Manifesting Metamorphis
A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. ~ James Dent

Our onsite celebration this month is of Transformation reflected in our daily Be The Change Play & Pray Calendar. Daily practice is the best way to change in any direction ~ in this case positive spiritual growth. Our multi-media calendar is aimed at being faith-filled intergenerational fun! We have a new music video featured on the home page; Small After Small is there along with links to our special My Dad & Transformation pages. Our Joy Boy cartoon is also there; The Inspiration Of Transformation.

Fathers ~a great transformative force! The forefathers of America were in the thick of transformation as were their Native American indigenous neighbors. Sometimes change is forced in ways that are powerful & painful. Other times, change is as simple as the consistency of water over rock re-shaping that immovable surface over time.The tragedy in the Gulf is a current travesty of transformation with daily death & destruction taking & impacting countless lives. We can only know with the shining Solstice sun that a greater purpose lives in the "DNA" of this crisis ... that miracles of mercy will stop the oil's flow & positive changes of cleaner living will become the standard for our children & future generations.

This month, we focus on the mostly pagan celebration of Solstice. Celestially speaking, we are talking about the longest day or the shortest day of the year given our planet's proximity to the sun ... round & round we go! Occuring annually between June 20-22, here on the Western hemisphere, it is the Wicca tradition known as Litha ~ on the Southern hemisphere, it is Yule. This year, it falls on June 21st, 10:32 pacific time ... so stop, drop & rock-n-roll with the sun! Actually the strongest energies are felt 3 days prior to 3 days after so take the week to focus on the divine SHINE! June 21st is also First Nations Day ~  a celebration of Canadian Native People.

The word Solstice derives from Latin: Sol + stice meaning "sun" + "to stand still." It is said that as the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it seems to stand still in the sky. Contrary to our active masculine sun (son!) energy, could it be that this longest day is beckoning us to rise high & sit still?!

Summer Solstice is also known as: Alban Heflin, Alben Heruin, All-couples day, Feast of Epona, Feast of St. John the Baptist, Feill-Sheathain, Gathering Day, Johannistag, Litha, Midsummer, Sonnwend, Thing-Tide, Vestalia. Many traditions celebrate harvest at this time. On this, the first day of summer and the longest day of the year .... at least on this corner of the planet .... What harvest is shining in you?! In our Solstice PlayShop, Rev Patsy reviewed the seasonal cycles: fall for planting, winter for gestation, spring for birth & summer for harvest. Here in our land of plenty (Thank You God!), summer has the spotlight on play! Yay! I have also always known summer Solstice to shine the spotlight on purpose ... a great time of light to see more of the path ahead.

Here's a few fun interfaith facts about Solstice ... The Celts & Slavs celebrated the first day of summer with dancing & bonfires to help increase the sun's energy. The Chinese marked the day by honoring Li, the Chinese Goddess of Light. The ancient Druids' celebrated the day as the "wedding of Heaven and Earth", resulting in the present day tradition of June weddings. Pagans called the Midsummer moon the "Honey Moon" for the mead made from fermented honey that was part of wedding ceremonies performed at the Summer Solstice. The day is also known as St. John's Day named after the herb, St. John's Wort. This herb that is used today as a mood stabilizer was called by Pagans in ancient times, 'chase-devil' and worn with other plants as garlands around the neck, especially around Solstice time.

Today, the day is still celebrated around the world - most notably in England at Stonehenge and Avebury, where thousands gather to welcome the sunrise on the Summer Solstice.

There is also an amazing annual event that takes place around the world ... The Big Hug Of Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, on Summer Solstice June 21st, many People of many faiths and belief systems will Unite to celebrate life and be a shining example of Peace for the World. There is a short video YouTube video about the event.