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Alban Hefin


Tuesday at 5:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time was the Summer Solstice. As less than 48 hours have passed since then, the energies of the Solstice are still active, so let's have a post on it!

The name Alban Hefin, commonly used for the Spring Equinox by modern Druids, comes from the work of Iolo Morganwg. In the Barddas, his collection of Ancient Celtic Lore which emerged largely from his own extraordinary mind, Iolo writes about the "free days" associated with the Sun:


Qi Nodes

In Chinese philosophy and traditional medical practice, the pattern of shifting energies through the seasons is called jia qi or "Calendar Energy." Moments when the energy shifts in a big way are called Qi Nodes. Traditional acupuncturists, qigong teachers, and the like, have an elaborate system of practices designed to attune the energy of the individual to that of the season. This includes particular foods which are especially beneficial, qigong and meditation exercises, and modes of conduct. In the West, a similar system existed, but it's in fragments now, and part of our work is to reconstruct it; we can look to the intact energetic systems to provide some clues as to how to do that, as well as to the fragments of our own holistic system.

The Ember Fast is one of the most survivals of the Western system of energetic medicine, as it relates to the jia qi. The purpose of the fast is to re-set our energetic system. The foods of Winter are purged from our bodies, and we experience a kind of stillness and freedom from movement, from which we can begin to move again, in harmony now with the Spring Energy, rather than the Winter Energy which is passed.

Additional associations of Summer include: The element of Fire; the Zodiac sign of Cancer; culmination, intensity, and the first seed of decline; the sin of Wrath; light, joy, labor, and above all, activity. Above all, Summer is associated with activity. Fire, in the Western as well as the Chinese system of thinking, is the most yang, hot, active and masculine element. The Summer solstice is the triumph of light over darkness and of life over death; from here onward begins the long, slow, steady decline toward Winter. Human culture, reflecting the natural world, makes the Summer a time both of labor and of celebration. This is the time of life.

The primary Christian festival associated with Mid-Summer is Saint John's Day, celebrating the birth of Saint John the Baptist, which we'll discuss shortly. Recall what is said of John in the Gospel: He must diminish, that Christ may increase; notice that John, born at the Summer Solstice, is thus tied to the increase of Yin and of the Winter Power, Christ, born at the Winter Solstice, to the increase of Yang and the Summer Power.

Suggestions for Practice

If you're reading this, there is a good chance that you already have a way of celebrating the Summer Solstice, and I'd like to encourage you to stick with it! For everyone else, as with the Winter Solstice, I'm just going to make a few suggestions for practices now. Eventually, we'll have a more elaborate ritual for each point on the calendar, but it's best not to rush these things; the energies moving at this time of year are powerful and shouldn't be treated lightly.

1. Continue the invocation of St. Michael from the Spring Ember Days; we can even make the Equinox a kind of culmination of that practice, with the slog of Embertide as preparation. In meditation, you can imagine the Archangel extending a blessing which attunes you to the energy of the season.

2. A free day. As in the selection from the Barddas above, we can make this a kind of free day in our own homes. Children can be given lighter chores and freedom from other responsibilities. The idea of the "Free Day" can be tied in with the Ember Fast to create a kind of general Energetic Reset for Spring.

3. Bonfires! 

Summer conduct in general should be vigorous. The natural world is overbrimming with activity; our natural inclination is to mirror it, and we should allow this. Cook outside, eat full meals, allow yourself to work and to play. At the same time, there is a danger in excess Summer energy. In areas in which the Sun is particularly intense, this spoke of the Wheel is immediately followed by a general dying; the grass turns brown, all the Spring greenery dies away. If we overdo it at this time, we will experience the same dying within our energetic body as we exhaust ourselves. And if we greatly overdo it, the depletion that results will follow us throughout the whole year.

I haven't found a discussion of it in the Chinese material, but in my experience the power of the Sun and of the Summer Energy to harm varies according both to your constitution and to the energy of the area in which you live. While the Sun is at his most intense at this time of year everywhere in the Northern hemisphere, the further North you go, the milder that intensity becomes. I personally could not bear to be in the direct Sun for more than a few minutes at a time when I lived in Southern California; now that I live in a more Northerly (and considerably more humid) region, I can endure much more Sunlight and have come to enjoy it again. General prescriptions are models; look to your own body, energy and spirit and that of the land on which you live as an exact guide to your own conduct. 

Happy Alban Hefin, everybody!