Most cultures of he northern hemisphere acknowledge Midsummer in some ritualized manner. In Pagan India, Midsummer was by many names, including Litha or Vestalia in ancient Rome, Gathering Day in Wales, Feill-Sheathain in Scotland, Alban Heflin in the Anglo-Saxon tradition, All Couple’s Day in Greece, and the Feast of Epona in ancient Gaul. In Scandinavia it is celebrated at a later date and is called Thing-Tide, a day when the communities gather in a sort of town meeting, as they have since ancient times, to conduct business before celebrating and feasting.

Midsummer marks the time of the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, the height of the sun’s power. And though the hottest days of summer still lie ahead, from this point onward we enter the waning year, and each day the sun will recede from the skies a little earlier.

At Midsummer the Goddess is heavy with pregnancy, just as the earth is pregnant with the coming harvest’s bounty and the cattle in the field await calving - but the fertility rites continue. Just as a human baby can be miscarried or born blighted, our pagan ancestors knew that the same was true for their crops and animals, and Midsummer rituals focused on nurturing new life both in the ground and in human and animal wombs. But motherhood is not the sole focus of this Sabbat. For every mother there is a father, and so it is in paganism. The sun is at his peak in the sky, the Sun God at the peak of his life, and we celebrate his approaching fatherhood.

Because this is a Sabbat which glorifies the sun, and the sun is a symbol of protection, many pagans choose to make protective amulets in the week before the Sabbat that are later empowered over the Midsummer balefire. Some witches choose to bury their protective amulets each Midsummer Eve and construct new ones. Rue, rowan, and basil, tied up in a gold or white cloth, is a good protective trio that can be carried in your pocket year round. A few cinnamon sticks tied over the door of your home is another good protective charm. Or you might search for a special stone that represents protection to you. It might be golden white like the sun, or in the shape of a phallus, or may look like an eye watching over you.

Another sun amulet made for protection that uses the eye symbolism is the Shouth American God’s Eye, which has its origins with the native people of that continent. These amulets are made from two sticks placed across each other to form an equilateral cross. Colored yarn is then wound around them to form the body of the Eye. By alternating the colors of yarn the finished product does look like a stylized eye, and its four points symbolize the two solstices and two equinoxes. The Native South Americans used them both for decoration and as protective talismans.

Another eye associated with Midsummer is the buckeye. Buckeyes, sometimes called horse chestnuts, are hard, leathery seed coverings that grow on a soapberry tree in the upper Midwest and are ripe at Midsummer. Resembling eyes, these dark brown orbs, about three inches in diameter, have a single tan patch on one side. The Miami Native Americans held them sacred and used them as protective amulets. To them, these trees held the most sacred of tree spirits whose power could be harnessed to protect the tribe through the waning year from all harm. Usually they were gathered in bunches, hammered through, and strung together to make necklaces, something Midwestern children still do today. Buckeyes can also be hollowed out to make rings and other sun charms that can be charged to protect the wearer or to perform any other sun-related task such as prosperity, employment, or general good luck.