Midsummer Solstice

Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 1:18 pm PDT

The Sun Reaches 0 degrees Cancer

Tonight is Midsummer or Solstice Eve for those of us who live topside on Mother Earth. Marked by the Sun’s entry into the cardinal, water sign of Cancer, Summer Solstice is the culmination point of the Sun’s yearly journey north. As this peak of life-giving solar power is reached each year on the northern half of the planet, the masculine Sun just so happens to glide right into the arms of the feminine Moon, entering the very sign she rules — a blending of our male-female luminaries, adding to the already potent love magic at this almost too heady time of year.

Heralding the beginning of summer and the longest day of the year, solstice was calledMidsummer by the Celts because it fell exactly in the middle of their summer season, which they started a bit earlier, on Beltane or May Day. The word solstice is derived from the Latin sol(sun) and sistere (to stand still), and explains quite clearly what a solstice is: the Sun appears to come to a halt and for three days can be observed to rise in the same spot on the eastern horizon.

http://www.bluemoon.bz/sun/midsummer-2011/