The Sun, The Soul, and The Solistice
The Sun, The Soul, and the Longest Day:
A Consideration of the solstice points in one’s life
The Rev. Peter Edward Lanzillotta, Ph.D.
This morning, my topic for you goes beyond the usual confines of academic religion, and those ethical and justice themes that liberal religious outlooks are so well known for presenting. Today’s theme is a mythopoetic one- it’s about symbols and syncronicites and the archetypal connections between the yearly cycle of the Sun, the solstice, and the changes in one’s life; the revolutions of the heart, the seasons of the soul.
The inescapable importance of the warmth and light of the Sun on earthly life cannot be disputed. We know that the Sun and sunshine affects all life cycles and the patterns of growth in all living things. I propose, through the connections and corelatons of myth and metaphor, that the Sun has other influences on us- on our psyches, our attitudes, our sense of self and soul in the context of wholeness and life.
The light, heat, vitality and energy we unselfishly and indifferently receive from the Sun have been known to affect people’s moods and temperaments. We have all heard of situations and conditions wherein the amount of sunshine is involved a person receives changes or alters their mood and attitude towards daily life. In warm climates or prolonged humidity, the extra sun of the summer can make them testy, aggressive and “hot under the collar.
Where I came from in New England it was the opposite. The lack of sun was always blamed, along with the local weatherman predictions, for people being grumpy, pessimistic, and impatient for the spring thaw and desire to feel the summer’s warmth.
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In psychological theory and literature, there seems to be a strong connection between people’s moods and the amount of sunshine they receive- there is even a recognized mental or emotional illness called SAD (Seasonal Adjusted Disorder) where a person has to have artificial sunlight installed in their home to cure certain forms of depression. That certainly gives validity to the claim that the Sun does certainly affect us on many levels!
The Sun corresponds poetically to what Emerson called the Soul of the Whole. Its effect on our existence are a sum total, for it directly and unmistakably influences all of life. Much earlier in human culture, during the Renaissance, people were much more in touch or in tune with the cycles of the Sun, and how it affected their city and rural life. The philosopher and alchemist Marsillo Ficino, writing in his metaphysical treatise on the planets, put it this way:
[Our sun, besides maintaining the particular power of itself
promotes the common power of life all through us, but especially
through the heart, the source of intimate fire for the soul. Similarly, the World Soul flourishes through the Sun, unfolding and shining, giving us the common power of life.
In later contemporary language, we have the observations of Carl Jung and Thomas Moore, a Jungian trained theologian whose book, Care Of The Soul and other works have become popular. Carl Jung spoke of this tendency and recommends that we maintain our connection to the Sun and the Soul. He gave this statement for our consideration. He said that:
The concept of Sol or the Sun [has much] to do with the growth
of modern consciousness- especially as we derive and connect the observations of the natural world with our inner being.”
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In his first book, The Planets Within, Thomas Moore makes this observation and conclusion:
There is a solar consciousness, an awareness of the spiritual value in material things, bringing these things to life, animating them … giving them soul.”
This ability of the Sun to influence us can be taken one step further. As our emotional patterns and possibilities are very much a part of each of us, so too, it could be said that the Sun adds to the vitality and to the clarity of our identities; that the Sun affects the human soul or psyche as well. Moore points out that we should read these mythic and astrological symbols as an internal landscape, not as hard science. He favors the view that the symbolic qualities of the planets, the Sun and the Moon, and the stars of the heavens, create for us distinct patterns for discernment- they create patterns not only in the night sky, but also in our psyches- [a sky-chart within. The planets in this sky within, somehow correspond with the deeply felt movements and inclinations of the soul.] In the mythopoetic language of astrology and mythology, these movements and the patterns they create, can be seen as celestial clues to our internal workings, and their movements might be barely perceptible at first, but within time can be cumulative and transformative.
We will soon celebrate the summer solstice- the day in astronomy where the sun shines for the longest time, creating the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The opposite occurs on or about December 21, some six months away. That is the time of the winter solstice, when we experience the least amount of sunshine, or what we call the shortest day of the year. Just to round out this quick refresher in Astronomy 101, the days in March and September when there is equal or a balanced amount of day and night are called the vernal and autumnal equinoxes.
From a mythical viewpoint, one that can connect a deep sense of light to the energy within us, the experience of the light and warmth of the Sun gives our souls a clue for their best expression. The length of daylight corresponds to the time we are urged or encouraged to go or be outdoors in the light, and the sun also signals when it is best for our psyches or souls to seek the darkness for contemplation and rest.
The longest time period for light and outward energies occurs during June-July and the Shortest time occurs between December and January. In the time of increasing light, the soil and the soul warms to invite growth, expansion and the planting of seeds. Fertile possibilities now can take root, and grow in the earth and in our minds and hearts. In this time of the expansion of light and heat, plants grow to the peak of their height and ripeness, and the creative energies of nature dominate landscape and life. As this time period applies to humans, what seems to happen more in June or July than any other time of the year?
Hmm… let’s see… traditionally there are more weddings during this time period than any other… more children are conceived …. more people graduate, ripen, mature or move out and away,, further up and into the world…. are there any others you can name or add?
