Sacred Days of Midsummer 2019 ~ Discussion Thread

[RavenOfSummer]

2 hours ago, ilweran said:

I'm thinking of doing this but don't know if I should join in online as I may not keep up (having difficulties with my six year old not sleeping due to the light evenings. Black out curtains don't help as he still knows it's light out.) Thinking of using the Anieth Nature Tarot though!

Ooh, so it will potentially be 3 of us using the Anieth, between @Mi-Shell, you and I! I love that deck so much!! And @ilweran, if you are feeling drawn to join with the reading here please do not hesitate- it very frequently happens with this reading that people fall behind in their write-ups over the course of the 12 days, end up catching up a few days at a time, etc. It will be a very relaxed atmosphere so please do whatever works for you 🙂

[ilweran]

Thank you @RavenOfSummer, I'll have a think about it!

 

The Anieth is lovely, fighting the urge to get the new Anieth nature themed deck with the extra suit. I know I don't need it and probably wouldn't use it as I have my hands full with the decks I am using!

Edited June 12, 2019 by ilweran

[Flaxen]

Thinking I might try the Quareia for this. It looks like it will work well for a more spiritual reading.

[ilweran]

Oh, I'm in 😊

 

Will go post on the other thread.

[Mi-Shell]

8 hours ago, ilweran said:

Thank you @RavenOfSummer, I'll have a think about it!

 

The Anieth is lovely, fighting the urge to get the new Anieth nature themed deck with the extra suit.

Oh!!??

There is such a thing out there?

Where?

Can you maybe please provide a link?

Thank you 🙂

[gregory]

This one, I think ?

 

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/709136201/stone-tarot-nature-deck

[RavenOfSummer]

9 hours ago, ilweran said:

Thank you @RavenOfSummer, I'll have a think about it!

 

The Anieth is lovely, fighting the urge to get the new Anieth nature themed deck with the extra suit. I know I don't need it and probably wouldn't use it as I have my hands full with the decks I am using!

 

41 minutes ago, gregory said:

This one, I think ?

 

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/709136201/stone-tarot-nature-deck

My reaction exactly, @Mi-Shell!! 😍 Thank you @ilweran for bring this to our attention and thank you @gregory for the link! This one is going to have to go on my wish list.

 

7 hours ago, Flaxen said:

Thinking I might try the Quareia for this. It looks like it will work well for a more spiritual reading.

Love this choice- I think this will give a magical reading!

[RavenOfSummer]

The Sacred Days are beginning It's almost midnight here and it's already the 14th for many of you. So excited to begin this journey with you all. I'm about to go to bed and looking forward to pulling my first card tomorrow.

 

I wrote this poem last year just before the Sacred Days and thought I would share it here:

 

Summer Solstice Coming

There is no time to waste.
The Solstice is coming.
Go out under the sun, let it ripen you with the strawberries.
Seek the healing herbs that grow strong in its light.
Touch your hands to the trees that call us to the season.
The Solstice is coming-

The days are long and the nights are filled with power.
Let yourself be warmed.
Shed layers, listen to the songs of the birds,
walk in the resonance of wild leaves.
Greet your own being under the sun
and know possibility.
The Solstice is coming.
Now is the time to blossom.

 

 

I'll try to share some other poems and other bits of inspiration as the days go on. Please do share if you feel so called to during our journey! 🌞

[Mi-Shell]

OK!

According to my calendar, today is June 14 and so the first day of our reading.

I am quite surprised, that nobody posted anything and that I am now the first.....

(I am now loooooking for an emoji with a shy face and can not find that either....)

whispering:

"People, Where are you??"

 

 

[DanielJUK]

☀️ yeah it's the first day! ☀️ Posting my first card later on, don't worry Mi-Shell I am sure they will all start updating and think some people are not doing it day by day or away for the start ❤️

love your writing and poetry, Raven, perfect!

