Monday, June 21, 2010

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, it’s my birthday and I’m one day older. When I was a kid growing up, all I could think about was that my birthday was on the longest day of the year. I had extra hours of daylight to do my thing. In Ohio, my thing was running with my friends until my parents called me into the house. In Nevada, in high school, it was swimming or a host of other things to celebrate the day.

As I’ve gotten older, the day has been spent with a quite dinner, a trip here or there or like this year, a day of writing. Tonight I have my critique group and I wouldn’t miss it for the world. It’s one of those simple pleasures in life.

I can hear you all now...what? a critique group a simple pleasure...LOL! It is for me. I love being with fellow writers and I love learning new things about my writing. Critiques can be painful but productive. And everyone needs to make themselves and their writing better.

So what makes today so special? Besides being my birthday. LOL!

Today is Summer Solstice...the longest day of the year...and it has a lot of historical value. Here are just a few of the facts about this very special day:

A solstice is an astronomical event and happens twice a year, once in winter (December 21) and once in summer (June 21). It happens when the tilt of the earth is most inclined toward or away from the sun. Both solstices as well as the equinoxes are connected to the seasons.

Pagans called the Midsummer moon a ‘honey moon’ for the mead made from the fermented honey that was part of the many wedding ceremonies performed at the Summer Soltice.

Ancient Pagans celebrated Midsummer with different celebrations. One was a bonfire where couples would leap through the flames, believing their crops would grow as high as the couple could jump. (I guess Michael Jordon would have had stellar crops...LOL!)

Midsummer was considered to be a time of magic when all sorts of evil spirits would arise to the occasion. To ward off these spirits, the ancient Pagans wore protective garlands of herbs and flowers. One of them was a plant in use today, St. John’s Wort, and it was considered the most powerful of fall.

The word solstice is derived from the Latin words sol + stice, which mean sun and to stand still. As the day lengthens, the sun seems to stand still in the sky at its highest point.

Along with Summer Solstice having the longest day, it also has the shortest night. Remember this only happens in the Northern Hemisphere. The Southern Hemisphere has their longest day in December.

Wiccans call the Summer Solstice the sabbat of Litha.

Civilizations have been celebrating this day for millenia. The biggest gathering in current times is in held at Stonehenge and starts at sunrise for a day of celebration and learning.

The Celts and the Slavs celebrated this day with dancing and bonfires to help increase the sun’s energy. The Chinese marked the day by honoring Li, the Chinese Goddess of Light. The Druids had a celebration which they considered the wedding of Heaven and Earth and this resulted in today’s belief that June is a lucky wedding month.

Now tell me what you all know about Summer Solstice. Just being born on a great day doesn’t mean I know everything there is!

I look forward to hearing from you all!

Lynn

20 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday! I would so much rather have a summer birthday than a winter (Jan.), especially when I was a child.

    I just heard on tv that there were 20,000 people at Stonehenge this am as the sun rose to start the solstice off.

    Is that a different background with the horizontal couple and the stones? I never noticed it before and there was a long shot of just the picture before the blog came in. very nice.

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  2. Happy birthday! How neat to be able to share it with the Summer Solstice!

    I heard that on Summer Solstice, you're supposed to be able to balance an egg on its end. Something about the pull of gravity on this day. Never tried it, but who knows.

    ftatman5 at yahoo.com

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  3. I really dont know a whole loty about the solstice i do know that it is also celbrated as the moon gods birthday if that helps

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  4. Happy Birthday tho i hope you had a fun filled day full of laughter and got everything you needed done so u could relax and have fun

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  5. Happy birthday. Hope you have a great long day.

    lorettaC

    lbcanton@verizon.net

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  6. Happy Birthday Dear Summer Solstice!!

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  7. Happy Birthday Lynn!!! I hope you have an awesome time on this special day of yours.

    *hugs*
    Anna

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  8. Hay Happy Birthday!!Hope you have a good one.
    I wish i new some new thing to tell you about Summer Solstice but i don'tBut i love hearing about what you had to say on it.

    sasluvbooks(at)yahoo.com

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  9. Well, everything I now know about the Summer Solstice I just learned from you. :)
    Happy belated birthday. It's my Dad's and granddaughter's birthdays as well.Thanks for the info Lynn.
    Carol L.
    Lucky4750@aol.com

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  10. Happy Birthday, Carol. Hope you blew out all the candles in one breath and your wish comes true.

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  11. Thanks, Anne!

    I believe that there were tons of people at Stonehenge. One year we were in England on my birthday and my DH wouldn't let me go to the henge. I was so disappointed.

    Nope, the background has been the same for about a year now. I just love it!

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Lynn

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  12. Ltat,

    It has always been an interesting day for me. It wasn't until I was about ten that I learned just how important the day was. Later, I heard that babies born on this day are considered honored. It's weird when you think of it that way.

    I hadn't heard that about Summer Solstice and the egg. It would go to reason as we are titled a little bit more on our axis. The only problem is that the gravity really doesn't change. So I would assume you could balance an egg on its end on any day.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Lynn

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  13. SiNn,

    That's interesting. The moon god's birthday. Sounds like a great idea for a book.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Lynn

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  14. SiNn,

    Thanks for the birthday wish. I appreciate it!

    Lynn

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  15. Thanks, Loretta!

    I had a great day!

    Thanks for stoppinb by!

    Lynn

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  16. Erin,

    Thanks for the birthday wish. I appreciate it.

    It was a great day as I spent it with my grandbabies. Who laughed and cooed and recognized me for the first time.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Lynn

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  17. Anna,

    I had a great birthday and good presents. Those are always important. LOL!

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Lynn

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  18. Stacey,

    I had a great day. That in itself makes turning a year older a fantastic day.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Lynn

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  19. Carol,

    I've always thought it interesting about Summer Solstice. And believe it or not, there are so many things I didn't even say here. I swear I could do a dissertation on the whole thing. LOL!

    Amazing people share this day. I am always happy to find more. I hope their day was filled with as much happiness as mine.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Lynn

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  20. C.J.!

    It's nice to see you here.

    I chose not to have a cake as we'll be going out to a nice dinner on Friday. I'll have my cake then.

    I did have a great day with the grandchildren. They recognize me now and I'm having great fun.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Lynn aka Carol

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