Celebrating the Summer Solstice with Hopi Wisdom
- Lorraine
- Jun 18
- 7 min read
A fire of Ireland, a memory of straw
Fifteen years ago, I walked on a green, windswept land, where the stones still speak and the moon lights up the hills like a familiar face. It was in Ireland, on a summer solstice evening, while filming a documentary on mask releases in Europe, in collaboration with Matthieu Jaubert and Baptiste Buob , for the National Association of World Cultures .
I remember that night as if it was still beating in my heart.
At the top of the highest hill in the area, where the sky seemed closer and the moon almost accessible, stood an immense fire. A sacred fire, erected in homage to the Creator. It lit up the night like the heart of a star returned to Earth.
The dancers arrived in silence. Almost unreal figures, dressed in straw, masked with mystery, glided through the darkness. The fire in the center awaited them. Around it, in a circle, they began to dance.
It was the ritual of the " Mumming ", a very ancient Celtic tradition, originally linked to the changing seasons, the cycles of life, death and rebirth . Through the mask, the body becomes a passage. The dancer is no longer himself: he embodies a force, a spirit, a collective memory. The straw masks, woven by hand, recall the harvests, the nourishing earth, the wild man who sleeps in everyone.
Every step, every movement, seemed to summon the spirits of ancestors, animals, and seasons past. Straw crunched, bodies swayed. And above them, suspended like a blessing, shone a bright full moon.
I was no longer there to film. I was there to remember.
Something essential was at stake. Something that spoke of the passage. Of the connection. Of the profound harmony between humanity, nature, and invisible forces.
The circle, universal language of the sacred
All over the Earth, indigenous peoples honor the passages with fire, song, dance, and offerings. Living in connection with the seasons, community, and the invisible requires ceremony. It is not just a ritual: it becomes a way of inhabiting the world with awareness, a way of forging connections between the living, the elements, ancestors, and spirits. For ceremony, in all its forms, is a universal language: that of connection to the invisible, to the Earth, and to the cycles of life.
These ancient gestures, these circles of fire and memory, span cultures and continents. Worn by different peoples, they are animated by the same sacred breath. Whether taking place in the hills of Ireland or under the burning skies of a distant desert, the ceremony responds to this universal need for connection: to the Earth, to the invisible, and to the cycles of life.
Under the desert sun, spirits also dance
Far from the Irish moors, in the Arizona desert, the Hopi celebrate the summer solstice with an equally profound intensity. This season marks the time of the last dances. Kachinas (see article). These spirits return to their world at the end of July, during the Niman ceremony, but already, at the solstice, the threshold opens towards their departure.
Kachinas are more than spirits. They are messengers from the invisible world, bringers of rain, fertility, and wisdom. Every year, they return to Hopi villages at the time of the winter solstice and remain until summer. During these months of presence, they dance, teach, keep watch, and remind everyone of the sacred bond that unites humans to the Earth, the Creator, and the living cycles.
The summer solstice: a key moment between light and renewal
The summer solstice marks the longest day of the year, a peak of light when the sun reaches its highest position in the sky. This sacred moment invites a deep pause, a symbolic pause in the natural cycle. It is a privileged opportunity to refocus, take stock of our intentions, and welcome the inner renewal that this intense light can awaken within us. Among the Hopi, as in many traditions, this time is celebrated as a sacred threshold between what has been sown and what will soon ripen.
The summer solstice is a special time, steeped in mystery. The word itself comes from the Latin solstitium : the sun standing still. It is not a visible standstill, but a celestial phenomenon: around June 21, the sun reaches its highest point in the sky at noon, and for a few days, the length of the day seems to stop changing. It is like a breath suspended in the solar cycle. Then, very slowly, the sun begins its descent southward , beginning the return to the darkness of winter.
