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Summer Solstice, sometimes known as Midsummer, Litha, or St. John’s Day, occurs in the middle of June. It is a celebration of the longest day of the year and marks the first day of the season of Summer.
In the northern hemisphere, the longest day of the year is when the Sun is farthest north.
In the southern hemisphere, Winter and Summer Solstices are exchanged.
We all know the year is divided into four periods or seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
However, contrary to popular belief, the seasons are not caused by the Earth getting closer to or farther from the Sun.
The real cause of the seasons is the Earth’s 23.5° Obliquity, the angle a planet’s rotational axis makes with its orbital plane. The hemisphere of the Earth which is tilted toward the Sun receives a greater flux of solar energy than the hemisphere tilted away, resulting in higher temperatures for one hemisphere and cooler temperatures for the other.
The effect of this solar flux is very apparent to everyone, since the day is warmest when the Sun is overhead and then cools as the Sun nears the horizon. The dates of maximum tilt of the Earth’s equator correspond to the Summer Solstice and Winter Solstice.
Summer Solstice has been commemorated in grand fashion since ancient times. Some celebrants keep a Sacred Fire burning throughout the gathering. Some stay up all night on Solstice Eve and welcome the rising Sun at dawn.
Others make a pledge to Mother Earth to do something to improve the environment.
And there are those who simply dance ecstatically to the sound of drums around a blazing bonfire.
As we celebrate the arrival of this season, we should also take especially good care of ourselves during this time of “solar flux” so as to have the safest and most enjoyable summer ever.
There is nothing worse than a painful and aggravating sunburn to ruin a hot lazy day in the pool or make a family vacation at the beach the longest week of your life.
Too much sun causes wrinkles, freckles, and cataracts. Sun is also the main cause of skin cancer - the most common form of cancer — in the United States.
This year, there will be
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