Litha

[AngelPunks]

History of Litha (MidSummer)

Also known as Summer Solstice, Litha, Alban Hefin, Sun Blessing, Gathering Day, Feill-Sheathain, Whit Sunday, Whitsuntide, Vestalia, Thing-tide, St. John's Day

In addition to the four great festivals of the Pagan Celtic year, there are four lesser holidays as well: the two solstices, and the two equinoxes. In folklore, these are referred to as the four 'quarter-days' of the year, and modern Witches call them the four 'Lesser Sabbats', or the four 'Low Holidays'. The Summer Solstice is one of them.

Litha is usually celebrated on June 21st (northern hemisphere - 21 Dec in southern hemipshere), but varies somewhat from the 20th to the 23rd, dependant upon the Earth's rotation around the Sun. According to the old folklore calendar, Summer begins on Beltane (May 1st in northern hemisphere - 1 August in southern hemisphere) and ends on Lughnassadh (August 1st in northern hemisphere - 1 May in southern hemisphere), with the Summer Solstice midway between the two, marking MID-Summer. This makes more logical sense than suggesting that Summer begins on the day when the Sun's power begins to wane and the days grow shorter. The most common other names for this holiday are the Summer Solstice or Midsummer, and it celebrates the arrival of Summer, when the hours of daylight are longest. The Sun is now at the highest point before beginning its slide into darkness.

Humanity has been celebrating Litha and the triumph of light since ancient times. On the Wheel of the Year Litha lies directly across from Yule, the shortest day of the calendar year, that cold and dark winter turning when days begin to lengthen and humanity looks wistfully toward warmth, sunlight and growing things. Although Litha and Yule are low holidays or lesser sabats in the ancient parlance, they are celebrated with more revel and merriment than any other day on the wheel except perhaps Samhain (my own favourite). The joyous rituals of Litha celebrate the verdant Earth in high summer, abundance, fertility, and all the riches of Nature in full bloom. This is a madcap time of strong magic and empowerment, traditionally the time for handfasting or weddings and for communication with the spirits of Nature. At Litha, the veils between the worlds are thin; the portals between "the fields we know" and the worlds beyond stand open. This is an excellent time for rites of divination.

Those who celebrated Litha did so wearing garlands or crowns of flowers, and of course, their millinery always included the yellow blossoms of St. John's Wort. The Litha rites of the ancients were boisterous communal festivities with morris dancing, singing, storytelling, pageantry and feasting taking place by the village bonfire and torch lit processions through the villages after dark. People believed that the Litha fires possessed great power, and that prosperity and protection for oneself and one's clan could be earned merely by jumping over the Litha bonfire. It was also common for courting couples joined 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 - they were charms against injury and bad weather in harvest time, and embers were commonly placed around fields of grain and orchards to protect the crops and ensure an abundant reaping. Other Litha customs included carrying an ember of the Litha fire home and placing it on one's hearth and decking one's home with birch, fennel, St. John's Wort, orpin, and white lilies for blessing and protection.

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. Midsummer is a time to absorb the Sun's warming rays and it is another fertility Sabbat, not only for humans, but also for crops and animals. Pagans consider the Goddess to be heavy with pregnancy from the mating at Beltane - honour is given to Her. The Sun God is celebrated as the Sun is at its peak in the sky and we celebrate His approaching fatherhood - honour is also given to Him. The faeries abound at this time and it is customary to leave offerings - such as food or herbs - for them in the evening.

Although Litha may seem at first glance to be a masculine observance and one which focuses on Lugh, the day is also dedicated to the Goddess, and Her flowers are the white blossoms of the elder.

Correspondences
Purpose
Rededication to the Lord and Lady, beginning of the harvest, honouring the Sun God,
honouring the pregnant Goddess

Dynamics/Meaning
Crowning of the Sun God, death of the Oak King, assumption of the Holly King,
end the ordeal of the Green Man

Tools, Symbols & Decorations
The sun, oak, birch & fir branches, sun flowers, lilies, red/maize/yellow or gold flower, love amulets, seashells, summer fruits & flowers, feather/flower door wreath, sun wheel, fire, circles of stone, sun dials and swords/blades, bird feathers, Witches' ladder.

Colours
Blue, green, gold, yellow and red.