For the Hopi, this turning point is much more than an astronomical phenomenon. It marks the midpoint of the ceremonial year , a time of purification and refocusing. As Grandmother Medicine Song and Heather Walize remind us in a text they wrote together:
"It is an invitation to return to the intentions that each person expressed during the ceremony of Wuwuchim ( New Fire) this sacred ritual which, at the heart of the winter solstice , brings light back into homes and hearts. What we sowed at the spring equinox, these visible and invisible seeds, in the earth as in our lives, today requires light, attention and commitment to continue to grow.
Heather, who passes on these teachings, celebrates the Summer solstice in Kentucky , deeply connected to natural rhythms and ancestral wisdom.
The solstice thus becomes a sacred pause between two breaths, a threshold where we come to reaffirm our commitments, clarify our path, and recognize the blockages to be transmuted. Tawa, the creative Sun , is then honored for his light, his warmth, and the impetus he breathes into all growth, in us as well as around us.
The solstice thus becomes a sacred pause between two breaths, a threshold where we come to reaffirm our commitments, clarify our path, and recognize the blockages to transmute. Tawa, the creative Sun, is then honored for his light, his warmth, and the impetus he instills in all growth, within us and around us.
Around the sacred fire, we pray for rain, for the clouds to bless the crops and purify the paths. Corn , the spiritual master of the Hopi people, grows at this time in the fields but also in souls. What rises from the earth reflects what is ripening within. The solstice becomes the mirror of an inner movement of maturation, a moment to take stock: are we living according to the intentions we set? Are we still walking the sacred path?
To embrace this season is to embrace the fire of transformation. It is to let the summer light flow through us, awaken our spirit, and rekindle the inner flame that gives meaning to our dance on the wheel of life.
When the sun stands still, listen to the silence
There's something moving about the idea that the sun, too, stands still. That it pauses its course, even briefly, as if to invite us to do the same. In our often hurried, linear, goal-filled lives, the summer solstice is a gentle invitation to slow down and listen.
Listen to what our body already knows.
What the earth whispers beneath our bare feet.
What our hearts have been waiting for in silence for a long time.
This is a time for alignment. Like the Kachinas preparing to move on, we too can mark this inner shift: giving thanks for what has been sown, welcoming what is growing within us, and discerning what it is time to let go.
I believe that these times of passage, however discreet they may be, transform us, and remind us that we too are made of cycles, of new beginnings, of light and shadow. As on the medicine wheel, each season has its place, each passage its lesson.
The sun at its zenith is not an outcome, but a tipping point, a sacred threshold.
He invites us to honor what is maturing,
to recognize what is being accomplished…
and to prepare ourselves, already, for the next movement.
Wisdom to refine our commitment
What if, on this solstice, we simply chose to stop with the sun?
To offer him a moment of presence.
To say thank you to him.
Grandmother Medicine Song invites us to take a clear and loving look at our path. In her text co-written with Heather Walize , she invites us to ask ourselves:
What aspects of our lives need to be purified?
How are we living now?
Do our intentions need refining?
What are the obstacles in our path?
Each stage of the cycle is a passage to be honored, to move forward in balance and remain in the right relationship with oneself and with others.
Back to basics
There are places where we take the time to listen.
To listen to the Earth, the seasons, the silences between the words.
Simple spaces, where we gently remember what the living whispers.
If this path resonates to your heart, join us for a Summer Solstice celebration on Zoom ✨ guided by Satya this Saturday, June 21st at 4:30 PM (Paris time) 🌀🌺
Let’s gather in sacred circle to honor the light, the turning of the wheel, and the wisdom of the season.
You also can discover the teaching circles , healing and workshops that I offer at Studio Yoga With You .
They draw inspiration from ancestral traditions and the wisdom of the medicine wheel, to learn to walk in a just, connected, peaceful way.
Like that solstice night in Ireland, when the straw dancers whirled around the fire,
or these Hopi dances where dust and feathers tell what words have forgotten.
Because at its core, every season teaches us the same thing: that there is a time to sow, a time to ripen, and a time to offer what we have become.
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