Litha - the Summer Solstice

Litha - The Summer Solstice


Festival of Achievement


20-23rd June (Northern hemisphere)
20-23rd December (Southern Hemisphere)

Midsummer is the longest day and the shortest night of the year. A time to celebrate the completion of the cycle that began at the Winter Solstice. It is the height of the sun's power. Athough the hot (hopefully) days of summer are yet to come, this is the point when the year starts to wane. All of life is pulsing with outer growth and manifest energy. All beings are out in the world, celebrating their own identity and uniqueness.

Solstice means 'standing of the sun' we can connect to this moment by taking time to stop, be still and look back over the past year. Celebrate our achievements and acknowledge our failures, make sense of our actions and learn from them.

Between now and the Winter Solstice we can focus on what we wish to nurture and develop in ourselves during the coming months.

Summer Solstice is a time to count our blessings, to celebrate our achievements and our selves. Celebrate each other, pass on the spirit of generosity and goodwill.

This connection to the high point of the year brings us full circle as we look back over the year we have had. The solstices are a dual celebration, for at the same time as we celebrate the height of one cycle we are also acknowledging its end and the beginning of a new cycle. At Litha we also celebrate the return of the dark and a reconnection to the wisdom within.

At midsummer the Goddess is heavy with pregnancy, just as the earth is pregnant with the coming harvest. For our ancestors midsummer rituals focused on nurturing new life both in the ground and in the wombs (animal & human).

The sun is at his peak in the sky, the Sun God at the peak of his life and we celebrate his approaching fatherhood.

Tansy
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Sources:
Earth Wisdom by Glennie Kindred
Sabbats by Edain McCoy
Photograph - from my garden