This June I am celebrating the days between the summer solstice on June 20 and the beginning of July with a simple, soulful, meditative ritual.
Join me as I turn over an oracle card every other day, share its meaning for this season, and reflect on how that message can be embodied in our everyday lives.
This simple ritual is a tool for celebrating + welcoming the season of fire + light. Meant to help us commit to a few moments of meditation to discover and celebrate the flame within each of us.
Join me in soaking in the light of the sun + discovering how we can radiate fire + passion in our everyday lives. Now that we're in full bloom, just like the earth, it's time to burn brightly. It's our season to shine + glow + radiate.
Hello, love.
How are you feeling now that we are one week removed from the solstice? Are you still feeling the powerful energy of the sun? Do you feel like you are still at the height of all of that midsummer/full moon energy of last weekend? Are you, like me, feeling a deeper call to remain a bit longer right here in these sweet, slow summer moments? Or have you moved on and are in a much more adventurous and wild mood as summer begins to unfold?
In other words, how is the time after the solstice feeling for you?
I think that I have been open to two different vibes, two different ways to wander and settle into summer. Those two summer paths lay before me, and I stand patiently at the crossroads, waiting to see which one calls to me.
One path is wild and carefree, full of adventures and discoveries and spontaneity. A path leading out and about into the world to experience and explore people, places, art, and culture.
The other path is deep and spiritual, made of slow days filled with quiet moments and magic and meditation. It is a gentle path leading inward, deep into my own soul, where I find rest and restoration and wisdom.
Both paths lead to inspiration and creativity. Both paths speak to my soul - and embody who I am. But, is there one that calls to me more this summer? Is there one that I need just a wee bit more? What about you?
Sitting down to pull cards and write letters to you over the past week and a half has started to very slowly reveal the path forward for me, I think. The path forward, at least for right now, that is.
Who knows which path I choose when this summer series ends in a couple of days, and what mood and energy calls to me as July begins.
And then I turned over the 5th card. And it spoke very, very deeply to me as it was a clear connection to a very magical moment I experienced about 7 years ago in Ireland.
When I turned over the Wall card, I knew immediately that this was a very sacred message. On the oracle card, there is not just a wall, but a wall protecting something very sacred. Instantaneously, I remembered the magic and mystery of my visit to Newgrange in Ireland seven years ago.
The drawing on the card looks like Newgrange. I was, all at once, filled with that feeling that I get, every now and then, that I have stumbled upon a deep truth, some kind of connection through time and space that I cannot explain, but that I know.
This card represents, for me, a sacred space. An inner sanctuary. A place for gathering, but also for solitude. A place for rituals and ceremonies. A place to connect with ancient wisdom and inner silence.
Now, let me share a little bit more about Newgrange - what it is and why it is so magical.
Newgrange is a 5000 year old archeological and mystical wonder. Older than Stonehenge, Newgrange is filled with meaning and mystery. It is truly an awe-inspiring wonder. But, more than that, for me, it has now become a place of deep sacred mystery.
Built only with stacked stone and a grass mound as a roof in the neolithic age (3000 BC. before the wheel was invented!) – and still standing there, it was a place for burial rites and ceremonies. Sacred ground that these early people used for the bones and ashes of their dead. A burial mound, which has a passage and a chamber inside.
I explored the entire outside of the mound, touching and pondering all of the neolithic drawings and symbols; but I was also able to go inside - which was absolutely mind-blowing.
The entrance was very small and dark. Like entering a cave. We were told to take our bags off and hold them, as there would not be space for us to squeeze through with a bag hanging down. So, we started. It wasn’t very far in to the middle, but my heart was racing as soon as I stepped in. Stone after stone surrounded me as I pushed, ducked, and crept in through this very, very narrow space, fully aware of how old this space was and how many people had been here before me.
And suddenly, I emerged into this dark, circular center, with a tall dome ceiling. Still all stone. With carvings and neolithic art and 18th century graffiti all around me. And three little alcoves off of the center room where they laid the bones + ashes of the dead. I could hardly breathe from the amazingness of simply being able to stand there.
It was incredible. Breathtaking. I was in a space from 5000 years ago. Where people celebrated life and honored death. I had no words, I just held onto Lina’s arm, moved by the mystery and beauty and history.
Now, here’s the crazy amazing magic. Above the tiny entrance where we came in is a little opening they call the “lightbox.” The ancient people added this space for what we don’t know. But, it is thought to have a spiritual meaning because…
On the four days at the winter solstice (December 21), for only four days, when the sun rises, it shines in through that lightbox, then all the way down the little narrow entrance path, and into the circular dome-center. It illuminates everything, bathing the entire passageway and chamber in golden light for only 17 minutes, and then it is gone as the sun continues to rise in the morning, leaving the space totally dark for the rest of the year.
Only for 17 minutes for 4 days. The winter solstice sunrise glows inside. Every other moment of the year it is pitch black dark. I truly have no words for this magical, mystical planning of these ancient people. But, I did know that I was standing on holy ground.
That this was a sacred space.
Perhaps you can understand why this oracle card spoke to me immediately - and so very deeply. It was a clear reminder of ancient, deeper truths that I discovered years ago. And, that reminder, serves as a message for me today, as I slowly settle into the summer of 2024.
This summer I do not have to choose either the wild, carefree path or the deep, spiritual path. I do not have to choose adventure or gentle rest. I can have both. I need both. Every single place is holy. Every single one of us is sacred. The mystery and divine are not high above us or locked away tight in some special place. It is all found in everyday life. All around us.
Newgrange, the burial mound, may be a great and amazing thing to us now, but to those who crafted it and used it, it was part of their daily life, part of their everyday rituals. It became sacred because it meant something to them. And, therefore, wherever we are, I believe, wherever we go, the magical, mystical divine that lives within us makes it all sacred. Every rock. Every tree. Every bird. Every city. Every human.
It’s all holy ground.
And, so as I stand at the crossroads at the beginning of summer, I choose the path of sacred space.
I choose to follow the way that leads me down a wild, carefree, deep, spiritual summer path. I choose the path of inspiration and creativity. And creating, observing, and realizing that sacred space is found both within my soul and within the world.
The sacred space of summer is both a summer of inner quiet and a summer of the freedom of the road. It is a slow, rhythmic ebb and flow of energy. Filled with moments of sacred space for solitude and rest, but also filled with the sacred spaces found in exploring places, people, and cultures.
So, my summer will include it all. It will be a summer of wandering, on the road, and in the city; but also a summer of quiet, lazy days for solitude and meditation at home. And I will name it all - the sacred spaces of summer.
xoxo. liz.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
-Robert Frost
It just blows my mind every time I visit one of these monuments that our ancestors knew exactly how to build them to honour the solstice light! Magical ✨
“The mystery and divine are not high above us or locked away tight in some special place. It is all found in everyday life. All around us.” Deeply true, Liz. Thank you for taking the care to revisit Newgrange in your memory and harvest the wisdom you found there.