Blessings of the Sun

Summer Solstice greetings!

Even now, the sunlight begins to wane. We enjoy the heat and warmth as we prepare for the coming harvest, the inevitable culling. For some, those with their hands and roots deep in the soil, it is a literal harvest. For others, it is a harvest of ideas.

For me, much attention and energy has been going into Conclave: A Journal of Character and before that, ABNABooks.com. These lush literary gardens are filling with blossoms and fruits, and I anxiously await the Fall to see what we will take away from the crop.

The Fall is also my time to write, the time when I am most inspired, most driven to get the words on the page. I think it is all that lush darkness wrapped around me.

But now, in the warm Chicago afternoons, I will run with my children in the sun and try to cherish the warm breezes on my face. Summer is the time to enjoy our passions, to honor life around us, to celebrate the relationships we have. Even for those who are not sun-worshippers, many will miss the glow and light when it’s Wintertime.

“I am the fire that clears away the old
I am the holy light that guides you to your soul
I am the Flame Of Love for which you yearn
I am the sun that will always return.”

~Lisa Thiel, “Litha”

Bright blessings to you and yours.
~Valya

Published by Valya

Valya Dudycz Lupescu has been making magic with food and words for more than 20 years, incorporating folklore from her Ukrainian heritage with practices that honor the Earth. She’s a writer, content developer, instructor, and mother of three teenagers. Valya is the author of MOTHER CHRISTMAS, THE SILENCE OF TREES, and the founding editor of CONCLAVE: A Journal of Character. Along with Stephen H. Segal, she is the co-author of FORKING GOOD: An Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of The Good Place and GEEK PARENTING: What Joffrey, Jor-El, Maleficent, and the McFlys Teach Us about Raising a Family (Quirk Books), and co-founder of the Wyrd Words storytelling laboratory. Valya earned her MFA in Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and her poetry and prose have been published in anthologies and magazines that include, The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Kenyon Review, Culture, Gargoyle Magazine, Gone Lawn, Strange Horizons, Mythic Delirium. You can find her on Twitter @valya and on Mastodon.social @valya

One thought on “Blessings of the Sun”

  1. Rebecca Crandell says:

    I read your thoughts with great interest, Valya. Gives me much to think about.

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