13th June, 2024 in Folklore, Natural World

A time traveller’s guide to watching the sunrise

By Dawn Nelson

To mark the Summer solstice join Dawn Nelson author of Stories of the Sun as she watches the sunrise…

Come with me to a hillside where the trees face east and if you stand with them, you can watch the sunrise. Here the twilight lingers and the dew on the grass glistens in the gloaming. If we, for a moment, step into the elastic liminal space that exists between night and day, the crepuscular hours of the dawn and the dusk, and sit for a while, we may find that we have the ability to step through a gap in time and walk the path of those before us.

We may experience true awe as we watch Neolithic communities roll stones from the Preseli Hills in Wales to Salisbury Plain in England. Watch them carefully observe the sun and line up those 25-ton stones with it as it rises above them. Haul on ropes to stand them tall in the surrounding landscape, inspiring wonder in all those who see them.

We may see the Egyptian civilisations as they hide their Pharoh, a direct link to the sun, during an eclipse, so that no harm falls to him. We may sit awhile in the temples of Greece to hear stories of Helios, Apollo, Phaeton, Eos and Hemera. We may wonder at these gods and their complex lives, their fierce protection of the earth and their indifference to humans.

As we sit, we see Romans celebrating the solstice and the birth of their Sun God, Sol Invictus and as the Saxons arrive, we see them bring a second Sol and Mani both with wolves to chase them across the sky.

Hurry on and we see yrplings (earthlings) working the land. They encounter many more stones rooted in the earth and they dance amongst them. From their footsteps and laughing voice, spring new stories of witches, zealous brides and magical cows.

How farest thee on this journey for Henry is now on the throne and they are still dancing. This time around the Maypole as the farming folk and their communities celebrate the gifts the sun has given them this year

We journey on and smoke fills the skies as the Industrial Revolution arrives. We artificially lengthen our days, wring out ever last productive hour with candles, lamps and soon electricity. The machines churn on and progress marches forward as we spend hours in the dark behind walls that block us from the sun, softening our bones.

Laws are passed so that we may find balance in this new world of productivity, yet we continue on this path. We build more and more boxes to live and work in and spend more and more time in the glow of knowledge boxes, moving further away from the hill where the sun rises.

But the hill is still there. Waiting. Patiently. Sit once more on that hill and watch the light as it returns to us and you may find peace and a calm that we once honoured with megaliths. Come and join me and I will tell you the stories of the sun.