Today's summer solstice is the day in our calendar year with the longest period of sunlit hours.

        Today, the sunrise is at 6:13 a.m.; sunset is 9:08 p.m.

        Many people believe that the solstice occurs when the earth's elliptical orbit brings it closest to the sun. In fact, the earth's closest orbit to the sun is in January. Seasonal changes all over the earth are caused by the angle of the earth on its axis as it orbits the sun. So summer begins today in the Northern Hemisphere, now tilted toward the sun, but winter begins in the Southern Hemisphere.

        Summer occurs on the part of the earth that the sunlight is hitting most directly.

        The word solstice is derived from two Latin words: “sol” referring to the sun and sistere “to be still.”

(Illustration by Randy Mazzola) | ZOOM |

Fun sun facts

        • The largest object in our solar system, the sun contains about 98 percent of the solar system's mass.

        • The Earth could fit across the sun's disk 109 times and it would take 1.3 million Earths to fill the sun's interior.

        • The outer visible layer of the sun is called the photosphere and has a temperature of 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

        • It's estimated to have been active 4.6 billion years, and there is enough fuel remaining for 5 billion more summer solstices.

        • The sun is made of about 75 percent hydrogen and 25 percent helium. By mass, everything else amounts to only 0.1 percent.

        • The outer layers of the sun rotate differently. At the equator, the surface rotates once every 25.4 days; near the poles it's as much as 36 days. This odd behavior is due to the fact that the sun is not a solid body like the Earth.

Source: seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/sol.html and planetscapes.com.

Historic summer celebrations

        Celts: Druids, the priestly corps in Celtic countries, celebrated Alban Heruin (“Light of the Shore”) midway between the spring Equinox and the fall Equinox.

        China: Their summer solstice ceremony celebrated the Earth, the feminine and the yin forces.

        Gaul (ancient France): The celebration was called Feast of Epona, named after a goddess riding a mare who personified fertility, sovereignty and agriculture.

        Europe: Germanic, Slav and Celtic pagans celebrated with bonfires — celebrating the magic of love, oracles and divination. Pairs of lovers would jump through flames to bring good luck. The bonfires were also thought to generate sympathetic magic, boosting the sun's energy so it would remain potent through the growing season.

        Rome: Vestalia lasted from June 7 through 15, honoring Vesta, Roman goddess of the hearth. Married women could enter Vesta's shrine only during the festival.

        Sweden: A midsummer tree was decorated in each town and villagers danced around it. Women and girls bathed in the local river as a ritual to bring rain for the crops.

        American Indians: The Natchez tribe worshiped the sun. In the Hopi tribe, men dressed as Kachinas — the dancing spirits of rain and fertility — at midsummer.

Stonehenge

        Prehistoric Europe: Remains of ancient stone structures can be found throughout Europe. Perhaps the most famous of these structures is Stonehenge, a circle of stone megaliths on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. The circle opens up in the direction of the midsummer sunrise. Legend holds that Celtic warrior queen Boudicca built Stonehenge as her monument.

        Neopaganism: Wicca, a nature-based religion, celebrates Litha as their summer solstice sabbat. The sabbat may be celebrated on the evening before, at sunrise on the morning of the solstice, or at the exact time of the astronomical event.

        Yoruban: Local practioner Lois Shegog, of Avondale, describes this as an African spiritual practice — sometimes referred to as Santeria or misnamed as Voodoo. Yoruban believers celebrate the solstice as a time of renewal, refreshment and empowerment. Usually a short fast is broken on the day of the solstice.

Sources: religioustolerance.org and familyfun.com

9:24 a.m. EDT, the precise solstice minute

        The precise time for us today when the sun reaches zenith, or highest point in the sky in relation to Earth. At this time, the Earth is tilted such that the sun is positioned directly over the Tropic of Cancer at 23.5 degrees north latitude.

Source: U.S. Naval Observatory

Serpent Mound

Ohio's Stonehenge

        Serpent Mound, an hour east of Cincinnati in Adams County, is the largest effigy mound in the United States. Archaeologists believe the mound was a kind of calendar built about 2,000 years ago by American Indians. The coils of the serpent were laid out in a way that ancient astronomers could tell when solstices and equinoxes occurred. Just beyond the open mouth of the serpent is a separate, oval mound believed to be a depiction of the sun.

Want to celebrate?

        While civilizations have celebrated the return of the sun since ancient times, it can be celebrated in modern times without commercialized hoopla.

        Need ideas?

        • Have a Solstice Picnic complete with a strawberry shortcake “birthday cake” and spicy salsa to celebrate the sun's renewal.

        • Enjoy the full moon, often referred to as a Strawberry Moon or Honey Moon.

        • Gather your family and friends for a reading of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

        • Go through your “golden” oldies collection and throw a “Here Comes the Sun” dance party.

Sources: religioustolerance.org and familyfun.com

Yoga exercises: Salutation to the Sun | ZOOM |

The sun in literature

        The sun has been muse to many a great mind. A few quotes:

        “The sun — my almighty physician.”
— Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to James Monroe

        “The sun does not move.”
Leonardo da Vinci

        “The sun, the hearth of affection and life, pours burning love on the delighted earth.”
— Arthur Rimbaud (1854—1891), French poet

        “The sun of this month cures all.”
— Anne Sexton (1928—1974), U.S. poet

        “And if sun comes, How shall we greet him? Shall we not dread him, Shall we not fear him, After so lengthy a, Session with shade?”
— Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) U.S. poet

        “A man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry.”
— Ecclesiastes, 8:15

        “The sun, with all the planets revolving around it, and depending on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as though it had nothing else in the universe to do.”
— Galileo Galilei

        “The sun is a mass of fiery stone, a little larger than Greece.”
— Anaxagoras 434 B.C.

        “Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.”
— Maori proverb

        “Summer's lease hath all too short a date.”
— William Shakespeare (1564—1616)

Source: solar-center.stanford.edu/folklore/folklore.html and bartleby.com

Celebrating the sun in song

        From the “Sunny Side of the Street” to Sesame Street, a list of some of the songs that the sun shines through:

        “Soak Up the Sun”

        “A Place In the Sun”

        “Hidden Sun”

        “Ain't Going Down ('Til the Sun Comes up)”

        “Sesame Street Song (Sunny Day)”

        “Aquarius (Let the Sunshine In)”

        “Open Up Your Heart and Let the Sunshine In”

        “Sunny Day”

        “Sunrise Sunset”

        “Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin' ”

        “Here Comes the Sun”

        “House of the Rising Sun”

        “You are the Sunshine of my Life”

        “You Are My Sunshine”

        “Invisible Sun”

        “Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone”

        “I'll Follow the Sun”

        “The Sun Will Shine”

        “Good Day Sunshine”

        “I'm Walkin' on Sunshine”

        “We'll Walk in the Sunshine”

        “Sunshine Woman”

        “Tequila Sunrise”

        “A Place In the Sun”

        “Lady Sun”

        “Sunshine”

        “Another Sunny Day”

        “Seasons in the Sun”

        “Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me”

        “On the Sunny Side of the Street”

        “Sunshine of Your Love”

        “Paper Sun”

        “A Place in the Sun”

        “Sunshine on My Shoulders (Makes me Happy)”

        “Walk in the Sun”

        “Sunshine Superman”

        “Blister in the Sun”

        “Good Morning Merry Sunshine”

        “Sunshine, Lollipops & Rainbows”

        “Sun Is Shining”

        “Sunny Afternoon”

        “Sunshine After the Rain”

        “Cinderella Sunshine”

        “Good Morning Sunshine”

        Well, you get the picture.

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