Today we are starting
to exit the 5 day window for the Summer Solstice here in the northern hemisphere,
and the Winter Solstice for those of you in the southern hemisphere. What a wonderful high energy time of year to
set your intent for your future path. I
was lucky enough this year to celebrate the Summer Solstice for 2 nights in a
row!
On Wednesday night,
I had a group of people here for a shamanic fire ceremony. The ceremony took its usual form with one
addition. Since we have been in a fairly
severe drought here, with 2 pretty large forest fires still burning after
several weeks, we added an exercise involving calling in the annual monsoon
rains. It is still a bit early for their
arrival, so our hope was that we could speed that up a bit. It was a lovely clear and balmy evening that
was enjoyed by all.
The next day, on
Thursday, I was able to participate in a field trip of sorts down to the Ute Mountain
Ute Tribal Park to observe 2 different Summer Solstice sunset solar alignments
in action. The ancestral Puebloans of
this area made use of natural features of rock combined with their rock art
to mark the solstice and equinox sunrises and sunsets as a way of keeping track
of those dates. We are talking about dates
from more or less 1000 BC to about 1200 AD.
By going to these sites during these times of the year, we can in part
participate in the energy of the ceremonies that were performed those many years
ago.
The vast majority of
sites in the Tribal Park are for the Winter Solstice, which is considered to be
the most sacred of dates, and the start of the New Year. I have been to Summer Solstice sites in other
locations for the sunset and sunrise, and my impression was that the ceremony that
was done there was for calling in the
monsoon rains, as all of the crops that the ancient Puebloans planted were dry
land crops and relied on the mid summer rain to come to fruition.
Below are photos of
the first site that we visited last night.
It featured a beam of light that was created by the sunset light entering a space between 2 boulders, and then elongating across the ground and creeping
up the front of a giant boulder to rest in a pecked depression as the sun went
down. Since we were
also heading to another site, our group did not wait to see the completion of that
phenomenon. Below are some photos.
Our main destination
consisted of 2 very large boulders with at least 7 pecked spirals on them. These were apparently there to mark the location
of the good stuff further up the slope.
Next, we visited a hollowed
out boulder that had a doorway built into it.
As the sun was setting, its light went directly through the doorway and
lit up the back wall of this shrine. Undoubtedly,
there were sacred items in there, and it was probably sealed up during the rest
of the year.
Just up slope from
the shrine was another solstice site. It
consisted of a large boulder that we call the clam shell because it cracked in
half leaving a flat surface where a spiral had been carved. We had visited this site many times before to
see if a solar alignment was happening in relation to that spiral, but it seems to be yet another marker indicating
that something else was going on here.
It turns out that
when the sun sets on the Summer Solstice, a beam of light passes under this boulder
and comes out the back side into a circular enclosure. Another shrine!
Our group relaxed in
the glow of the setting sun, some sitting in contemplation, some meditating,
others chatting.
The sun appeared to
slide down the side of a far away cliff face and into a notch before
disappearing altogether. One has to
wonder what went on here those many hundreds of years ago. Undoubtedly, it was something significant and
sacred. It was our honor to be able to
participate in some small way.
Happy Summer Solstice, Carla! Thank you for sharing! I hope your experience ushers in a season full of blessings.
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