🌕A Strawberry Moon Solstice🌅
🍓plus other berry delights!🫐
Happy Summer Solstice!
Welcome to the fourth of this year’s eight free editions of Moontime Musings in line with the Pagan Sabbats of the Wheel of the Year.
The Wheel of the Year has turned once again which means that this edition is open to everyone, with three more in the archives for this year so far. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to receive all of the editions by clicking the button below. Thank you.
This year is a particularly special Summer Solstice as this astronomical event occurs when the moon is almost 97% full! June’s moon is known as the Strawberry Moon - an apt name signalling Strawberry Season (and soon Wimbledon!) here in the U.K.
Here are some seasonal dates for the remainder of June, including the names for Midsummer celebrations in Northern Europe:
20 June: Eid al-Adha ends (Muslim)
20 June: Summer Solstice (Litha) 21:51 BST
21 June: Sun moves into Cancer
21 June: Midsommar (Sweden); Juhannus (Finland)
22 June: Full Strawberry Moon in Capricorn 02:07 BST
23 June: Sankthans (Norway);
24 June: Jaanipäev (Estonia); Jāņi (Latvia); Joninės (Lithuania); Jonsmessa (Iceland); Feast of St John the Baptist (Christian)
🌄Summer Solstice
This year the Summer Solstice falls on 20 June at 21:51 BST when the sun shines directly over the Tropic of Cancer. Solstice translates roughly from Latin to sun stands still - one of only 2 times in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere solar year when the sun appears to pause in the sky for a few days - the other being in 6 months time around 20/21 December. The Tropic of Cancer is the highest point in the sky to which the sun climbs throughout the year, giving those of us in the Northern hemisphere the most hours of daylight. In the Southern hemisphere, today is the shortest day of the year and the Winter Solstice.
After the Summer Solstice, the days will sneakily become shorter, and I say sneakily because we will still feel like we’re at the height of summer with warm, sunny days despite the daylight slipping away as we slowly edge into Autumn. From today until 23 June the sun rises at 04:43 BST and sets at 21:21 BST here in the U.K. It won’t be until 24 June that the subtle shift to shorter days begins with sunrise at 04:44 BST.
Meteorologists consider the Summer Solstice to mark the beginning of Summer. Astrologers do too, considering Cancer season to begin the second season of the Astrological Calendar. Astronomers however, consider the first day of Summer to fall on Beltane, the last Cross-Quarter festival back on 1 May. Meaning that now, we’re at Midsummer. There’s some confusion around the date of Midsummer with some folks celebrating it on 20/21 June in line with the Solstice, whereas others mark it a few days later on 24 June. This has some Christian origins with the feast day of St John the Baptist falling on 24 June – exactly 6 months before the birth of Christ. Northern European countries celebrate this feast day on 21 - 24 June varying from country to country (see dates listed above) and in some of these countries, the Summer Solstice also marks a Polar Day and the phenomenon of the Midnight Sun. This is where the sun continuously shines for more than 24 hours at and near the poles including in parts of the US (Alaska), Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Russia.
🍓Strawberry Moon
June’s Moon has many names including Dryad’s Moon; Rose Moon and Moon of the Sun - appropriate for her synchronicity with the Summer Solstice!
This month’s moon becomes full at 02:07 BST on 22 June in the Western Zodiac sign of Capricorn - a cardinal Earth sign ruled by Saturn which is all about purpose and potential.
This midway point is a wonderful opportunity to pause and reflect on your year so far; remember New Year intentions and whether you’re still aligned and on track with them. Here are some journalling prompts to help you reveal where you’re at:
What were your New Year intentions and how have you taken steps towards them?
Has your focus slipped and are you now off the path you originally intended for this year?
✨What needs to shift so that you can get back on the path you intended for yourself this year for the second half of the year?✨
🦀Cancer Season
Coinciding with the Summer Solstice is the beginning of the second Astrological season of the year as the sun enters the Western Zodiac sign of Cancer on 21 June. This sign is ruled by the moon and invites us to make a courageous commitment to love – to loving ourselves as much as those who we love. This is also a time to dive deep into our emotional needs – consider what do you do to nurture yourself? Call in all that nurtures you – whether this be practices, people or more-than-human beings, to remind you of the importance of the divine feminine within all of us.
🫐Bilberries and trespassing
Out on my run this morning I noticed the first ripe Bilberries of the year. Hurrah! This is one of my favourite wild edibles (also known as Huckleberries or Myrtleberries) and I love collecting them in late June and into July. It takes an age to pick anywhere close to a small punnet-ful which I think is why I love them so much - they force me to slow down at a time when it’s so easy to get caught up in the flurry of activity that Midsummer and the longer days bring.
Berries are one of the first few fruits to appear in the season with the main harvest festival related to fruit being that of Mabon at the Autumn Equinox - signalling the truly abundant time when fruit (particularly apples!) and veg are harvested.
There is a Yorkshire tale lined to the Right to Roam movement published in John Wright’s Forager’s Calendar relating to Bilberry. Here’s an abridged version:
Early in the morning on Saturday 21 July 1848 Benjamin Oates, a file maker from Sheffield, walked 20km to the moors above Bradfield Dale along with friends to pick bilberries to sell in the town - a necessary custom as they had fallen on hard times. Sadly this part of the moorland had recently been enclosed (taken away from the commons), even though locals had relied on the Bilberries here to make their living for many moons. Unfortunately, the new tenant of the land - who was using it for grouse shooting - took steps to stop Benjamin and his friends collecting their Bilberries by beating them up and reporting them to the authorities. The result: some were fined and at least one ended up in prison.
This is just one sad tale relating to the enclosure of the commons, of which you can read many more in Nick Hayes fantastic book Trespass. I also wrote about the Right To Roam movement in the last edition of this newsletter:
For those of you wanting to learn more about wild berry ID, here’s an excellent British Berry ID guide by Mountain Training. I’ve also made access to my Bilberry guide free so that as many of you as possible can feel confident in identifying this wonderful wild food.
That’s all from me for this fourth free edition of 2024. Please consider sharing this publication with anyone who you think would like it. Your reciprocity is greatly appreciated 🙏
The next edition of this newsletter comes out on the next New (Hay) Moon on 5 July 2024 and full access will be for paid subscribers only. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber for less than the price of a good coffee each month (£3.50) or £35 a year.
Thank you so much and Solstice blessings.
Love,
Charly x