Light and sky
The Sun is halfway between the equinox and the summer solstice.
Its height at noon increases from day to day, and the length of the day with it, but a little less quickly than at the equinox: the gain slows as the solstice approaches. In Europe, this is the time when trees unfurl their leaves, hedges bloom, and the soil warms enough for outdoor sowing. The season lasts nearly thirty-one days, longer than at the start of spring: the Earth is approaching its farthest point from the Sun, in midsummer, and slowing on its orbit, so the Sun seems to advance more slowly along the ecliptic and takes longer to cross each sign. Like the others, the season does not coincide with the constellation Taurus, which the Sun crosses only later, from late spring to early summer: it is precession that has shifted the signs.
- Element
- Earth
- Modality
- Fixed
- Ruler
- Venus
- Point of the year
- None (not a cardinal sign)
- Current season
- Libra