 

I decided to use my Zillich Tarot same as last year. I used for the circle (and the watercolour strokes were so lovely and summery) and then read for someone else with them and then not used them since! so awful, so getting it out again. Also I am interested in using Thoth associations with it this year, I am only a beginner on this but know basic astrology, so that is my twist in this years reading 🙂

[Flaxen]

I posted my first card in the reading thread. Decided to go with the SKT in the end and will take a photo of all the cards at the end of the process. 

 

@RavenOfSummer, love your poetry - a true bard. 

 

@DanielJUK, it will be interesting to see how this year’s Zillich readings compare to last year. 

[RavenOfSummer]

@DanielJUK @Flaxen

 

Well when it came down to it today I could not decide between the Anieth Nature Tarot and the Soulflower Oracle...so at least for now I'm using both! I may drop to just one, just feeling it out right now, but today the messages of the two cards I pulled seemed to pair perfectly with one another. I've never used two decks for any of the Sacred Days readings, nor have I ever used an oracle deck for one!

[RavenOfSummer]

I heard this quote on a podcast about the coming Summer Solstice:

 

"O Sunlight! The most precious gold to be found on earth" - Roman Payne 🌞

[legendaryelement]

I am using the Everyday Tarot (Running Press kit). I really enjoy the 3-color palette of white, purple, and gold. The simple but inviting silhouette-shape styling is similar to another deck I like: the International Icon. I am a Summer Solstice child (firstborn on a Father's Day no less) and always feel like I have a "foot in each camp" but no real place that is mine.

[Mi-Shell]

On 6/12/2019 at 6:48 PM, gregory said:

This one, I think ?

 

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/709136201/stone-tarot-nature-deck

OOOOOH!

Gregory!!!!

I know, YOU know, what you have done!

Now I have to scrape pennies to get ? another deck?? !!

Which one ???

Allll of them??????

How to decide??

🤯

 

[ilweran]

I'm holding off on the new Anieth deck. I'm thinking it will give somebody something to buy me for Christmas!

 

Also I need to use the one I have more.

[RavenOfSummer]

17 hours ago, ilweran said:

I'm holding off on the new Anieth deck. I'm thinking it will give somebody something to buy me for Christmas!

 

Also I need to use the one I have more.

I'm thinking of saving the new one to put on my holiday wish list as well!

[RavenOfSummer]

I am having such a fascinating Sacred Days reading so far. On the first day I decided to try working with two decks simultaneously for the reading- the Anieth Nature Tarot and the Soulflower Oracle. I had never used two decks for one of the Sacred Days readings, and my fear was it would muddy the messages or make the focus less clear. So, I wasn't sure if I would drop one of the decks and continue to work with just one for the rest of the reading. But, for these first four days the cards I've drawn each day have worked SO WELL together, either reinforcing one another or combining for a very clear meaning. So, I think I am continuing with these two decks!! It's amazing how much the energy of the reading so far has shifted from my last three Sacred Days readings (including both Midsummer and Yule). So far the messages have been very empowering 💚

 

ETA here's a pic of my reading so far...I love how colorful the cards are together. But the fact that I'm using two decks, one of which is a HUGE oracle deck, means my cards are too big to fit on my biggest spread cloth and are taking up a ton of space 😄 But these readings are always very big anyway!

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by RavenOfSummer

[joy]

5 hours ago, RavenOfSummer said:

I am having such a fascinating Sacred Days reading so far. On the first day I decided to try working with two decks simultaneously for the reading- the Anieth Nature Tarot and the Soulflower Oracle. I had never used two decks for one of the Sacred Days readings, and my fear was it would muddy the messages or make the focus less clear. So, I wasn't sure if I would drop one of the decks and continue to work with just one for the rest of the reading. But, for these first four days the cards I've drawn each day have worked SO WELL together, either reinforcing one another or combining for a very clear meaning. So, I think I am continuing with these two decks!! It's amazing how much the energy of the reading so far has shifted from my last three Sacred Days readings (including both Midsummer and Yule). So far the messages have been very empowering 💚

 

ETA here's a pic of my reading so far...I love how colorful the cards are together. But the fact that I'm using two decks, one of which is a HUGE oracle deck, means my cards are too big to fit on my biggest spread cloth and are taking up a ton of space 😄 But these readings are always very big anyway!

