The Summer Solstice is a day when we bathe in the full power of the sun. It is a day to see clearly. A day to enact change. A day when everything is illuminated.
The past year has taught us many things, including how easily “normal” can be redefined. But we do not have to let the idea of "a new normal" fade with this summer’s sun. “Normal” does not have to be built around endless toil for a paycheck, a good grade, the next big accolade, or any other short-lived sugar high. We can, collectively, do more than glue the pieces of 2019 back into place. We can, collectively, change the frame that holds them.
What if we remold “normal” into a world with time and space for freedom and creativity and connection with nature? A world where we can find time to submerge ourselves in glistening bright water while watching how the light shifts through the sky. We can remold “normal” into a summer day, full of light and possibility.
On the Summer Solstice, we step into the season when nature’s full bounty spills out and up all around us, focusing our senses on the here and now. The smells. The tastes. The sounds. The feel of summer. We can tap that potency. Submerge ourselves in it all summer long, then carry it with us as the bright light fades into crisp leaves, chilly nights and the return to what we've been taught to call "responsibility."
We just need to pause and taste the full ripe fruit of summer.
HOW TO DO THIS RITUAL
A RITUAL TO TASTE THE SUMMER is a 15-minute experience designed to do alone or in a group. It will help conjure your Summer Child and utilize solstice energy to create space for a New Normal.
To do the ritual, you will need:
A glass of water
A napkin
Two pieces of ripe fruit grown as close to where you live as possible
DO IT WITH US!
Members of Third Space will be performing the ritual across America on the Solstice - Sunday, June 20 at 5:30p PT / 8:30p ET. Join us energetically by performing the ritual at the same time!
THE RITUAL
If you are performing in a group, select a Leader who will use the script below to guide the communal experience. Read the text on the left and follow the physical directions on the right.
If you are performing alone, simply read the text below aloud or in your mind’s ear.
STEP 1: CLEANSE YOURSELF
Hold the glass of water in your hands. Look at the water in the glass, this core component of life. The water in your hands contains the spirit of satiation. Of being quenched. Of rest.
Water is an essential companion in summer. Without it, we can bear no fruit.
Pour some of the water into your hands, rubbing them together, taking in the sense memory of what it is to feel wet. Picture yourself floating in an ocean, lake, pool, or pond, the cool water offering you relief in the heat.
[Everyone washes their hands.]
Now, take a sip of the water. Feel it clearing space inside you, preparing the way for Summer.
[Everyone drinks.]
STEP 2: CLEANSE THE FRUIT
Pick up your two pieces of fruit, and dip them in the water or pour some water onto them, washing your gifts from nature.
Take the clean fruits in your hands. Feel the outsides, whether it’s skin that protects what awaits, or the textured divots of seeds, each dimple the possibility of new life.
Place one of the fruits down, and cup the other piece in your hands, palms facing up. Repeat after me:
I offer this ripe sacrament to my Summer Child
[Everyone repeats.]
The one who sparks my spirit of curiosity,
[Everyone repeats.]
The one who runs barefoot through the grass,
[Everyone repeats.]
The one who chases the setting sun,
[Everyone repeats.]
The one who feels free to explore,
[Everyone repeats.]
The one who opens my imagination.
[Everyone repeats.]
Come sit with me, Summer Child.
[Everyone repeats.]
And tell me how the world looks through your eyes!
[Everyone repeats.]
STEP 3: PREPARE THE FRUIT
Your Summer Child approaches life from a different angle. They speak to the trees and dance with the grass. They bake with mud and build with blankets.
Using your fingers, take the fruit in your hand and separate it into pieces for your Summer Child, setting them on the napkin in front of you.
[Everyone prepares the fruit.]
Pick up a piece of the fruit and feel it in your hand. Feel its stickiness – the sugar made of air mixed with water from the sky, reminding you of nature’s bounteous miracle.
Now smell it. Can you sense the life inside? Can you smell the sun’s energy in each and every seed?
[Everyone smells.]
Hold it up to your ear. What does ripeness sound like? Can you learn to listen?
STEP 4: TASTE THE FIRST SUMMER FRUIT
Your Summer Child comes from a time when the days are long and we build new worlds. As you close your eyes, imagine your Summer Child sitting beside you, holding the same piece of fruit as you. Now lift the piece up to your mouth, and taste the first summer fruit.
[Everyone bites]
With each subsequent bite, see if you can come even more into the present, slowing down, savoring the light of spring turning to summer on this, the brightest day of the year.
As you eat the rest of your first piece of fruit, listen with your tongue, and ask your Summer Child if they have a message to share with you.
[Leader waits until all fruit is eaten.]
And now, open your eyes. Gently looks towards the Sun and repeat after me:
Welcome summer!
[Everyone repeats.]
STEP 5: BLESS THE SECOND SUMMER FRUIT
You have tasted the first fruit with your Summer Child and are ready for play and adventure. What possibility awaits you between now and the fall Equinox?
Take your second piece of fruit in your hands, and set an intention for how you can carry the spirit of your Summer Child into the months to come, a light for your journey through a world that grows darker with each passing day until Winter.
This intention you’ve set will be present with every fruit you eat this season, every burst a reminder of your commitment to self and community.
Eat the second piece of fruit tomorrow, savoring the totality of experience.
We will now close our ritual with a final blessing. Repeat after me:
Oh Summer Child, carry me through --
[Everyone repeats.]
June, July, and August, too.
[Everyone repeats.]
Your fruit will set my spirit free,
[Everyone repeats.]
Oh Summer Child, so mote it be.
[Everyone repeats.]