With the aim of stimulating discussion if there is anyone here…
With the solstice approaching, does anyone have any plans to celebrate?
I have very recently moved and although we now have a sizable garden surrounded by woodland and eminently suited to outdoor celebrations etc, anything that we are going to do this time will be pretty low-key - since we are still unpacking and generally recovering. We will have a fire of some kind - either outdoors or in the hearth that we now have indoors - I’m going to watch the sunrise and maybe we will plant the first thing in our garden: there is a pot of meadowsweet waiting.
I live in an apartment, and my windows face north, so sub-optimal for “going outside” and “doing things”, but solstices, equinoxes, and (more importantly, because ‘reasons’) the new and full moon have always been important ritual days in our practice. Just so happens that the new moon is 3 days before the solstice this time, so there’s that as well.
Rituals are never a big production for us, probably rating as “low-key”, simply a specific time to stop and express our gratitude to the gods for anything and everything.
Will say, however, that being awake to welcome the sunrise sounds like a thing to be done this year.
Here’s hoping your solstice is everything you desire.
I’ve been trying to think of some plans. I’m with my dad, and he’s probably not gonna be the happiest when he learns I’m a pagan. (Not trying to hide it though)
If I can’t travel back up to see my partner and/or friends, I’ll likely not be able to do much sadly.