Customs
Bonfires, processions, all night vigil, singing, feasting, celebrating with others, cutting
divining rods, dowsing rods & wands, herb gathering, handfastings, weddings, Druidic
gathering of mistletoe in oak groves, needfires, leaping between two fires, mistletoe
(without berries, use as a protection amulet), women walking naked through gardens
to ensure continued fertility, enjoying the seasonal fruits & vegetables, honor the
Mother's fullness, richness and abundance, put garlands of St. John’s Wort placed
over doors/ windows & a sprig in the car for protection.

Goddesses
Mother Earth, Mother Nature, Venus, Aphrodite, Yemaya, Astarte, Freya, Hathor,
Ishtar, all Goddesses of love, passion, beauty and the Sea, and Pregnant,
lusty Goddesses, Green Forest Mother; Great One of the Stars, Goddess of the Wells

Gods
Father Sun/Sky, Oak King, Holly King, Arthur, Gods at peak power and strength.

Animals/Mythical Beings
Wren, robin, horses, cattle, satyrs, faeries, firebird, dragon, thunderbird

Gemstones
Lapis lazuli, diamond, tiger’s eye, all green gemstones, especially emerald and jade

Herbs
Anise, mugwort, chamomile, rose, wild rose, oak blossoms, lily, cinquefoil, lavender,
fennel, elder, mistletoe, hemp, thyme, larkspur, nettle, wisteria, vervain ( verbena),
St. John’s wort, heartsease, rue, fern, wormwood, pine,heather, yarrow,
oak & holly trees

Incense/Oil
Heliotrope, saffron, orange, frankincense & myrrh, wisteria, cinnamon, mint, rose, lemon, lavender, sandalwood, pine

Rituals/Magicks
Nature spirit/fey communion, planet healing, divination, love & protection magicks.
The battle between Oak King, God of the waxing year & Holly King, God of the waning
year (can be a ritual play), or act out scenes from the Bard’s (an incarnation of Merlin)
"A Midsummer Night’s Dream", rededication of faith, rites of inspiration.

Foods
Honey, fresh vegetables, lemons, oranges, summer fruits, summer squash,
pumpernickel bread, ale, carrot drinks, mead.

[Nettie]

Thanks Punks... as usual, you are a wealth of information (and not just in AO! )

I have to work tomorrow but am making sure I'm wearing my Pentagram and taking a few things to 'decorate' my desk. We've recently had bit of a discussion at work about celebrating - and the others won't DARE confront me on it! Anyway, I'm the supervisor and they can all sod off! LOL

I might also have an early night tonight so I can get up early to have a bit of a morning ritual (or sit quietly as the sun comes up!). How are you going to celebrate?

[AngelPunks]

I did a litha wish last night - wrote down my wishes for the year, meditated on them and then burnt them - sending the ashes to the universe. Also did a blessing.

I've got fresh flowers in my place and tonight after a soul coaching session I'll do a spring clean.

I've meditated this morning, as the sun was coming up. Have incense burning as well - have had since 4:30am.

[Nettie]

I had full intentions of doing a meditation this morning, but hung washing out instead

I forgot my Pentagram until I went home at lunchtime and we had hotdogs for lunch and processed pasta for tea. So I'm not feeling very happy with myself for kinda missing the celebrating thing...

Might have some home-grown fruit for dessert though... that might redeem me somewhat!

[AngelPunks]

I have a Tiffany & Co double heart necklace which my pent sits on at all times - I can hide it behind the hearts if I have to.

I think I freaked out my boss' wife today at lunch when she asked me what I was doing for xmas and I said "I don't celebrate it" - she looked right at my neck and looked at the necklace (supposedly this is part of my "alternative lifestyle" that my boss keeps on harping on about methinks).

I'm open at work because I decided long ago, if you're open about things, people will ask you questions and become a bit more educated on non-christian pathways. We've got a hindi in the office and she is open about her religion as well.

[Nettie]

Everyone knows I don't celebrate the Christian holidays, but that I do 'something else'... It seems to be quite an unstated thing at my workplace! I'm open about it - but no-one wants to ask because they don't understand it. Thankfully a new person on site is a practicing Pagan too and we have great chats!!

The rest of our mix is interesting. We've got me - a Pagan, a Christadelphian, a Catholic, a Anglican, someone who believes in God - but is non-practicing anything and our newest staff member goes to church, but I don't know which one, and one other whom I don't know her inclinations. We also have a few staff members who are Jehovah Witnesses.

Great mix of people who mostly get along - I say we're the definition of tolerance!