Happy Solstice Dear Friends,
June 20th (10:04 pm in California) is the Summer Solstice in the Northern Latitudes. Also known as Midsummer, it is one of the eight great spokes on the Celtic wheel of seasons. The Solstice (meaning sun stands still) is universally recognized in all cultures as an important turning point—it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Sun energy is at its peak and we feel its primal creative force. In Celtic tradition, it is the time of honoring masculine energy.
I believe there is no mistake that Father’s Day is generally quite close to this date and this year I paid attention to the words on cards, especially those given to my husband from our three grown daughters. My girls were saying “your support and encouragement have taught me to succeed” and they were appreciating their dad’s “patience, wisdom, guidance, and love.” These qualities are quite different from the hyper-masculine images seen in movies and videos of long drawn out fights, car chases, swaggering bullies and Players hunting women.
Because of this season of the Sun, I wanted to share some of my thoughts about men. Particularly, I want to mention some of the movements that are helping redefine what it is to be a man in our culture. I feel strongly that as we focus on the positive developments, these contributions will grow. The movements I refer to are those of men choosing to right their collective wrongs and to diminish the energy of control and brute force that has so long held sway. So if you like what you see, please share it.
Here are two videos that bring tears to my eyes as I listen to them on YouTube: I include the urls in this newsletter. One is a TED talk by Jackson Katz, Ph.D. who has been actively training men against violence for decades. He believes that our culture maintains a kind of silence with regard to the systems that perpetuate rape, abuse and domestic violence. He believes that “victim blaming” is pervasive and it keeps the attention off men. He also states that boys traumatized by adult male violence keeps the cycle going. I urge you to listen to the difference he is making in this great redefining of what it is to be a man. www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTvSfeCRxe8
The second video is so heartfelt and moving that I was stunned the first time I watched it. This is a movement called The Manifesto for Conscious Men www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_uRIMUBnvw. These men you will see have all volunteered to speak a section of a long apology to women for all they have endured at the hands of men. What moves me more than anything is the stark sincerity in their eyes as they speak with courage and humility, going straight to our hearts. I have recommended this video to many women who have experienced trauma at the hands of men: fathers, brothers, uncles, boyfriends and husbands, as well as strangers.
More than anything, it is men such as Dr. Katz and those speaking on the Manifesto that I would like to encourage. I feel grateful for the good hearted men in the world who are willing to stand up and break the silence and to make amends. This is what I honor on this Summer Solstice; this is what will bring the balance of the Divine Feminine with the Divine Masculine.
Blessings of the Summer Solstice, Linda
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