Drawing Down the Sun

SOLITARY SABBAT - MIDSUMMER

The Summer Solstice is the perfect time for a day at the beach and a picnic. Treat yourself. This entire ritual can be done in a public place without anyone else knowing what you're doing, so give it a try.

You hear a lot of talk within Witchcraft and Paganism in general about Drawing Down the Moon. Very little is ever said about Drawing Down the Sun. Now, usually these phrases refer to calling on the Goddess and God energies of the Moon and Sun and drawing them down/into a Priest or Priestess within the context of a ritual. Both of these phrases have a more literal meaning as well. In the case of the Sun, it refers to using a convex lens to catch the sunlight and then using it to light a fire or woodburn a Magickal tool by holding the lens in close proximity to the wood or tinder. (This is sometimes also referred to as "drawing down the universal need fire." In other words, lighting a fire without a match, lighter, or piece of flint.) ***Since the Summer Solstice is a celebration of the Sun at the height of its power, it seems like the perfect time to honor the Sun by using its power within the context of a ritual.***

The Sun reaches its highest power within the astrological sign of Cancer, the cardinal water sign of the Zodiac. Hence the addition of spending the day at the beach, instead of just enjoying a picnic. Don't forget to take your swimming suit. You'll also need to take food that can be cooked over your solar fire, any wooden item you might wish to woodburn (potential wand, staff, pentacle, etc.), and any sun screen, bug repellent, or changes of clothing you might want, since this ritual is designed to honor the Sun both at noon and at setting.

Begin your ritual slightly before noon on the day of the Summer Solstice (or the weekend before it). Arrive at your site in plenty of time to get everything set up just the way you want it including marking your circle space in some way, digging/clearing a fire scar if necessary, and laying your fire so that you can Draw Down the Sun and light your fire at high noon. Be sure to have plenty of wood on hand. You'll want to keep the fire glowing into the night. You'll also want a grate of some kind to put over a part of the fire to cook your lunch and dinner on. Please also have a bucket of water on hand for dousing the fire before you leave. You can put citronella candles or tiki torches at the four quarter points. Make your circle fairly large so that you can move around comfortably within it to prepare and eat your meals, lie out in the sun, woodburn a wand, etc.

Traditionally any ritual begins with a ritual bath. How convenient to have a lake, river, pond or ocean so near by! Start by taking a quick dip. For those of you who usually add salt to your ritual bath water, there is another possibility. Of course, if you happen to be doing your Solstice ritual at an ocean beach, the salt has already been added to the water courtesy of the Goddess. If you're at an inland lake or river, you can simply put some salt under your tongue upon completion of your swim, or you can dab a little on the soles of your feet.

To cast your circle, you can either actually tread the circle boundary you've marked out, or, if you feel that might draw unwanted attention to yourself, simply sit on your blanket or chair and visualize yourself casting your circle in your mind's eye. You can either light your quarter candles/torches now or wait until the Sun begins to set to do so. Setting them in place at the four quarters would be good to do now however. Invoke each quarter as you do so.

As noon approaches, begin to Draw Down the Sun by holding your convex lens, just above your tinder in the center of your fire scar. You may have to adjust the angle at which you are holding the lens in order to catch a ray and have it light the fire. You'll know you have it right when you see a spot of light shining on your tinder. The tinder will start to smoke first. Keep the lens in place until the fire actually starts. (It will help if your tinder is laid over a couple of pieces of crumpled newspaper--the tinder consists of extremely thin twigs and dried grasses--and if both paper and tinder are extremely dry as well.) Once your little pile of tinder begins to burn, you'll have to feed it with more twigs. When you have a nice little blaze going, add some slightly larger pieces of branch. Keep your wood graduating in size as the fire grows until you are finally laying logs on the fire. If you think you might have trouble doing this, practice at home a few times first. Or, if you're unable to practice this for whatever reason, and are worried that you might not be able to get it to work, take along a box of wood matches as a back up. Then if frustration, anxiety or impatience get to you before the Sun gets to the fire (or in case it's a cloudy day), you'll have a way of getting the fire lit anyway. It's the thought and the attempt that count.

