Indigenous Rituals Latines Can Practice This Summer Solstice

This story is part of Como Celebramos, in which we're sharing how we're honoring our favorite summertime Sunday rituals.

Summer is upon us, and for many, the solstice on June 20 commences the season of barbecues, concerts in the park, days at the beach, and overall summer fun. This time of year can also be a beautiful opportunity to practice Indigenous spiritual rituals to keep these traditions alive and pay respect to our ancestors.

The sun is a symbol of life, and Indigenous communities across Latin America and the Caribbean worshiped the sun as a deity, making the summer solstice a spiritual holiday celebrated in various ways. The sun can heal and create, and Indigenous communities celebrated this big, bright ball of fire in the sky so they could tap into its power.

Music, dance, and offerings to Mother Earth are often at the center of Indigenous summer solstice rituals. The Caribbean Indigenous people, the TaÍnos, praised the sun as one of their most important symbols and their connection to the universe. The Mayans celebrated in grand design with bright colors, music, food, dance, and spiritual garb honoring the sun. Historically, they gathered at Chichen Itza, a sacred city where the massive pyramid, El Castillo, is located. As the sun rose, it cast a shadow resembling a serpent on the pyramid steps. Crowds would gather to pray, sing, dance, and celebrate this incredible display of what they believed to be a direct connection with the sun deity.

Today, we can continue honoring the sun as our ancestors did to keep tradition alive and pay homage to those who paved the way. Here's how to celebrate the summer solstice this year.

Around the world, 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. is considered an auspicious time frame, or when one feels the strongest connection to the spirit. Prayer and other spiritual rituals are often performed during these hours.

Waking up before the sun rises during the summer solstice can be a very powerful experience because the sun shines for the longest period of time on that day. When you awake before the sun, you are showing respect and honor to this source of life. You are honoring what the sun provides for all of us here on Mother Earth and how you are nourished by it personally.

So, set your alarm to a tranquil tone that will gently awake you, not jolt you out of your sleep. Throw some cold water on your face to help bring awareness to your body. Make gentle and intentional movements as you do this. You can prepare a spot for your spiritual practice the evening before or that morning. Find a place that feels safe and comforting. Cover your head with a scarf or headwrap to contain energy flow and protect your crown chakra.

Sit on a yoga mat or meditation pillow (my personal go-to is a faux sheepskin rug). Get cozy in your seat, light a candle, burn some sage and/or palo santo, or do whatever else you feel called to do to prepare yourself for stillness and diving inward. Sit in meditation for as little as five minutes, or longer if you'd like. Fifteen to 20 minutes would be great if you feel good doing it for that time. Set the intention to focus on your personal growth and elevation. Imagine yourself as a seed that sunrays nourish until it blooms into a beautiful, vibrant flower.

After meditation, journal, pray, sing, dance, and marvel at the sun as it rises and fills the morning sky with beautiful light. Say words of gratitude as it rises. Reflect on what this new season will bring and how you can make the most out of it for your personal evolution.

The Full Moon in Capricorn is on June 21, the day after the summer solstice. This is a powerful time to create a two-day spiritual ritual honoring the sun, allowing its warmth and fiery essence to melt away all that no longer serves you.

Make this a fun activity and begin preparing for your Cap full moon summer solstice ritual a few days before. Gather your materials, such as flowers, candles, and herbs. Open your windows and even your doors every day to really shift the energy in your space before beginning your two-day ritual.

On day one, June 20, you can honor the sun as described in the first example. The following day, play music, burn sage and/or palo santo throughout your home and around yourself, and prepare to indulge in a Full Moon in Capricorn limpia.

You will enter summer on a clean slate with limitless possibilities for growth and deep, lasting, transformative healing.

Celebrating the summer solstice as a collective with like-minded friends and loved ones is quite powerful and echoes how our ancestors celebrated the day with large gatherings of hundreds of people. Gather at a park you love or your backyard if you have one, and invite friends to join you.

A cacao ceremony under the sun can be powerful as it taps into the heart chakra. Cacao is the seed from which chocolate is produced. The beverage is typically warm but could be prepared at a cooler temperature. Drinking it at room temperature is also soothing. This powerful spiritual drink has been used for generations to tap into our inner selves and gain clarity on the path of our human journey. The ceremony is intended to uplift and inspire everyone to embrace a higher state of consciousness and connect more deeply with themselves and others.

After the cacao ceremony, get up and move freely. Try not to think about how you look, but instead how you feel. Allow your body to move to the beat of a drum, the sound of a flute, or the strum of a guitar. You can play music or invite friends to bring instruments they can play.

Spiritually cleansing your home should be part of your consistent care for the place you reside. Our ancestors believed that our home has a soul; when we show gratitude and love to our space, it will reciprocate.

Deep home cleanses, also known as limpiezas, are a way to transition between seasons and renew and refresh the energy flow in your home. For the summer solstice, this is especially important because you are preparing your space for a few months of warmer temperatures when the windows and doors may be open more than usual. This allows energy, good and not-so-good, to flow through your home. A limpieza will ensure that you are sealing in positivity for the duration of the season of growth.

You can begin by physically cleaning your space by dusting, clearing clutter, and moving furniture around. As you sweep your floors, imagine all the stagnant and negative energy you are sweeping away from your home. Add one cup of Florida Water, half a cup of rose water, and 1/4 cup of rue water to your mop water to deeply cleanse your floors and windows and invite love in.

Change sheets, pillowcases, and curtains. Make this fun and play with bright colors that uplift your soul and leave your space airy and inviting. Rearrange furniture to shift the energy in the room and place flowers strategically throughout your home so you can see them smiling at you as you move about.

Just as the moon is a powerful companion we can tap into to invite change and energy shifts in our lives, the sun is, too. They represent the duality of life — the light and the dark, the female and masculine energies — all of which we also possess. So, honor the sun on the solstice because, as you do, you also honor and celebrate the light within.

Zayda Rivera is a POPSUGAR contributor. She has been a professional writer for more than 20 years. Z is a certified Reiki Master Teacher, yoga and Zumba instructor, mindfulness and meditation guide, tarot reader, and spiritual mentor.