Summer solstice arrives in eastern Idaho

June 20 and 21 mark a couple very special days for many cultures around the world.

Depending on exactly where you live, one of those days marks the summer solstice.

The day is widely regarded as a highly spiritual time for many religions and groups far and wide.

At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, Dr. Richard Eckman explained the phenomena that creates the solstice.

“I’m going to use my pen as a prop here,” he said as he tilted his ball point pen at a slight angle.

The solstice, he said, occurs when the earth is tilted just so.

“Imagine that this pen is the axis of the earth, with the top here being the north pole and the bottom here being the south pole,” he said.

The summer solstice comes when the earth’s axis points the north pole directly at the sun.

“The summer solstice will be the day with the most sunlight, and it will also be the day in which the sun gets higher in the sky,” said Eckman.

For an agricultural community, that means a lot. Historically, the summer solstice marked harvest time — a time of bounty both literal and spiritual.

At Nature’s Path Theta Healing Center in Idaho Falls, hollistic educator Vianna Stibal said there is a lot of energy that comes with the solstice. What ever an individual focuses on — positive or negative — will be enhanced at this time of year.

“If they are focused and they focus on their life, their love, their success, they’re going to be happier than they’ve ever been,” she said.