Conversely, what could be said about the shortest days? They correspond to an ingathering, a more restful, contemplative and focused energy- a time for reading, introspection, meditation, evaluation and for welcoming more warmth and quiet into our lives.
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I suspect that is one of the psychic reasons that the crass, commercial crunch of Christmas is so hard to endure… It goes against the natural rhythms of sun, soul, and life! But since it is an artificial holiday anyway, I am all for simplification. Christmas is more accurately celebrated on January 6th or if celebrating Jesus, more likely that he was born in early February or March- but that’s another sermon!
The reason for bringing your attention to these cycles and seasons of the Sun, and their potential effects on us, is my concern for the health and well being of each of you as a spiritual and soulful person. In the fields of transpersonal psychology and theology where I make my academic home, it is affirmed and supported that when a person, or a culture, or a nation loses its sense of natural rhythms, cycles and seasons, it endangers their soul; it puts at risk our needed attunement to nature as sacred, which results in a loss of regard for our needs to nurture and reflect, express and create along with these natural cycles.
In astrological and mythological symbolism, the sun has come to represent the core, true individuality of a person, as opposed to the learned personality these cultural ideas and attitudes that comprise social conduct, behaviors, perceptions, and outlooks. The Sun is the signature self; how we most naturally relate to what is sacred and holy in ourselves, in others, and in nature; The Sun reveals how we best express the gifts and graces, talents, desires, and skills of this life.
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It is postulated by soul-centered therapists and clergy that when a person or a culture forgets about the sun and the seasons, they lose contact with the essentials of life- the more heart-centered empathetic and nurturing ways that make relationships more enjoyable and a gratitude for life and love more sustainable.
A couple of provocative, maybe loaded questions:
Do you feel that our society has lost touch with these seasons and reasons? How can we best recover our souls?
Maybe it is that need to recognize and affirm natural ways and cycles of revealed truth that is behind our church membership’s interest in recapturing many of the Native American celebrations, or the Wiccan and Celtic wisdom traditions, that clearly celebrate the seasons with reverence and delight???
Going a little deeper, we can see in the mythical literature a need to look to the Sun and the seasons as ways to define our inner being. In The Upanishads, the ancient sacred texts of Hinduism, we are given a reply to the question the Brahman asks of Ajuna, one of the gods of light and life:
“[Who are you? ... I am a season, and the child of the seasons. I am sprung from the womb of infinite space, the seed of the husband and the wife, I am the light of the year, the Self of all that is; and whatever you are, I am also. ... I am but a phase of the universal life, and a child of the manifest cycles... I am a spark of the Divine, evolved through the cycle of the twelve stages, and by my means, is all growth accomplished.]”
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Moving to the consideration of the solstice as the longest and shortest days, we are given the contrasting image and the complementary rotations or resonance that represents the revolving seasons of the soul. One definition of the cycles of the year and the seasons is this; A year, in the life of day and night, is the way the soul moves, manifests and matures itself.
Some of the physical phenomena that can have mythopoetic and metaphysical correlation’s are these: The solstice points are the only time in the whole year that the Sun stays stationary or is seen as standing still. This station can be seen as a time of concentrated self or soul energy that reinforces what you know about yourself and can affirm the next steps in your path to more complete selfhood. Second, the two solstice points act as complementary and supplementary mirrors of beginnings and endings. The solstice points act as the mirror that has two faces- one summer one is concave- a view that elongates the search for authenticity and true definitions, and the winter one has a convex face that widens and deepens introspection, assessment, discipline and inner peace. These points at the beginning of the summer and the winter act as the two faces in the mirror of our being. They complement one another by showing our psyches our inner make-up- the inner impulse that portrays how we can be attracted to the new search, and they place before us the completion of an important life’s task– These two points give us a special time for expressing and then for integrating what you know about yourself.
Lastly, the solstice points are an opportune and gracious time for the recapturing and the reconnecting of your personal and relational missing links- those parts of you that you had previously let go or places in your life where you have felt lacking or that something is missing.
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The solstice time period offers us the spiritual opportunity that gives us time and energy to reclaim and reconnect them. From these phenomena, we gain insights into our soul life. From these celestial cycles, we find a path to our inner work, our inner release.
As the seasons transpire, circling the cosmos in their divinely ordered rounds, we who value renewal and the potentials for self and soul, are urged to align and attune ourselves to these cycles, and adjust ourselves to accepting that we are creatures who need to heed the rhythm and flow of energy and life.
A parting thought, from one of my recent research projects about connections and correlation’s between grace and time:
“[We live in a soul-centered universe, and all beings share in the blessed perpetual motion of the world within and the world without. At the very center and circumference of life is the Anima Mundi, the World Soul represented symbolically by the Sun. This world soul beckons us to heed the rhythms of existence, drawing us into the ever-flowing constant relationship to all that is and all that could be. ...
These cycles of time and awareness are ours to comprehend; to translate and apply to the complex world of human understanding and behavior.
By following the mythic path of The Sun that will reveal out inner and outer connections to a more seasonal, sensual and soulful life, we can find more of the answers to how our restless, wandering souls can search and find our true selves.]”
Happy Solstice…
and may the blessings of the long time Sun be with you!
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