The sun reaches its zenith at the Summer Solstice marking the strength and power of summer's light - the peak of summer. The land expresses this fullness; trees are covered with great canopies of green, summer meadows are full of wild flowers, garden flowers are in full bloom, and the crops planted earlier in the year are reaching the peak of their growth. This is a time of abundance, of life force at its height. And this is reflected within in an inner sense of fullness and maturity that follow the earlier periods of fast growth and expansion. This is a time of vitality and confidence, of taking our place out in the world, for the Maiden Goddess has now passed through a transition and assumed the mantle of the Mother. There is a sense of accomplishment and achievement having taken place, and of maturation and the stability which arises from this, but we can still use this strength and self confidence to continue to develop our creative projects before the inevitable decline which follows this peak of the sun's powers. Lammas tide follows in early August and marks the beginning of the harvest season. Days begin to shorten, the weather is still hot but trees and leaves have lost their earlier freshness and flowers are now beginning to seed. There is a languorous quality to this period of summer as the power of growth begins to subside whilst the days remain still and hot. The crops now are ripening in the fields and it is time to begin cutting the fields of barley and wheat - of gathering in the harvest. And within, we too begin to reap the fruits of the creative cycle of the year. This is the time then to begin to harvest in the results of those projects and plans which were dreamed into life at midwinter.

Cycles of the Heavens

August - Leo

The Sun enters the sign of The Lion on the 22nd July and the mythic nature of the heavenly landscape shifts from the imaginative, nurturing, watery terrain of the Crab ruled by Luna, the Lady of the Night, into the bright realm of Sol, the Divine King, Lord of Light and Summer. The imaginal tone now becomes one of power, stability and kingship, as the focussed power and light of fixed fire radiates out across the land. The energy of fire is the creative energy of life, which in Leo confers a vitality and warmth, as Leo enriches life with the power, illumination and light of the Sun. Fire, whose light brings insight and vision, is naturally attuned to the realm of archetypes and symbols and looks to the spiritual heights both without and within to discover pattern and meaning, in order to infuse life with insight and understanding. It is this perception which bestows an openheartedness and a generosity of spirit in this sign. This is the time of the sustained strength of the sun's power and light which generates a warm languorous mood in the summer landscape and which swells the crops and sweetens the fruits for the first harvest at Lammas tide. Here we expand both our hearts and our visions as we stretch out on a warm summer's day replenishing our spirit in the summer's light.