Celebrating Litha ☼ June 21st

[kyst]

Celebrating Litha ☼ June 21st

Also known as:

• Summer Solstice (Sol = Sun, stice = still) | Sun rises and sets in the same place at the same times for 3 days, hence the aspect of “still”.
• Midsummer
• Alban Hefin - “The Light of the Shore”/“The Light of Summer”

During the Solstice, the sun is at it’s peak and it’s most potent, before we enter the waning half of the year where energy will be moving inwards as days begin to shorten. It is the longest day and shortest night of the year!

We are transitioning from the lively sign of Gemini (♊, air) to the nurturing sign of Cancer (♋, water). The full moon, Cancer’s ruling planet, is nicknamed the “Honey Moon”, as bees have been busy and working hard and it’s now time to make their honey!

Midsummer’s Eve takes place on June 20th, the night before the Solstice. It is an evening of celebration, faery magic, and cleansing; bathe in the moonlight, soaking up it’s potent energy and dance around a bonfire, honouring and thanking the sun. Leap over the fire for purification. Traditionally oak wood and symbolic/aromatic herbs are burned.

This is a time of time of joy, celebration, fertility, and abundance! :)

Celebrating the Summer Solstice:

• Water your plants/gardens
• Soak up the sun’s powerful energy; go for a swim, a walk, a picnic, garden… Spend time outdoors!
• Light candles
• Make/burn incense
• Watch the sunrise/sunset
• Let light in your home/space
• Clarify intentions, such as ones made during Imbolc and Beltane
• Herbs and flowers are most potent at this time for healing and magic, so collect them now
• Give collected plants as offerings
• Give offerings to the Fae
• Make flower crowns/wreaths
• It’s a perfect time for fire hoopers!
• Make sun tea
• Take a magical bath (candlelit, make a “bath tea”, meditate, burn incense or oils, drink tea)
• Make suncatchers
• Create in honor of the Sun; write a poem, a song, draw, sculpt, photograph, etc
• Midsummer’s Eve is the perfect time for Faery magic
• Love spells
• Water spells (collect sea water, charge water under moonlight)
• Cleanse and charge items under the Full Moon and Sun
• Use in-season fruits and vegetables in cooking

Decorating Your Altar:

• Oak leaves/wood
• Hag stones
• In-season fruits and vegetables
• Roses
• Mistletoe
• Collected herbs, flowers
• Sunflowers
• Lavender
• St. John’s Wort
• Mugwort
• Marigold
• Elder
• Rosemary
• Chamomile
• Lemon
• Frankincense
• The Sun
• Full Moon
• Water
• Fire
• Bees
• Faeries
• Love
• Carnelian
• Tiger’s Eye
• Citrine
• Emerald
• Jade
• Fluorite
• Ruby
• Quartz
• Amethyst
• Malachite
• Any colours depending on their symbolism; pink (love, nurturing, feminine), red (sun, fire, flowers - roses, passion, strawberries, fertility), orange (sun, fire, flowers - marigolds, creativity, self-expression, celebration, fun), yellow (sun, fire, air, flowers, happiness), gold (sun, abundance, prosperity, health, positivity), green (prosperity, health, life, abundance, healing, earth, growth, luck), blue (water, peace, communication), purple (magic, spirituality, flowers, fae/spirits), silver(moon, feminine), white (air, all purpose, cleansing, purification, consecration, healing)

Happy Solstice! ☼ 
✨ ☽♡☾ ✨ 

 

Source:magickandmoss

[kyst]

Midsummer Ideas

I’ll be going camping with the fam till mid next week, so I’ll leave you with some Midsummer/Litha celebration ideas for until I get back.

-It’s the longest day of the year, so you can create an altar for light, fire, and/or the sun with candles, a fire bowl, sparklers, stones and herbs associated with the sun, reflective objects, a gold altar cloth, etc.

-If you’re more into night and darkness, wait for sunset and do a little ritual to welcome the returning night, as now for the next six months, the nights will be growing longer and the days shorter. Light a gold candle shortly before sunset and extinguish it when the sun is gone, bury it and replace it with a black or silver one. Leave offerings and prayers for dark deities. 

-The sun enters Cancer this day, which is a water sign, so you can honor that too by swimming, visiting the ocean, pegging water balloons at those who have wronged you, taking a ritual bath/shower…

-Drum circles and other music making. (You can also include making the drums and shakers in your festivities, especially if you have kids).

-Making and leaving treats for the fairies because either a.) you genuinely like them, or b.) to give them a peace offering so they won’t hide your stuff or fuck up your house.

-Do research on sun deities.

-Meditate on the Sun’s energy. (*whispers* work on your tan.)

-This year it’s on the same day as the full moon, so take advantage of this glorious blend of solar and lunar energy. Work magick to promote harmony, healing, bringing much needed motivation, energy, or inspiration into your life, bringing in new relationships, or strengthening already existing bonds. 

-Watch Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book 3: Fire, Chapter 13: “The Firebending Masters.” I’m not entirely joking, this episode gives a nice commentary on the properties of fire and the sun.

-Wildly dance around the bonfire like the heathen you are.

N

-Gardening.

[kyst]

Litha

(LEE-thuh) a pagan celebration of the summer solstice, also known as midsummer. It is the longest day of the year, usually taking place on or around 21 June in the northern hemisphere and 21 December in the southern hemisphere. Celebrations may begin on Midsummer’s Eve. In ancient times, the summer solstice was a day of great importance to many cultures, often celebrated with the burning of bonfires. The summer solstice marks the sun at the peak of its power and the beginning of the waning year.

Activities and Rituals: Bonfires, bonfire leaping, all-nighters, cooking, singing, feasting, flower-gathering/drying,outdoor activities, watching the sun set

Spellwork: Protective amulets & spells, prosperity spells, blessings for good health and safe travel, honoring the fey

Decorations and Symbols: Sun imagery, fire imagery, fey, dried herbs and flowers, seashells, blades, daisy chains, flower crowns, stone circles, witch’s ladders, feathers, fireworks, potpourri

Colors: Red, orange, green, gold, blue, white

Food and Drink: Citrus, fresh fruit and vegetables, honey, tomato, strawberries, roasted meat, apples, carrots, lemon, cream, mango, round foods, cider, red wine, iced tea

Crystals and Stones: Any green stone, alexandrite, diamond, clear quartz, fluorite, citrine, lapis lazuli, sunstone, pearl, tiger’s eye, yellow topaz

Herbs and Incense: Apple, chamomile, sunflower, marigold, rose, carnation, parsley, heather, holly, ivy, wisteria, sage, cedar, mint, rowan, orchid, pine, chives

Deities: Apollo, Ameratsu, Hestia, Juno, Sulis, Sunna

(SOURCE)