I don’t know about you but lately life seems to have passed me by without notice. Personally I wish that things would just slow down long enough that I could lie back in the hammock and take a nap or enjoy a cold glass of something.

So this week when someone told me that the word “solstice” is derived from two Latin words—sol, which means sun, and sister, meaning causing to stand still, so that “solstice” literally translates as “sun standing still”—I thought, right on, a day that just stands still. Wouldn’t it be nice if it just stood still long enough to catch a break and relax?

As for the standing still part, summer solstice, which is typically June 21 or 22, is when the noonday sun has reached its highest point in the sky, compared to the day before or the day after, so it stands still on this day. OK, don’t quote me on that part, but it is the longest day of the year.

The daylight hours are at a maximum and the hours of darkness are at a minimum. If you’re a workaholic you probably love it. As for me, I’d enjoy seeing fewer hours of light in the morning so I could sleep a while longer.

Officially the solstice represents the first day of summer, but we should remember that it also represents the warmth and the green of the earth, the many flowers and trees that are in full bloom, and the coming abundance of harvests that are all celebrated.

For my many pagan friends, it’s the time for the first harvest of seeds planted in the fall and for the herbs used for rituals and healing purposes. It’s also considered spiritually to be a time of fire and light, and a period for cleansing and renewal. For those among us that are sun worshipers, they can totally relate to experiencing the fullness of light by receiving healing energy from the sun. As for me, I highly recommend slathering on a healthy dose of spf 300 sunscreen and heading for the shade.

But sun worshiper or not, there have been many cultures and religions that have included bonfires in their spiritual ceremonies, believing that it generates magic and increases the sun’s energy.

As for spiritual ceremony and ritual, for me as a minister, June is all about weddings—lots of weddings. Knowing this I can’t help but grin a little when I think of how some pairs of lovers, unbeknownst to many, still even now jump over the embers for luck, just as in more ancient times. Even June’s first or only full moon has been referred to as the Honey Moon, since customarily this was the best time to harvest honey from the beehives.

Admittedly I’ve witnessed far more weddings with the wedding couple attired in tux and gown then I have seen jumping over the embers. But it is a time of two uniting as one, and their families and friends celebrating (or mourning). So as for weddings, honey, honeymoons, and celebrating, it only stands to reason that a popular drink at these celebrations was, and is, mead wine, made from fermented honey, which was traditionally consumed after the many wedding ceremonies held during this time of year.

Bridezillas and monster size weddings might be a more recent tradition, but the custom to recognize June as the wedding month is anything but new. Its origin stems from the ancient spiritual belief that the grand sexual union of the God and Goddess took place in May at Beltane, and because mortals considered it to be unlucky to infringe on the deities, couples waited until June and the summer solstice to celebrate the magic of love to be blissfully wed. So keeping in mind the bees, the honey, mead wine, and the deities it’s really not all that difficult to see how the time after a wedding got given the name “honeymoon.”

So whether you’re getting married this month or not, or even if you’re not pagan at heart, I hope that you’ll take time to bask in the energy of the sun and enjoy some of the summer solstice activities, as adapted from ancient rituals such as singing, dancing (although I’d forgo the skyclad), chanting, and drumming around a bonfire. Take time to give thanks for our many blessings of abundance, and while you’re at it don’t forget to open the honey mead wine.

Many blessings and happy solstice!

Rev. Steven McClain is Pastor of the New River Valley Metaphysical Chapel in Radford.