A brew from the Sun!
This year's Summer Solstice came loaded with blessings! As you've probably noticed since we haven't stopped talking about it in our emails! We always considered the Summer Solstice a special date; it is the longest day of the year and the moment when the Northern Hemisphere is the closest to the Sun! That in itself is worth celebrating!
Aside from the astrological wonder it represents, it is also a date infused with culture, history, and spirituality. It is characterized by special gatherings loaded with ancient symbolism from Egyptians, Aztecs, Chinese, Native Americans, and Northern European cultures.
"Since ancient times, the Sun has been a symbol of life"
Places like Stonehenge in England, Stockholm in Sweeden, Kronos in Greece and Reykjavic in Iceland host special celebrations in praise of the Sun. In Stonehenge, people contemplate the stone's perfect alignment with the Sun as it rises during sunrise. Old scriptures describe how the Greeks removed any class constraints to celebrate the day, and all humanity was considered equal; some would also go on spiritual journeys and hiked 9,573 feet to the peak of Mt. Olympus. The Traditional Midsommar festival in Sweeden is now widely recognized for its music and dance around Maypoles, walking barefoot, dressing in white and making floral crowns to tie around the hair and honour beauty and fertility. And in Austria, it is traditional to lit bonfires on mountaintops to ward off evil spirits.
The word "solstice" comes from Latin solstitium, where sol means Sun, and stitium means still or stopped. The journey of the Sun throughout the year symbolizes the process of enlightenment, and the summer solstice marks the climax of this journey, staying still up high and shining the most light–representing the light and femininity of all life and consciousness. It also symbolizes change and growth, internal and external. Externally experienced through the change of the seasons and the Earth's rotation axis. Internally, it is an opportunity to reflect on our personal growth and inner wisdom. And we couldn't miss this vibrational energy and peak of strength, fertility and abundance.
Sparked by our 108 Sun Salutations
According to the Yogic Vedas, the Sun–Surya is the creator of all life and the physical manifestation of one's soul. So this year, we started the new tradition of doing 108 Sun Salutations–Surya Namaskar–to light our inner fire and move our energy and emotions out and upward. In the Yogic scriptures, 108 is a sacred number, the number of spiritual completion. The diameter of the Sun is 108 times the diameter of the Earth, while the average distance of the Sun and Moon to Earth is 108 times their respective diameters. One day, we hope to celebrate this date with 108 friends vibrating side by side with us!
With each Sun Salutation, as if we orbit the Sun and return back to Earth, we felt one step closer to uncovering our ultimate purpose in life. To surrender to our breath and listen to our inner wisdom through movement.
As personal as this experience was, it inspired us to look outwards too and give back to those around us. We couldn't think of a more special person to help us than our beautiful friend Shannon from Booch Organic Kombucha! All these combined symbolism and emotions sparked the idea of crafting a vibrant brew in honour of our shining Sun. One filled with exotic flavours, energy and much love!
We approached some of our farmer friends and invited them to join us in this summer-long adventure. The first step was to bring the idea to life, so we expressed our vision through art! While sitting in the backyard with paint in hand and kombucha filters as our canvas, we painted away while chatting about nature, purpose, friendship, connection and gratitude. And our paintings became our label! We crafted the concept under the Sun, and finished the design over many sunsets!
We then approached our farmer friends from The Culinary Farm and invited them to join us by growing delicious, organic passion fruit for us! It is one of my childhood favourite fruits, as they remind me of my mom's vines growing wild through our backyard. It was also a fruit that Shannon have always wanted to include in one of her brews. The most magical part of it all was going on a road trip together to tour the farm, where Sara Spence and her family taught us how to hand pollinate the plants and let us harvest the passion fruit ourselves. We also learned about butterflies, pollinators and wildflowers. It was an entire day surrounded by nature that ended on a whimsical trail walk with Carl, killer mosquitoes and lots of laughs as we got lost along the way.
We also invited Loco Fields to join our solstice brew by providing us with fresh ginger. Palatine Roses added juicy peaches to the mix, and lastly, our friend Bettina added the final touch by harvesting calendula and starflower from her backyard.
We sliced and pulped the fruit together over laughs and chats. Then, we circled around the brewing tank, and as we added the ingredients one by one, we set the intention of the brew by expressing what this experience meant for us!
The Sun in a bottle
Now it is time to share! We checked all the boxes to create a dreamy celebration. It didn't all happen in one day, but it all sparked during our Sun Salutations on June 20th! We collected fruits, plants and healing herbs; spent time together and strengthened our friendship; we gathered with others and expressed our creativity through paint; we braided sweetgrass with our sisters, circled around our brew with intention and kept our sacred fire burning all summer long!
We hope to continue this solstice tradition for many years to come, to get together with our many small-business friends, get to know them better, share experiences, grow together, laugh and craft meaningful baby projects just for fun… the kind that would have never come to be otherwise! It is time for you to enjoy this brew, feel the love and be grateful for the unconditional growth, light, fire and life that the Sun provides for us!
Filled with love,
Alieska