MIDSUMMER/LITHA/SUMMER SOLSTICE is the Sabbath of Midsummers Eve or the Summer Solstice.It is the longest day and the shortest night of the year, when the Sun is at the height of its power.This first day of summer is also the longest day of light in the Northern Hemisphere.(In the Southern Hemisphere, June 21 is the first day of winter, or the Winter Solstice.) The breeze is balmy and pleasant,and flowers are in full bloom.The ancients celebrated Midsummer because the fruits (literally) of their hard work were now obvious in their gardens and fields,and even in the fruit-laden trees. They also considered this the most potent time of year to work magic of any kind,and the best month to be married (in Ireland).Decorate your home with roses and other summer flowers. Gather herbs and look for feathers on the ground to weave into magical charms and talismans. The Earth Mother welcomes us outdoors to share her wonders in warmth and comfort. Celebrate summer by walking barefoot whenever you can.
The Solstice is a Sacred day to the Wiccians.It is marked by the alignment of the Sun and the stones at Stonehenge and other circles throughtout Western Europe,as the Medicine Wheels of the Plains tribes in North America.
This is the Time of Worship to the Sun Gods and the Sun Goddess'some of them which are honoured are below
Sun Gods: BEL,SHAMASH,RA,APOLLO,HELIOS
Sun Goddess': USHAS,EOS,AURORO OF THE DAWN,BAST,SEKHMET
In some traditions the Lady rules the warm half of the year,and her power is greatest at this time.
Some say that the Solstice represents the meeting of the Astral and Physical.
It is a festival both of triumph and sadness:we share in the suns radiance and glory,yet we know it must fade as the summer wanes. Symbols for Litha: eye of ra,Bast,sun symbols,catherine wheels,rose,hawthorn
MULLED WINE FOR MIDSUMMER:
Fennel seed;mugwort;sage,bay leaf;cinnamon.
THINGS TO DO ON MIDSUMMER:
1: Wear the sun's colors: crimson,orange,gold, or white.
2: Decorate your altar and cauldron with yellow and white summer flowers,gold ribbons, and a big solar disc or solar wheel.
3: Build a great fire in the evening, and dance around it. Or, build two fires, sprinkle on magickal and medicinal herbs, pass between them, and make your wishes for the blessings of health and prosperity. Later, scatter the ashes on your fields,garden,lawn or house plants.
4: Have the High Priestess or Summer Queen make a bouquet of 9 herbs or flowers,and 9 weeds; she should bind it with 5 ribbons(red,blue,green, yellow,white), and cast it in the fire, calling a blessing on the valuable plants and fiery destruction upon the weeds.
5: Raise power to perform magick of will and transformation; remember your goals and strive toward them.
6: Hold a ritual at high noon. Let the sun's rays enter an amber chalice of brandy or chamomile tea, and then drink of the sun's energy.
7: Celebrate the height of the sun's power with a grand display of coven fireworks.
8: Make a God-figure of sticks with a foil-wrapped loaf in center,entwining flowers in it, and casting it into the fire; the Sun-God "dies" in the flames, yet is reborn in the grain and the baked bread.
9: Enact the death of the Oak King and the coming-to-power of the Holly King.
10: The High Priestess, or her chosen representative, may perform a special Midsummer Dance.
11: Make a Catherine Wheel, or frame of sticks with flammable material among the spokes. At the climax of your ritual, light it and send it plunging down a hillside into a pond or lake.
12: Perform fire divination. See what you can read of will, purpose, and transformation in the leaping flames.
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