This Monday, June 20, is a very special day for pagans around the world. That's because Monday is both a full moon and the summer solstice. In the pagan calendar there are two types of holy days: sabbats and esbats. Sabbats are based around the solar calendar and mark the summer and winter solstices, the spring and autumn equinoxes, and halfway between each of them. They are generally celebrated as a marker of the passage of time, a changing of the seasons, and often to honor certain gods or goddesses in one'sitting given tradition. Esbats on the other hand follow the lunar calendar and are celebrated on full moons. They honor the feminine energy of the moon and are generally used to give thanks, pray, practice magick, and reflect on what has happened over the last lunar cycle. It is fairly uncommon for an esbat and a sabbats to coincide so it's a special treat when it does.

I am a solo practitioner. That means that I don't generally celebrate sabbats or esbats with other people. It is something that I do for myself and by myself. With this alignment of the full moon and the solstice (known as the Strong Sun Moon and Litha, respectively), I will be doing a special ritual to celebrate both. I won't go into detail on my ritual here, but I would like to discuss why it is so important to me that the two coincide.

In most pagan traditions (and as is reflected in many cultures around the world), the sun represents the masculine and the moon represents the feminine. Worshiping the appropriate one can be a very intense way for a person to connect with their masculine/feminine side. As someone who is genderqueer, the fact that I will have the chance to celebrate them both on a special day is empowering. Pagan traditions tend to be more accepting of people who fall outside the gender binary than most major world religions but that affirmation is still amazingly powerful. There is something intense and beautiful about connecting with both the Mother and the Father in a single ritual which I think many people miss out on. And it doesn't only apply to people like me. For people outside the gender binary, connecting with both our feminine and masculine sides is something we do and reaffirm daily. But for people who are strictly male or female, both sides still exist and it's important to remember that reconnecting with the one opposite your gender does not threaten your status as a male or female. Since everyone has both sides, it allows you to know yourself better. And that is why days like this, where both the feminine and the masculine energy are so powerfully flowing through the earth, are so important.

So this Monday, I implore you to go out and celebrate. Even if you aren't pagan and you won't say a prayer or perform a ritual, go outside. Go out during the day, feel the sun on your face, and embrace the masculine energy flowing through you. Go out at night, look up into the moonlight, feel the breeze, and embrace the feminine energy around. It is a magical day that I think can be very restorative for many people. I know it will be for me.