While you are calmly trying to light the fire and feed its flames once it has sparked to life, you might want to meditate on/think about the power of the Sun. Consider any one, or all, of the following: the Sun's ability to stimulate birth and growth, its ability to cause both constructive and destructive transformation through heat and fire, its modern day use as an alternative source of heat and electricity, its ability to lift the spirits. And/or you could invoke the energy of the Sun to come more fully into your life as it enters the tinder and change your life in positive ways, listing whatever those positive changes might be as you do so. You know, things like, "Light up my life with love." "Spark my creativity." "Encourage the green growth in my life" (here meaning keep me financially sound). Or even, "Light a fire under my butt so that I'll start (or finish) that project I've been putting off for so long." You get theidea.

Speaking of the Sun's ability to cause transformation through fire, once your fire is lit and well under way, cook your lunch--a graphic demonstration of the transformative Magick of fire. If you're going to be using a grate over your fire to cook on, you'll have to let the fire burn down a bit, and flatten a spot within it upon which to place the grate. (May I suggest four stones or thick logs to hold up the corners of the grate, with the grate placed over a nice hot bed of embers. Warning: food will cook fast this way because it's so close to such a hot fire.) Of course if what you've brought to cook can be put on a debarked and sharpened green stick and held over the fire to cook, you'll eat sooner.

Now spend the rest of the afternoon and early evening doing what you like, but center it around thoughts of the Sun/solar mythology. For example, you might want to have some mythology books on hand in which to find appropriate reading. You might like to woodburn a wand as mentioned above. Simply lying in the Sun and absorbing the Sun's energy into yourself might feel nice. (Avoid sunburn however.) Or, enjoy playing/swimming in the water.

While in the water you could think about the Celtic myth of Dylan and Lugh and/or the whole Celtic idea of twin Gods. One "ruled" from Winter Solstice until Summer Solstice when He was killed by His tanist/twin. The twin then "ruled" from Summer Solstice night until Midwinter, when the light twin (and He) is reborn.

In the case of Dylan (the dark twin) and Lugh (the light twin), at their birth Dylan runs to the sea, dives in, and is never seen again. It would seem He becomes a Sea God and, in some senses, an underworld deity and the Lord of the Sun's resting place at night. This is in keeping with the long-held belief that the Sun sank into the ocean each night to sleep. While it was there, it heated the waters of hot springs such as those used by the Romans at Bath. Feel the warmth of the Sun on your wet body. See it glisten in the drops of moisture on your skin as you raise your arm from the water.

As evening draws near, restoke your fire and light your quarter candles/torches in preparation for your orison to the setting Sun to come as the Sun goes down. When you are ready, prepare your dinner over your fire and enjoy your food, thinking of the transformations that preceded its entry into your system to sustain you.

Since you actually won't be leaving until after dark, it might be a good idea to start cleaning up now and putting away what you no longer need. It will simplify things later.

As the Sun begins its final descent in the sky, position yourself so that you can see it. To the casual observer, you will just be sitting there enjoying the sunset. In your mind you'll be meditating on/thinking about what that sunset foreshadows. From this point on, the Sun begins to weaken. We move toward Fall and Winter and cold. The Solar God weakens, is killed, and is replaced by his twin brother, the Lord of the Dark half of the year, the Holly King. He now becomes the beloved of the Goddess instead. Soon the harvesting of other animals and plants will begin as well. In this way the cycle is honored and perpetuated. So, too, one day will we weaken and die. The Goddess will harvest us and take us back into Herself, only to birth us anew. You might wish to chant or say, "Farewell, oh Sun, ever returning Light."

Extinguish your fire as the Sun slips below the horizon. Pack up any remaining gear. Put out your quarter candles/torches, dismissing the quarters as you do, and go home by the light of the Moon.