A Joyful Summer Solstice
PREVIOUS BLOG | MASTER LIST | NEXT BLOG
Welcome to the Litha Tarot Blog Hop. Perhaps you are joining me from Tierney Sandler's blog. When you finish here, continue on to the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI). If you find a break in the chain, here's the Master List.
For this Tarot Blog Hop commemorating the Summer Solstice, our wrangler, Olivia Destrades, has asked us to write about “joy.”
Today is the longest day of the year. Tomorrow, the night will begin to eat away at the day, little by little.
Today, we celebrate the sun at the height of its power.
Tomorrow, that power begins to wane.
The summer solstice has always felt ironic to me. We celebrate it as the first day of summer, but it heralds the return of the darkness.
Maybe in this unalterable reality is the root of what it is to me to be joyful.
I find joy in the simple moment when I do not fear what comes next, or what I might lose. I find joy when I release attachment to what has come before and what will come next, and simply live in the light of the moment.
There is a state of spiritual grace that comes from that place of acceptance, non-attachment and gratitude. To me, that is the essence of joy.
But what tarot cards might convey that joyful lesson? What cards might teach us to release our unjoyful attachments?
For me, the cards that most clearly teach that lesson are exactly the cards we don’t usually associate with joy.
The Devil teaches us to acknowledge and release our attachments.
Death reminds us that change is inevitable. We can’t ever guarantee tomorrow.
As I embrace the lessons of these two dark cards, I find a light within that is not subject to season or time.
In that light, there is joy.
A few years ago, I wrote a chant for the sumer solstice. In reading the words over and getting ready to use it for my festivities this weekend, I realize it expresses this same idea of finding joy in the fleeting moment. Here it is.
Litha Fire Chant
The wheel turns
The fire burns
The dark night will soon return.
The shortest night
The longest day
Gather flowers while we may
While it’s ours we’ll seize the day.
Now it's time to continue on the Litha Tarot Blog Hop. If you are working backwards, visit Tierney Sandler's blog next, or continue forward to the Tarot Association of the British Isles (TABI). If you find a break in the chain, here's the Master List.