Time to Express: Celebrating Summer Cross-Quarter
Dear Reader,
I’m writing to you from my kitchen. The sound of gentle rain is in my ears. I just came home from a morning walk by the river, and my heart is full of gratitude for every plant, every bird, every sunbeam. I saw hundreds of swifts circling in the sky, and I wondered if they’re getting ready to move south, following the path of the Sun.
How are you experiencing this time of year where you are?
What are you noticing in your surroundings?
The heart of summer
The beginning of August features a major seasonal crossroads in the solar year. At Summer Cross-Quarter, the Sun reaches the middle degree of Leo and marks the exact midpoint between Summer Solstice and Fall Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. This year, the exact Leo/Summer Cross-Quarter falls on August 7, 8:23 p.m. CET (convert to your local time).
At the height of summer, the days are still long, but they’re also rapidly growing shorter as the Sun keeps lowering its arc across the sky. Summer Cross-Quarter is the ‘Waning Gibbous Moon’ and ‘afternoon’ of the year when the light is still strong but is starting to grow faint. We’re still in the light half of the year, but the dark is stirring and the energy of the year is slowly waning.
Ripe fruits and full baskets
We eat from the garden, celebrate the abundance of nature, and share our bounty. It’s a time of consistent tending to the gardens in our life, both literal and symbolic, and a time of urgency to live out and share the meaning of whatever winter vision has taken form in our life.
Leo, the lion, is a fixed fire sign and signifies a season of sustained (fixed) creative energy (fire). Belonging to the Sun, the cosmic father archetype, Leo promises a season of taking the courage to express what’s inside us and show what we’re about. Leo season is here to help us celebrate and enjoy our gifts and to remind us of what’s essential in our life.
Are you ready to enter the heart of summer?
What is summer teaching you?
What is being illuminated in your life?
What achievements can you celebrate?
What are you loyal to?
Where is your energy most appreciated?
You can take the questions sprinkled throughout this post on your walk, into your journal, your dreamtime, or any other kind of creative or contemplative practice. I hope they tickle you and help you weave yourself deeper into the mysteries of summer.
What this time of year is good for:
Spending a lot of time outside, walking barefoot, swimming, skinny-dipping, spending time in the garden, harvesting, medicine-making, iced tea, rituals of generosity and celebration, sharing meals with friends, childlike creativity and play, doing something fun or making what you do more fun, inspired action
Transition time
At Summer Cross-Quarter, we’re crossing over from the expansive energy of summer, when the days are full and hot, into the gentler, waning energy of fall. It’s the beginning of harvest season, and we would be wise to balance hard work with rest and play so that we don’t feel overwhelmed or burn out.
What are you able to harvest in your life?
What do you want to harvest in the coming months?
What do you fear might be standing in your way?
What can you do now to help realize your vision?
Until next time…
I very much look forward to writing to you again around the time of Fall Equinox, which marks the beginning of fall in the Northern Hemisphere and heralds a time of harvest and release. It falls on September 23, 8:50 a.m. CET this year (convert to your local time).
I’m wishing you a beautiful rest of summer wherever you are. May you be blessed with good health and joy in your life.