solstice". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (Fifthed.). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2015 . Retrieved December 8, 2015. Meeus, Jean (2009). Astronomical Algorithms (2nd English Edition with corrections as of August 10, 2009ed.). Richmond, Virginia: Willmann-Bell, Inc. ISBN 978-0-943396-61-3. Find a quiet space to relax, breathe, and focus inside. When you’ve reached a deeper meditative state of mind, set the intention to feel a sense of transcendence and oneness. Simultaneously, feel the light of the sun shining down on you. Visualize light pouring into your crown chakra at the top of your head, warming you, refreshing your energy and filling your aura with the Divine light consciousness present in the fresh sunlight.

Northern solstice and southern solstice indicate the hemisphere of the Sun's location. [19] The northern solstice is in June, when the Sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere, and the southern solstice is in December, when the Sun is directly over the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere. [20] These terms can be used unambiguously for other planets. A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many countries, the seasons of the year are determined by the solstices and the equinoxes. Paikallissää Helsinki"[‘Local weather in Helsinki’] (in Finnish). Finnish Meteorological Institute. 2016-06-20 . Retrieved 2016-06-20.Although many of us hear the call of our inner desires and dreams, it is often difficult to find the path forward to our own awakening. Winter at Tantora Festival ( Saudi Arabia): Cultural festival marking the beginning of the winter harvest season. Cleomedes (2004). Cleomedes' Lectures on Astronomy: A Translation of The Heavens. Translated by Alan C. Bowen and Robert B. Todd. Berkeley: University of California Press. p.41. ISBN 0-520-23325-5. This translation cites this passage at the end of Book I Chapter 2 but other arrangements have it at the start of Chapter 3. In the Greek version of Cleomedes (1891). Ziegler, Hermann (ed.). Cleomedis De motu circulari corporum caelestium libri duo. B. G. Teubneri. pp. 32. the passage starts Chapter 4. By allowing ourselves to feel our emotions and experience our own darkness,the darkness itself can become the spiritual cradle into which our inner light and new life is born.

Summer solstice and winter solstice are the most common names, referring to the seasons they are associated with. However, these can be ambiguous since the Northern Hemisphere's summer is the Southern Hemisphere's winter, and vice versa. The Latinate names estival solstice (summer) and hibernal solstice (winter) are sometimes used to the same effect, [17] as are midsummer and midwinter.The word equinox comes from the Latin aequinoctium meaning 'equal night'. Why don't the solstices and equinoxes happen on the same days every year? Celebrate your light and honor the energy of the Solstice with these simple Solstice Rituals to welcome more love, light and joy into your life.