry soup of chaos, you know, I mean, there is that, but then there's also like, well, you're here to make something, you're here to bloom, you're here to show your fruit or your medicine, and that entails getting absorbed, and then coming back to remembrance.

Ashley
It really makes me think about dancing, and that's such a, you know, across the world, dancing is a way that people forget to remember, you know, especially on big occasions, like the solstice says, you know, Imbolc and a lot of the pagan festivals, and, you know, there's just so many circles, you know, when people gather together to celebrate, and I think that some of the Summer Solstice is such a time of celebration.

So, you know, for me, when I'm dancing, it is so like, I dissolve, it's like, you know, I forget so many of the worries, the problems that, you know, to-do lists, and I become completely absorbed in what actually matters and like being active in the flow and in the current of life.

So I think that this time of year is a great time to dance. I think it's a really important reminder to dance. You know that quote, dances if no one's watching she'd like, like that kind of dance like dancing, so that you're fully absorbed in the moment and expressing your lifeforce at its fullest at its most joyous at its most bright and then, you know, that can be such a way of remembering, you know, remembering the source of who we actually are.

So that was something that really, when I was thinking about this third point, I was like, yeah, like dance parties, like, let's, it's time to go dance and fields and forests, and, you know, in dark church basements, wherever it is, you can dance in your bedroom, right?

Adam Elenbaas
We went and took some swing dance lessons recently, and there's a kind of an applicable image that comes to mind where in the swing dance, you're all in a circle, but you're, you're alternating partners because everybody's just learning the steps, and it helps to work with lots of different people.

So Ashley and I were like, you know, moving among learning these basic steps with lots of different people until it was time to open dance and, like, come back to dancing with each other, and I think, you know, it, you know, for a while, it was like, Okay, this is okay, we're learning to do this and then there was a point where we kept looking at each other, being like, I just want to dance with you; let's get back together and then we finally we get back together had a lot of fun, but like, in a way, you know, we were reflecting afterward, it was like, kind of awkward dance with, like, random people we didn't know and whatever.

But then coming back to each other, it was like, it was just so sweet. I can't explain it. But it was just such a sweet, tender connection. You think about the alternation between Cancer and Capricorn, Capricorn, the planet of Saturn of winter, you know, in Minnesota, boy, you forget that summer and spring even exist at times. It's so deep and so cold, and so bone-chilling; there's something very magical and medicinal about that in terms of a seasonal for getting to like your garden. I mean, how do you feel when you see it? It's just covered in snow. It's dead. The husks are all there, you know?

Ashley
Yeah, there is a great forgetting, and there's, for me, a little depression. But, yeah, I remember the spring as the snow started to thaw and seeing the stones starting to become revealed and then starting to see the soil and just the excitement of that, but yeah, definitely during those. I mean, you almost forget about it, though, because everything's covered in white and feet, not just like inches, but like feet of snow.

You just don't even; your awareness can't hold the memory of all of those things. I was just gonna say yeah, it's, but it's a good forgetting. Right. It's like you forget so that you can be by the fire with your cup of hot cocoa, and you can be snuggled in with the kids, and you know, there's a reason for having to let go of these things sometimes.

Adam Elenbaas
What I had said was we're here to live lives, and although we need to remember our source, that we are starved, that we are eternal, stay connected to the divine. Don't forget, you know, kind of remember your instructions. Remember what you're here to do. There's a lot of remembering that goes on; we're being sometimes we're being remembered to death with things to do, you know, and going into a flow, very Cancerian.

Forgetting and, you know, walking through the valley of death. The valley is an interesting image valley of death but also a valley of soul. The valley is not the mountain top; the mountain top is close to where Cancer is in terms of where it starts with the Sun, way up and then coming down the mountain into the valley. That's what Cancer is pointing us towards; let's go down into the valley. In the valley, we have folk music, we have gardens, we have dancing, we have dyads, and you know, satyrs and fawns dancing under the moonlight in like the Narnia Chronicles.

We have intoxication with this world that the poets write about and that the Romantics dream about, and that's the reason we love to get lost in our gardens and see everything grow. Then we go so deep into forgetting, the forgetfulness of life, but then life has a way of delivering us back to remembrance over and over again. So this is a beautiful sign that has so many lessons built into it seasonally and archetypically. We hope that you have enjoyed hearing about them. Is there anything else you want to add, Ashley, before we go?

Ashley
Get out and dance. Yeah.

Adam Elenbaas
Dancing in the moonlight. It's a good time this in the summer; it's warm outside, maybe where you're living, dance, get get out on your porch, or go in the backyard.

Ashley
Take off your shoes and dance barefoot. Yeah, yeah.

Adam Elenbaas
Thank you, everybody, so much for listening. We hope that you have a wonderful summer solstice, even if it's winter where you live, that you can tap into the archetypal nature of the sign of Cancer and this dance of remembering and forgetting; and it was especially nice to have Ashley on today talking, sharing all of her wisdom and her insights from Cancer rising on your right to Cancer sun on your left we are. We love the moon children out there. So we'd love to hear your feedback.

If you have anything to share. Please share your comments in the comment section, and again, if you want to find a transcript of today's talk, it's on the website nightlightastrology.com.

I want to also plug Ashley's work at @skyhouseherbs.com. You can find her work there, including upcoming garden classes that she has at the community herbal medicine garden, which you guys help support. You can find her on Instagram @skyhouseherbs, where she has regularly posted content and if you'd like to laugh because she posts lots of really fun gardening and plant and herbalist memes.

Ashley
There are so many good ones out there.

Adam Elenbaas
They're always cracking me up, and then, if you want to find her videos on YouTube, it is skyhouseherbs, where Ashley posts regular content. Sometimes we do crossover content like this video; other times, you're gonna find her talking about all different kinds of herbs for all different kinds of occasions and the wisdom of plant spirit medicine, so I highly recommend you check that out. I feel like if you like my work, you're gonna love her channel too. Anyway, thank you, everybody, and thank you, Ashley, for being here.

Ashley
Thank you so much.

Adam Elenbaas
All right. Take it easy, everyone. Bye.