Litha

Summer Solstice is all about the fiery aspect of the sun, so why not celebrate the fertility of the gods with a blazing, roaring fire in your backyard? It’s the longest day of the year, so stay up lat...

Go for a hike in the woods with your family. Enjoy the sounds and sights of nature. Take lots of pictures, or plan a scavenger hunt—have each of the kids bring a “nature bag” to fill up. Remember, don...

Litha is a magical, mystical time of year. Why not host a drum circle or spiral dance? You’ll need a large group for this, but it’s a lot of fun once you get everyone moving. In addition to being ente...

Summer can be a hectic and chaotic time of year. Maybe you’re someone who needs to slow down and take a break. Litha is a good time to rejuvenate, so why not sit out in the sunshine and immerse yourse...

Turn off the phone, step away from the computer and television, and spend time just having fun with the people who love you most. Take the day off work if possible and spend it any way you like—go to ...

Clean your house. Take advantage of the warm weather to have a garage sale and get rid of all those things you don’t want. You can also organize a swap with your friends, or donate all your stuff to c...

Have a barbecue, and invite all your family and friends over. Decorate with colors of the sun—yellows, reds, and oranges. Feast on lots of summery food, like watermelons, strawberries, and fresh green...

Spend some time on spiritual growth. Use this time of year to learn something new about your tradition, develop a new skill, or take a class in Tarot, Reiki, yoga, or whatever appeals to you. Create a...

Many ancient cultures marked the summer solstice with rites and rituals honoring the sun. Celebrate the significance of Midsummer with ritual and prayers that recognize the sun and its magnificent pow...

A dressing created on Solstice Eve, in the softening light of the summer sun, reflected in our Well lantern(s) and candles. Healing herbs and flowers ~ calendula, jasmine, hypericum, lemon balm, yarro...

The sun, at its strongest on this side of the world now, provides the warmth for maturing growth and ripening in preparation for harvest. This season belongs to the oak, a tree synonymous with longevi...

As we consider the sun’s power, we may also consider our own. In this time of restriction, we have had an opportunity to consider what we value, what makes us feel whole and strong, where we want to p...

A dressing created on Solstice Eve, in the softening light of the summer sun, reflected in our Well lantern(s) and candles. Healing herbs and flowers ~ calendula, jasmine, hypericum, lemon balm, yarro...

Allow this energy to transform your visions from one phase of being to the next. Let your hearts to be illuminated with the inner connection to your destiny through the miracle of manifestation that i...

Never forget, within the cycles of nature you can access your power with the deep inner connection of the glorious ebb and flow of life which attunes you to earth’s natural energy. Dreams are realised...

You’re all a powerful force of nature and to move from the conscious to the subconscious you must harness a connection to all the elements. For you’re all earth’s gems and the ‘salt of the earth’.

The summer solstice is the first day of astronomical summer and the longest day of the year for people in the Northern Hemisphere. In ancient times, solstices and equinoxes were important in helping p...

In Wales prehistoric sites such as at Bryn Celli Ddu on Anglesey, the open burial chamber dated to around 2000BC, is so perfectly aligned that for only 20 minutes each year, a beam of sunlight aligns ...

Mistletoe was important to the Celtic Druids as it was believed to cure all ills. On Midsummer Eve, it is reported that they would cut it with a golden scythe and catch it in a cloth before it touched...

With the coming of Christianity, people were encouraged to give up their old traditions, by their incorporation into new Christian practices. For example, the summer solstice became known as the feast...

In Wales it is called Gŵyl Ifan Ganol Haf (St John’s of Midsummer) . Great agricultural fairs, which included dancing, merriment and the lighting of bonfires, were held at this time. Welsh tradition s...

A sprig of mistletoe gathered on Midsummer Eve and placed under the pillow was said to bring prophetic dreams and branches from birch trees were used to decorate maypoles town squares.

With the advent of non-conformist beliefs on the Welsh socio-political culture, this (among so many other similar festivals) suffered greatly, and its observance finally died out by the end of the 19t...

There are many ways to celebrate Litha and the Summer Solstice. You can spend time with loved ones, sing, dance, laugh, and watch the sunrise. Spend some time outside in nature. If you can, and it’s s...

Associations Candle colours: Gold, orange or red to mirror the Sun at its height Symbols: Brightly-coloured flowers, oak boughs, golden fern pollen that is said to reveal buried treasure wherever it f...

Summer solstice rituals are for courage, male potency and fertility, for achievement, success, confidence, health and happiness, for fulfilling potential and providing ever-expanding opportunities bot...

The power of the summer solstice can be harnessed for tackling seemingly insoluble problems and bringing light and life and hope to those who are depressed or who have been unable through circumstance...

St John’s wort, the golden herb of midsummer and symbol of the summer solstice, was said to offer fertility and powers to attract love if picked at midnight on 23 June, the eve of St John’s Day, or th...

There is a long-standing pagan tradition of lighting bonfires on beacon hills to strengthen the power of the Sun before it began its decline. On Midsummer Day, fire wheels were rolled down the hillsid...

The height of the festival is the first light falling on the morning of the solstice, like a shaft of gold across standing stones and stone circles, linking the dimensions. Many circles throughout Eur...

Time: Three days beginning from sunset around 20 June (20 December in the southern hemisphere) Focus: Full potency, illumination, mysteries revealed; healing, the height of joy, fulfillment, the need ...