As the days get ever longer and the light reaches its peak, so do we. We've made grand pushes to get things flowing. In agrarian days, this correlated to getting the fields and gardens planted and established with near constant tending. In contemporary times this roughly correlates to final semesters of school wrapping up, making summer plans, and all the inherent frenzy therein.

This energy trickles across our culture whether or not we have children (or fields of crops). Businesses often have summer hours. Just about everyone has some sort of summer getaway plans or new activities (pool time, boating on the lake, camp, paddle boarding) that requires a bustling preparatory push leading up to its official beginning.

These prep phases often trigger other projects. Home renovations. Decluttering. Yard sales. Planter boxes and beautification.

Energetically Summer Solstice signifies an end to all of that. Summer is technically a rest season. There are moments of tending and nurturing what's been planted to grow — generally in the cooler hours of early morning and evening — ideally with a long, restive period at the heat of the day.

Whether this correlates to a siesta or a trip to the river — or is a mere dream due to job requirements — it can be helpful to understand and tune in to that kind of flow once summer arrives. Two structured cookies with a hammock of creamy middle that provides a respite between the two.

Create a Simple Celebration with Intention

Summer Solstice Party with Yellow Roses and Oracle Cards

Summer Solstice marks a poignant time to celebrate what's been accomplished since Winter Solstice. Check in on your goals, intentions, hopes and dreams, word of the year. This mid-point allows much spaciousness to course correct, refine or even revise.

If you work with moon energetics, Summer Solstice equates to the Full Moon. The light is at its peak and will begin to wane, gradually yielding to the darkness. Focusing your energy and not spreading yourself too thin serves as a recharging practice. Relax into coming down from this peak, trusting in the rhythmic stepping. Know that once you've recovered and regulated to this new pattern and are past the intense heat, you'll be recharged and ready for another more focused energy push (Fall Equinox harvest time).

Rose Petals Welcome Guests to a Summer Solstice Gathering

Celebrating these "peaks" with friends is a fun way to honor them. Rather than the usual dinner party or potluck, why not have a party designed around intentions and playful spirituality. As the sun fades, sprinkle a trail of rose petals and light up a table with twinkly fairy lights.

Dress the table with intertwining lightness and darkness. Include pops of yellow to honor the sun and its peak. Wild harvest ferns and decorate with moss to bring in those last vestiges of a damp, lush spring.

Add any decor that feels mystical, mysterious, witchy or worthy of an altar. Feathers and bowls of petals and bottles of herbs lend mystery, as do crystals, rocks, seedpods and found objects from animal friends (shells, bones, wings and specimens).

Spray painting flowers and twigs black or gold can also add to the story of the light gradually yielding to the dark over the next 6 months.

Sprinkle a few bite-size desserts around the table, but let the emphasis be on spirituality. Tuck Tarot Cards and Oracle Decks around the table for guests to explore. Ask questions. Bring in intentions. Use your intuition. Speak magick.

Raise toasts and laugh. See what you learn about yourself and others when connecting in this way. Do you know what goals your friends are working towards? What accomplishments they have to celebrate? I find these deeper connections relax me and provide relief from whatever everyday stories, logistics or dramas regularly take up our thoughts and chatter. Taking stock and looking at the big picture comforts me in these moments, reassuring me that there's still time to do what I want to do while enjoying the journey with great friends who are on this path with me.

Props + Styling :: Ashley of Ash + Oak and Kat of Taming the Tangle
Flowers :: Ashley of Ash + Oak
Desserts :: Cake Bakery
Models :: Artist Chantelle Goldthwaite, and Ashley and Wiley of Ash + Oak
Photography :: Kat of Taming the Tangle