Summer Solstice

Hey everyone! So I know I haven't posted for a few days but I thought it would be good to post something about the pagan holiday Litha or the Summer Solstice or Mid Summer's eve. So Happy Litha to you all and may you and your family be blessed with abundance!

So Litha is usually celebrated on June 21th, and according to the old folklore calender, Summer begins on Beltane (May 1sth) and ends on Lammas (August 1st), with the Summer Solstice midway between the two, it is marked as MID-Summer. The Sun is now at the highest point before beginning its slide into darkness or the decent into winter.

On the Wheel of the Year, Litha lies directly across from Yule (Dec. 21st), the shortest day of the year, that cold and dark day when humanity begins to look wistfully toward warmth, sunlight and growing things. The joyous rituals of Litha celebrate the verdant Earth in high summer, abundance of fertility, and all the riches of Nature in full bloom.

It is tradition that a bonfire is lit at Beltane, Litha and Lammas. People believed that the Litha fires possessed great power, and that prosperity and protection for oneself and one's family could be earned merely by jumping over the Litha bonfire. It was also common for courting couples to join hands and jump over the embers of the Litha fire three times to ensure a long and happy marriage, financial prosperity and many children. Even the charred embers from the Litha bonfire possessed protective powers, such as they were charms against injury and bad weather in harvest time. The embers were also commonly placed around fields of grain and orchards to protect the crops and assure abundant reaping.

The Litha Sabbat is a time to celebrate both work and leisure, it is a time for children and childlike play. It is a time to celebrate the ending of the waxing year and the beginning of the waning year, in preparation for the harvest to come. Litha is time to absorb the Sun's warming rays. It is also another fertility Sabbat, not only for humans, but for crops and animals.

The faeries abound at this time and it is customary to leave offerings, such as food or herbs for them in the evening. This is a particular time when faeries would bestow good luck on humans. An old ritual for children was to place food out in the garden for the faeries who would then sometimes leave crystals as a token of thanks.

Shakespeare took the legends of the fae and lovers traditions and wrote about them in his famous play - A Midsummer Night's Dream when faeries with their magic play the leading characters interacting with humans and mortals.

Here is some great info about Litha!

So now that the lesson is out of the way, what are my family and I doing for Litha? Well I am making bbq chicken, fresh summer veggies and mac n cheese (this one isn't really celebration appropriate but my 9 yr old loves it) I also have a small honoring alter set up and we did a small ritual this morning in the warm sun. It doesn't take a huge extravagant ritual or celebration to honor the God and Goddess, though they are fun. So go light your fires and dance with the faeries! Have a blessed day and Happy Litha to your family from ours!