SUMMER SOLSTICE

Throughout history this day has sparked ancient celebrations all over the world…

In Egypt the Great Pyramids were built so that the solstice sunset, when viewed from the Sphinx, sets precisely between two of the pyramids…

The Incas celebrated it with a ceremony which included food offerings and sacrifices of animals and maybe people…

The famous Stonehenge in England has been associated with the summer and winter solstice for centuries...the Druids loved to watch the sun rise over the Heel Stone, which stands just outside the stone circles...I'm not sure what they did after the sun rose... they probably had a picnic...

Today is the first day of summer and has the longest daylight hours of the year as a result of the earth’s north-south axis tilt relative to the sun…we all know that the angle causes different amounts of sunlight to reach different areas of the planet…in the Southern hemisphere it’s the winter solstice…good stuff to know…

OK, if there are any Druids reading this, they know summer solstice rituals can be performed by meditating, praying and chanting mantras in the sunlight or indoors over a set of lit candles…the candles must be lit or it won’t work…the purpose of this ritual is to renew, release and enhance external physical manifestations…I’m not sure what this means...

For me, today is the day I could tee off around 5:00 PM and get 18 holes in before dark…