If you have followed these pages through the year so far, you'll have begun to see a pattern emerging. As we left the cold months of midwinter through the Spring Equinox and round past Beltane, we saw the world returning to life around us.

In Paganism we call this the Wheel Of The Seasons and we look at it very closely to see how our own lives are following a similar cycle. It can be very revealing to watch your own seeds begin to blossom and this can also teach some important lessons about how things can grow and flourish. But it can also show us the importance of the Sun and the Moon in our lives.

Stonehenge: A focus for many Pagans at the Summer Solstice

The Summer Solstice, June 20th to 23rd, is another of the four major Pagan festivals in this cycle and marks the time when the Sun is at its closest to us and is at its most powerful. It's the time of the Father and, of course, we still mark it with Father's day, which usually falls roughly around this time of the year. Paganism is based around the beliefs that the Sun is a masculine energy and influences male attributes in nature, the Moon being feminine. One is fiery and fierce, the other watery and subtle but both are equally potent.

In this instance, the Sun encourages and energizes the growth all around us. The trees and plant life are now becoming their most verdant stage of the year. Not only are the flowers coming into their full glory, but also the woods and forests are reaching their peak. If we see it as the Father, we can see how the Sun has, in many ways, brought us out of the difficult early months of the year and is now providing us with nourishment and warmth.

The Solstice celebrates this apex and recognises the masculine powers which are flowing through the land. A great many rites and rituals are performed at Sundown and Sunrise on the Solstice. You will have seen pictures of Druids at Stonehenge, no doubt, in robes and carrying staffs. It is the same at midwinter and the male side of the Pagan faith concentrates on these two festivals possibly more than the female. For men, this time signifies a climactic point in the natural cycle when the male aspect is at its most creative, productive and constructive. For six months the Sun has been returning to the Earth and bringing its life giving energy with it. And male Pagans, of all traditions, usually mark this journey and celebrate it at both its beginning and its end.

This is the point at which the Sun seems to be suspended in space, it can often appear to set and rise at the same point in the sky. The longest day and the shortest night happen on the Solstice too. It's as if the great fireball just dips for a little time below the horizon and hardly leaves the sky. If you are out at that time it is quite a strange thing to witness, especially high up on a hill or in the south of England. I often look at this event as the one time when the God holds the skies supreme, the night sky is almost banished and his energy is at maximum.

At the Solstice, everything is in full bloom

At this time in the Pagan cycle the Goddess is passive and watchful. She has witnessed her son grow and take his place as the Sun God, doing his work and bringing life back to the world. She has given him all she can. She is now pregnant again and will, from now on, slowly take over the skies as her power increases towards the Winter Solstice. Interestingly, though, this year the Moon (which, I'm told, was very close to us) was in its fullest aspect on the Solstice making this night of particular importance in the Pagan world.

The full Moon is marked with rituals every month (Moon'th) but, when these kinds of celestial events occur simultaneously, it is a good excuse to mix the two together. I witnessed this rather strange event this year and can only describe it as awesome. The Moon actually looked very much like a miniature Sun rising on the opposite horizon to that which had just seen the Sun setting. I sometimes feel very lucky to be out and about on nights like these to see our solar system performing these quite incredible feats in the skies. This particular event illustrated the perfect relationship between the Sun and the Moon and the two polarities or male and female they represent.