19 Jun Sol Retrieval ~ Summer Solstice – June 21st, 2022

On June 21st, 2022 the solstice arrives, heralding the beginning of Cancer season. In the northern hemisphere, the Sun will finally reach its apex in the heavens and begin its slow descent into the ripening beauty of summertime.

As the Sun crosses through its gateway, all the high strung mental agonies of Gemini will be washed away by the dreamy bliss of Cancer season.

The watery realm of Cancer is an oasis in the zodiac, offering you a lingering moment to shut out the world and retreat into daydreams, where life’s pleasures and mysteries can be deeply explored. 

Cancer season summons the music of moonlight on warm fragrant nights. And it stirs primal memories of some heavenly origin: a pang of homesickness for an unknown celestial paradise.

The Sun in Cancer inspires a longing to know your soul’s history. How did you come to be born in this world? And why does it feel like you’re so far away from home?

Myths and religions have sought to answer these questions throughout the ages. 

One example comes from the ancient Greeks, who imagined that human souls were born from the stars, passing from heaven to earth through the Sun’s Gate at the Tropic of Cancer. 

One allegory that describes how a soul crossed through the Tropic of Cancer comes from Homer’s Odyssey, in a place he called the Cave of the Nymphs.

“this a lovely cave, full of mist, sacred to the nymphs…The waters always flow.”

The 3rd Century scholar, Porphyry, interpreted Homer’s Cave of the Nymphs as a place between worlds, a passage for the soul’s journey from heaven to earth. 

Nymphs were water spirits, evoking a gentle womb-like place where heavenly souls prepared for birth. Souls were described as being like vaporous clouds, growing heavy with desire until they condensed enough to be born into matter.

The philosopher, Heraclitus said,

“It is a delight for souls to become moist.”

The climax of the Sun’s light at the solstice inspires a high vantage point to reflect upon who you are and where you’re going in life. Whether you imagine your soul’s heavenly origins or not, the solstice remains a sacred time of year. 

The Cave of the Nymphs offers a portal into your soul’s origins, inviting the gentle waters to nourish and restore you before the world summons you back into its tangle of thorns.

At the solstice it’s important to pause, to return to that inner sanctuary where you can reflect. The year is halfway over. The days aren’t getting any longer. And you’re not getting any younger. This is why a yearning to know the depths of your soul awakens, inspiring a sense of mythic meaning and divine purpose to return.

The Sun’s passage through the waters of Cancer moistens the soul, offering a moment of sanctuary where your deepest feelings and desires for life can blush and ripen once again.

Much Love,

Rachel

all artwork by Margaret Cook