MIDSUMMER SOLSTICE ONCE MORE

Once again the solar orb, the great life-giver, reaches the full zenith of power.

Of all archetypal symbols making a commanding impact on the human spirit, probably none remains more profoundly ingrained in our subconscious than the circle or the wheel.

Click here to enlarge top photo.

The circle is a characteristic sign of the stability of existence. It is a sign of the Lunar/Solar principles and it is a symbol of perpetuity because it has no beginning and no end.

As a demonstration of the Sun it is at its most compelling during the Midsummer Solstice, a time when the solar orb is at its highest point in the heavens. At this time all natural growth is at the pinnacle of its potential.

The wheel of the year from this day on can only roll downhill towards autumn and the bleak demise of midwinter. Whether we like it or not we are all an essential part of the organic universal plan of things. We do however possess free will and the ability to delay or enhance our destinies according to our own reckless or wise actions.

The ancients knew this fact well, and yet they also realised that without fair chance or good luck, life could be poor, intolerable or ultimately fatal. The Roman Goddess of Fate and Luck was known as Fortuna, hence the other name for chance, i.e. fortune. This deity is often depicted with a ship’s rudder, sphere, cornucopia or wheel. Fortuna humbles even the most regal members in society; great emperors would often exhibit images of her in their private chambers to remind them of her power over destiny. For without luck they too would be nothing.

So great a veneration did Fortuna collect that the Romans built eight separate Temples to honour her in their city. Fortuna’s Temple at Antium in Latium was so popular with the Italians that numerous quantities of gifts, presents and offerings were sent in from all over the country by worshippers in the hope of attracting the Goddess’s favour. Fortuna had a feast day shortly after the Midsummer Solstice in June when slaves too would be welcomed into the celebrations for the Goddess could even smile kindly on the most browbeaten folk in the melting pot of the class structure. Who does not even now in modern times, protest or rejoice over one’s good luck or misfortune in life?

The wheel of Fortuna is still evident today on the tenth card of the Major Arcana in the Tarot pack. Apprehensive gamblers still watch with bated breath as the casino roulette wheel spins for or against them and people who arbitrarily open books to seek answers to their questions owe much to Fortuna.

A character called Numerius Sufficius who was native of Latium was troubled by a returning dream that led him to a rock where he discovered wooden lots. These small pieces of oak wood had ancient characters inscribed on them to formulate predictions from the Goddess, the answers for these were then considered divinely inspired. The final act of trusting one’s destiny to the Goddess by ‘drawing lots’ is a custom that’s survived through thousands of years to the present day. The wheel / circle and its association with Midsummer Pagan Fire Festivals are very ancient indeed. Long before Christianity invaded our shores, the Neolithic Peoples worshipped their gods and buried their dead at countless sites of stone circles.

The day of the ‘Longest Sun’ was a sacred time, a time to propitiate the Old Gods to ensure a successful harvest and future growth. Midsummer Eve Fires would be lit high on hills and other prominences. The relationship with solar continuity is of course self-explanatory. It is no twist of fate that the early Church decided to hold the feast day of St. John the Baptist at Midsummer. Our ancient forefathers needed rain as well as sun to achieve satisfactory crops and many old customs give us a strong clue to this fact.

One old tradition involved a large straw bound wheel being ignited then rolled down a hillside into a river. This event was magically symbolic of the Sun’s energy intermingling with the element of water to produce good growth in vegetation etc.

New Age gurus, with their sanitised, white light, metaphysical notions may come and go along with the surge of life, yet the wonderful changing cycles of Mother Nature remain unvarying. The Church, ever eager to manoeuvre old indigenous traditions for its own ends, naturally saw this original Pagan festival as an excellent event to adapt into one of its own, hence the ‘water’ associations with a ‘Baptising’ Saint.

A great deal of our ancient Pagan heritage has been insidiously hijacked in this fashion initially by the iron fist of monotheistic theocracy and also by many plastic pretenders, who just happen to like the Pagan style.

However, more and more people are now rediscovering the old truths once again.

Pat’s books include

UFO: THE SEARCH CONTINUES

UK Paperback:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/UFO-Continues-Mr-Pat-Regan/dp/1511569751/

US paperback:

http://www.amazon.com/UFO-Continues-Mr-Pat-Regan/dp/1511569751/

UK Kindle:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/UFO-Search-Continues-Pat-Regan-ebook/dp/B00VPB54QI/

US Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/UFO-Search-Continues-Pat-Regan-ebook/dp/B00VPB54QI/

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