The Nudge - Dispatch 21 | Summer Solstice 2024
“This was when the whole world measured time
This is when the light would turn around
So that spring arrives, and seeds will sprout and grow
Oh, radiant sun, stretch the day, shorten night
Return earth’s darkness into light
This is where the light will turn around
And this was where the past has come undone”
Carrie Richards - Summer Solstice
Welcome to The Nudge | Summer Solstice 2024
This seasonal care package has been especially prepared just for you by The Trailblazery team
Dear Friends,
Táimid ar bís - we are excited to prepare our seasonal care package, The Nudge, as the Summer Solstice approaches (here in the northern hemisphere) just in time for the Strawberry full moon on June 20. This significant day holds a special place on the Ancient Wheel of the Year, as one of the four solar festivals. It marks a time when the light triumphs, gracing us with extended hours of daylight and shorter nights.
The summer solstice is a time for great jubilation and in Ireland, there are many festivals dotted around the island to celebrate this seasonal juncture. Indigenous cultures understand the Solstices as turning points that provide the possibility for great change and transformation. The ancient ones welcomed the expansion of light offered at this threshold MidSummermoment and would give thanks for our sun which appears to come to a standstill at this time. The term "solstice" itself means "standstill", as during this period, the sun appears to rise and set in the same locations in the East and West for three consecutive days.
We call it “Grianstad an tSamhraidh” as Gaeilge here which means sunstop. At this time in Ireland we have only about 4 hours of darkness until the birds begin to sing another day into being. As part of the natural world, like plants, we respond profoundly to growing quantities of light & heat and thrive in their presence. The invitation is to celebrate the abundant growth and blossoming of the seeds that were sown during the depths of winter within and without.
While growth and expansion continues until Lughnasa, the Summer Solstice represents the pinnacle or apex of this cycle. There is a natural polarity embedded in the solstice points which harnesses a shift in energies. This also takes place in the southern hemisphere as it welcomes the Winter Solstice. Here in the north, from this point onward, there is a gentle decline in the light, and subtle signs of the approaching autumn and darkness begin to emerge. The days will gradually grow shorter, marking the subtle transition to longer nights
So at the peak of the solar year, the Summer Solstice invites us to embrace the fire and vitality of the season—the radiant sun, the vivid hues of nature, and the abundance of living each moment to its fullest. We’re invited to shine, prioritise play, exploration, and adventure. We reap the rewards of the previous season, set fresh intentions, and harness the invigorating masculine force of action and progress.
Some Herbs and Plants
Luibheanna agus Planndaí
The Summer Solstice is a great time for lighting bonfires on hillsides or at cross roads, leaving special gifts for the fairies and harvesting some seasonal native wild herbs and flowers for syrups, meads, salads and teas. Before the advent of scientific medicine, herbs were used to cure many illnesses. The most popular time to collect healing herbs was St. John’s Eveon June 23. St John’s wort was a great plant ally and considered one of the seven Irish herbs that nothing natural or supernatural could injure. The other herbs are vervain, speedwell, eyebright, mallow, yarrow and self-heal.
St John’s Wort - Lus na Maighdine Muire (Plant of the Virgin Mary). Other names for this plant are Allas Mhuire (Mary’s sweat), Luibh Eoin Bhaiste (the plant of St. John the Baptist) and Lus Cholm Cille (the plant of St. Colmcille).
Mugwort - Mongach Meascra -Tangled Mane, Mongach Meisce or Lus an tSeanduine the old person's herb. Its scientific name is ‘Artemisia vulgaris’, derives from the Greek goddess, ‘Artemis’, the moon goddess who presided over birth. It was known in Europe as ‘Mater Herbarum’ (Mother of Herbs) and was associated with the festival of St. John. You can imbibe a brew of your local Mugwort tea to awaken your visions.
Some journal prompts to inspire you as we approach Summer Solstice:
☀️ What are you noticing in the wild world around you at this time? In the fields and the hedgerows, in the skies and close to the earth? What creatures are catching your attention?
☀️ What are you noticing within you? What’s lighting you up at this time? What fuels your passion?
☀️ How do you kindle and tend to your inner fire?
☀️ Who would you be if you were shining your brightest out in the world? What would it look and feel like?
☀️ What’s preventing you from bringing your light to the world?
☀️ What lies in the shadow that asks to be illuminated?
☀️ What are you carrying forward from the festival of Bealtaine?
☀️ How can you align with the gifts of this season? How will you orient towards the light and savour the longer days?
☀️ How will you honour the long days of intensified sunlight? What rituals are calling you?
What’s coming up over the next
6 weeks at The Trailblazery:
As the Great Wheel turns yet again, we are invited to pause and remember what we have travelled through together. We are excited to let you know what we have coming up for you over the next 6 weeks here at The Trailblazery:
Moon Medicine Live
"Discovering the Inner Mother"
with Bethany Webster
on Mon 17
You are invited to gather with us online tomorrow, Monday June 17 at 7pmfor a special Moon Medicine gathering entitled “Discovering the Inner Mother”. Our guest luminary for the evening will be Bethany Webster, author and expert on healing the “Mother Wound”. We will be in the archetypal season of Cancer - which represents the Great Mother emotional, intuitive and internally attuned.