 

 

Both decks are gorgeous, sunflower is my fav flower and I am a sucker for birds ❤️

[RavenOfSummer]

4 hours ago, joy said:

 

Both decks are gorgeous, sunflower is my fav flower and I am a sucker for birds ❤️

Sunflower is my favorite flower too ❤️🌻

[joy]

3 hours ago, RavenOfSummer said:

Sunflower is my favorite flower too ❤️🌻

[RavenOfSummer]

So close to the Solstice now And just past the half way point in our Sacred Days Journey. Here is poem I found by Carrie Richards, entitled Summer Solstice.

 

This was when the whole world measured time
This is when the light would turn around

This is where the past would come undone
and the spinning earth will mark a new beginning
Let’s go back in time, to when it all began

To the breaking of new dawns
Where moments bright with fire, would light the chanting song
Where pagans worshipped sun, and danced among the trees

Wore strange masks of covered straw, and blessed cold ash with awe

Wreaths hung upon the door against all spirits dire
and when the winter’s grasp let go, the sun reversed the pyre
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 comes undone

[RavenOfSummer]

Here is a fun activity, if you are looking to work with herbs for Midsummer. The below is from Mountain Rose Herbs:

 

Solstice Flower Facial Steam Recipe

 

A common activity during Summer Solstice celebrations is gathering herbs to be used in beauty preparations. For a simple beauty ritual, make a facial steam using flowers that are typically in bloom this time of year. For this recipe, we've used yarrow flowers, chamomile flowers, and meadowsweet flowers. When using fresh herbs, use 1 tablespoon of each. If you can't find fresh in your area, then here's a recipe using herbs in their delightful dried form:

 

Ingredients

• 1 tsp dried organic yarrow leaf & flowers
• 1 tsp dried organic chamomile flowers
• 1 tsp dried organic meadowsweet flowers
• Organic hydrosol of choice (optional)
• Water

 

Directions

1. Place fresh or dried flowers in glass or ceramic bowl and add freshly boiled water.

2. Let steam cool until it’s just warm enough but not so hot that it will burn.

3. Drape towel over your head to make a tent over the bowl.

4. Steam for 10-15 minutes.

5. Rinse face with cool water.

[RavenOfSummer]

I just added my write-ups for the last three cards including today, as I had fallen a bit behind with posting. Hope everyone is having a good journey so far

 

Here's another nice herbal activity you can try if you're looking for ways to celebrate Midsummer tomorrow. (Of course if you don't have the tea filters they talk about, you could just strain out the herbs after! And you could easily substitute other herbs/flowers you have around 😊) I love tea rituals!

 

Summer Solstice Sun Tea

 

Ingredients

• Dried sunflower petals

• Dried whole calendula blossoms

• Dried whole rosebuds

• Dried grapefruit or orange peels

• Quart mason jar or other container with lid

• Empty tea filters

• Bowl

• Spoon

• Instructions

 

Instructions

1. Combine the ingredients in a bowl and gently stir so they are evenly distributed. The amounts of each ingredient will depend on the size of your container and personal preference.

2. Scoop the ingredients into tea filters. Search for filters online; they are easy to find in bulk and a great handy thing to have around. Do not tie off the tea filters.

3. Fill the bottom two or three inches of your container with hot or boiling water.

4. Place at least two filled tea filters in the container, holding the ends over the edge, and fill the rest of the way with cold water.

5. Replace the lid on the container, keeping the edges of the tea filters outside.

6. Place the container in the hot sun. Leave it to rest for at least an hour.

7. Drink hot or add ice to chill. You may want to sweeten the tea with local honey.

 

[RavenOfSummer]

 

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean —

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down —

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

 

--The Summer Day, Mary Oliver

 

 

A very blessed Midsummer to all 💛

 

Edited June 21, 2019 by RavenOfSummer