Glory of the Day-Star, hail!
Lifter of the Gentle, Burnisher of the Sky.
Items of affection to earth are bringing,
Summer season’s shimmer, dew’s delight.
Dancing be the guts inside us,
Open be our souls to bliss,
Braveness vanquish each shadow,
Greet Midsummer with a kiss.
Caitlín Matthews, from Celtic Devotional: Day by day Prayers and Blessings
Joyful Solstice to all!
Joyful Litha (Summer season Solstice) to these of us within the northern hemisphere, and Joyful Xmas (Winter Solstice) to our buddies under the equator!
Above the equator at 10:57 am Jap time, the Solar, giver of life, reaches its northernmost level within the sky. At present, shadows are the smallest and the brilliant Solar illuminates all (though it’s pouring rain right here in Durham, NC). From at the present time ahead, She diminishes, the times develop shorter, and the harvest season beckons.
The phrase solstice is from the Latin, which means ‘solar standing nonetheless.’
It’s because for just a few days twice a 12 months, the Solar seems to rise and set in precisely the identical place. All through the world, the ancients have been tuned to this occasion: it’s an unmistakable level from which the remainder of the yearly calendar could also be precisely reckoned.
This date has had religious significance for hundreds of years as people have celebrated the life-giving powers of the Solar.
The Celts celebrated with bonfires, after which the Christians tried to exchange Litha with the feast of John the Baptist. It is usually the competition of Li, the Chinese language Goddess of sunshine. It’s nonetheless a big vacation in Scandinavia, Latvia, and Estonia (the place it’s second solely to Christmas).
Solstice rites are related to various cultures and websites the world over, together with Stonehenge in England, Casa Rinconada at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, Carrowkeel cairn in Eire, the Massive Horn Drugs Wheel in Wyoming, the Caracol Tower in Mexico, and the Pyramid of Khufu at Giza in Egypt.
Should you can’t attend in individual, English Heritage will once more be livestreaming Solstice on the nice stones for everybody to see.
The Summer season Solstice is 1 / 4 sabbat and is known as Midsummer or Litha in some medieval and Craft traditions; and Alban Hefin or Alban Heruin in different Celtic and Druid traditions.
Birthing the Darkness
At present is the ending of the waxing 12 months and the start of the waning 12 months, in preparation for the harvest to return. Within the legendary cycle, that is the tip of the reign of the Oak King, and the start of the Holly King’s rule.
From at the present time ahead, the times develop shorter, and the Solar’s gentle declines, till Winter Solstice, when its development, and the dominance of the Oak King, are rekindled as soon as extra.
However for now, we have fun the height of the daylight. Midsummer is when all that lives radiates with the Solar’s warming rays. It is a fiery celebration of fertility, not just for people, but in addition for crops, animals and all beings.
Some Witches contemplate the Goddess to be heavy now with being pregnant from Her mating at Beltane; others see that She is now in Her nice nurturing and Mothering splendor. In all instances, we honor Her.
The God can be celebrated, because the Solar is at its peak within the sky and we have fun Him as the nice Father, a giver of sunshine and life – Honor to Him, as properly!
Litha: A Time of Nice Magical Energy
As I discussed yesterday, moreover Beltane, this is without doubt one of the most lively occasions for our Faery cousins. Those that are sensible within the methods might want to depart them particular choices of cream, honey, or hand-made treats. Not in alternate for favors, thoughts you, however as presents to honor and thank them — pure, easy, and no strings hooked up.
It is usually an outdated custom that {couples} who turned enchanted with each other at Beltane are actually given the chance to make a extra everlasting dedication at Litha. They might achieve this by leaping the bonfire (or a burning cauldron hearth) into which the 9 blessed herbs (as I described yesterday) have been forged.
And all types of Solar magic are going to be amplified. Herbs and different pure objects utilized in magic are particularly charged with highly effective life-enhancing properties right now.
It is a significantly efficient time for love, therapeutic, and prosperity spells. It is usually ideally suited for working your most profound and world spells, with the complete drive of Sol carrying you.
Harness this magical power to carry out blessings and safety spells to your pets and residential. Hanging boughs of fennel and honeysuckle carry sweetness and safety.
Midsummer’s Day is a standard time to assemble herbs from the magical backyard or from the wild (in a conscious, accountable method solely – by no means wild harvest a plant that’s threatened or harassed) to make use of in potions, dream pillows, poppets, and different types of spellcraft.
As you collect your Inexperienced Allies on Midsummer’s Day, you would possibly depart an providing, and chant this, thrice earlier than and thrice after:
Herbs of magick, herbs of energy,
Root and bark, leaf and flower,
Work for me when charms are spoken,
Potions brewed and curses damaged!
Could The Sacred Supply of Life Bless Us, Each One
Could our Nice Awakenings now collect irresistible momentum!
Make sure to step exterior at midday, and see how small your shadow has develop into. Thus, might the outdated shadow spells of worry and despair now soften away like mist that dissolves underneath the brilliant beams of the Solstice Solar.
Fill your being with the Solar’s zenith of energy, even when it’s a cloudy day. For it’s there for you now, and may stay inside your coronary heart, in order that it could “be a light-weight for you in darkish locations, when all different lights exit.”
Could all the youngsters of Earth now stand up as one household, and re-dedicate to the pressing therapeutic and empowerment of all who’ve been oppressed, dispossessed, and cravenly handled.
Like the nice and cozy rays of the Solar, might we attain out, coronary heart to coronary heart, in kindness to all that lives, particularly our holy Mom Earth.
Within the methods of our ancestors, we honor the Turning.
Blessings at the present time, to you and to all Beings!