As a coach, speaker & writer, Bethany is dedicated to guiding women to uncover the wounded children within and teach them how to embody a loving “inner mother” to those parts of us that need it most. Through the practice of “inner mothering,” an inner climate of trust, unconditional love and emotional safety can be gently cultivated over time, gradually making it easier to unapologetically step into one’s life purpose, authentic truth and deeper integrity.
Remember, if you can’t attend live, you will be sent the recording 24 hours after the event. For more information, go to our website here.
An evening with Awarë & special guest Ajeet
Presented by The Trailblazery in partnership with
Killruddery House | Bray, Co. Wicklow
Saturday, June 29 at 18:30
With less than 2 weeks to go we can’t tell you how excited - ar bís! - we are to gather for our first live event of the summer. This is an invitation to return to your senses and rekindle a connection to your untamed nature over an evening with AWARË and special guest Ajeet in Wicklow’s historic Killruddery House. Tickets are flying out the window for this gorgeous experience ~ if you or your loved ones are interested, you can learn more about this event here. For tickets, click here.
Homecoming
A rewilding retreat in Wicklow, Ireland
with Kathy Scott & special guest Ajeet
Sunday, Aug 25 - Friday, Aug 30
Táimid ar bís - We are so looking forward to this summer retreat at The Deerstone, a stunning luxury eco hideaway nestled between the rivers, lakes and woodlands of the ‘Garden of Ireland’. Together we will journey to come home to ourselves, each other and the healing powers of the wild world during the luminous season of Lughnasa. We will create time and space for creative explorations that weave rewilding with ritual & rest.
We have one spot left for this incredible immersive experience so if you feel called to join us, please email us at hello@thetrailblazery.com. You will find more information on the retreat & pricing, click here.
Recommended Resources
Here are a few reading, watching and listening pieces to nourish your senses in the days ahead:
♪ Listen: For your ears
Samhradh Samhradh or “Summer Summer” as Béarla is an Irish song about the coming of summer. This version is a beautiful rendition of this ballad by The Gloaming.
You can also listen to Awarë’s latest album, Somos, to usher in the season.
✦ Smell: For your nose
In the Ogham tree calendar we are currently in the season of the Oak. In Celtic folklore, this tree was regarded as sacred and embodied truth, courage, and wisdom. A great oak forest once covered a large part of the land of Éire, and in East Clare once stood the ancient oak forest known as the Forest of Suidane. Oak bark is often used in tinctures for its soothing and anti-inflammatory properties.
Oak trees also hold a special place in the hearts of perfumers worldwide, with a bittersweet and earthy scent that is profoundly important to creating a grounded and powerful scent.
✯ Watch: For your eyes
Our friend Farah Nabulsi is an Oscar-nominated and BAFTA award-winning Palestinian British filmmaker. On Thursday, July 11 her film The Teacher will be premiering in Ireland at Galway Film Festival.
In this gripping feature debut, a Palestinian school teacher played by award winning actor, Saleh Bakri, struggles to reconcile his life-threatening commitment to political resistance with his emotional support for one of his students and the chance of a new romantic relationship with a volunteer worker. Watch the trailer for this film here.
❤ Read: For your heart
Irish Wild Plants is a beautiful book which describes the native wild plants of Ireland in seasonal order. Detail is given to the folklore and mythical properties of our native species such as nettle, foxglove, bramble, heather and dandelion. Superbly written by Irish folklore and culture expert Niall Mac Coitir, ‘Irish Wild Plants’ is also beautifully illustrated with watercolours by Grania Langrishe.
✬ Connect: For your Soul
Our ancestors left many monuments and tombs aligned with the Sun and it appears that the Celts absorbed these celebrations and power places into their ritual calendar.
Here are a few of our favourite festival sites:
Lough Gur, Co. Limerick. The Grange stone circle is aligned with the rising sun of the summer solstice and is the largest circle of its kind
The Carrowkeel Cairns, Co. Sligo. This particular site is a passage tomb: at sunset on solstice day, the sun fills and illuminates this site.
The Hill of Tara, Co. Meath. These days, the solstice is celebrated all over the country but people gather on the Hill of Tara at dawn on the summer solstice to mark the festival.
If going to one of these sites or joining in midsummer festivities in person is not an option for you, you can also attend SUMMER SOLSTICE: colour / chaos / compost / cusp, a creative gathering hosted by our dear friend Kerri Ní Dochartaigh to welcome the season, complete with card readings, journaling, poetry and more. To book, please contact inchwhooperswan@gmail.com
EnJOY these days - may the awakening light be yours.
Thank you for walking this path with us,
Beannachtaí,
Kathy and all at The Trailblazery