Light & Shadows of Chalandor

Important Announcement

The MSN Groups service will close in February 2009. You can move your group to Multiply, MSN’s partner for online groups. Learn More

June 21 -- Summer Solstice -- Litha
Also known as: Alban Heruin (Druidic)
Although the name Litha is not well attested, it may come from Saxon tradition -- the opposite of Yule. On this longest day of the year, light and life are abundant. At mid-summer, the Sun God has reached the moment of his greatest strength. Seated on his greenwood throne, he is also lord of the forests, and his face is seen in church architecture peering from countless foliate masks.

The Christian religion converted this day of Jack-in-the-Green to the Feast of St. John the Baptist, often portraying him in rustic attire, sometimes with horns and cloven feet (like the Greek Demi-God Pan)

Midsummer Night's Eve is also special for adherents of the Faerie faith. The alternative fixed calendar date of June 25 (Old Litha) is sometimes employed by Covens. The name Beltane is sometimes incorrectly assigned to this holiday by some modern traditions of Wicca, even though Beltane is the Gaelic word for May.

Traditional Foods:
Garden fresh fruits and vegetables are made into a variety of dishes and eaten by Pagan's who choose to celebrate this day.

Herbs and Flowers:
Mugwort, Vervain, Chamomile, Rose, Honeysuckle, Lily, Oak, Lavender, Ivy, Yarrow, Fern, Elder, Wild Thyme, Daisy, Carnation.

Incense:
Lemon, Myrrh, Pine, Rose, Wisteria.

Woods Burned:
Oak

Sacred Gemstone:
Emerald

Special Activities:
An Ideal time to reaffirm your vows to the Lord and Lady or your dedication to following the old traditions.

Honey moon,
sun at noon,
sun God's power
at its height.
Day is done,
waning sun,
celebrate now
midsummer's night.

History of Litha (MidSummer)

Also known as Summer Solstice, Litha, Alban Hefin, Sun Blessing, Gathering Day, Feill-Sheathain, Whit Sunday, Whitsuntide, Vestalia, Thing-tide, St. John's Day

In addition to the four great festivals of the Pagan Celtic year, there are four lesser holidays as well: the two solstices, and the two equinoxes. In folklore, these are referred to as the four 'quarter-days' of the year, and modern Witches call them the four 'Lesser Sabbats', or the four 'Low Holidays'. The Summer Solstice is one of them.

Litha is usually celebrated on June 21st, but varies somewhat from the 20th to the 23rd, dependant upon the Earth's rotation around the Sun. According to the old folklore calendar, Summer begins on Beltane (May 1st) and ends on Lughnassadh (August 1st), with the Summer Solstice midway between the two, marking MID-Summer. This makes more logical sense than suggesting that Summer begins on the day when the Sun's power begins to wane and the days grow shorter. The most common other names for this holiday are the Summer Solstice or Midsummer, and it celebrates the arrival of Summer, when the hours of daylight are longest. The Sun is now at the highest point before beginning its slide into darkness.

Humanity has been celebrating Litha and the triumph of light since ancient times. On the Wheel of the Year Litha lies directly across from Yule, the shortest day of the calendar year, that cold and dark winter turning when days begin to lengthen and humanity looks wistfully toward warmth, sunlight and growing things. Although Litha and Yule are low holidays or lesser sabats in the ancient parlance, they are celebrated with more revel and merriment than any other day on the wheel except perhaps Samhain (my own favourite). The joyous rituals of Litha celebrate the verdant Earth in high summer, abundance, fertility, and all the riches of Nature in full bloom. This is a madcap time of strong magic and empowerment, traditionally the time for handfasting or weddings and for communication with the spirits of Nature. At Litha, the veils between the worlds are thin; the portals between "the fields we know" and the worlds beyond stand open. This is an excellent time for rites of divination.

Those who celebrated Litha did so wearing garlands or crowns of flowers, and of course, their millinery always included the yellow blossoms of St. John's Wort. The Litha rites of the ancients were boisterous communal festivities with morris dancing, singing, storytelling, pageantry and feasting taking place by the village bonfire and torch lit processions through the villages after dark. People believed that the Litha fires possessed great power, and that prosperity and protection for oneself and one's clan could be earned merely by jumping over the Litha bonfire. It was also common for courting couples joined hands and jump over the embers of the Litha fire three times to ensure a long and happy marriage, financial prosperity and many children. Even the charred embers from the Litha bonfire possessed protective powers - they were charms against injury and bad wwweather in harvest time, and embers were commonly placed around fields of grain and orchards to protect the crops and ensure an abundant reaping. Other Litha customs included carrying an ember of the Litha fire home and placing it on one's hearth and decking one's home with birch, fennel, St. John's Wort, orpin, and white lilies for blessing and protection.

The Litha Sabbat is a time to celebrate both work and leisure, it is a time for children and childlike play. It is a time to celebrate the ending of the waxing year and the beginning of the waning year, in preparation for the harvest to come. Midsummer is a time to absorb the Sun's warming rays and it is another fertility Sabbat, not only for humans, but also for crops and animals. Wiccans consider the Goddess to be heavy with pregnancy from the mating at Beltane - honor is given to Her. The Sun God is celebrated as the Sun is at its peak in the sky and we celebrate His approaching fatherhood - honor is also given to Him. The faeries abound at this time and it is customary to leave offerings - such as food or herbs - for them in the evening.

Although Litha may seem at first glance to be a masculine observance and one which focuses on Lugh, the day is also dedicated to the Goddess, and Her flowers are the white blossoms of the elder.

Correspondences

Purpose
Rededication to the Lord and Lady, beginning of the harvest, honoring the Sun God,
honoring the pregnant Godddess

Dynamics/Meaning
Crowning of the Sun God, death of the Oak King, assumption of the Holly King,
end the ordeal of the Green Man

Tools, Symbols & Decorations
The sun, oak, birch & fir branches, sun flowers, lilies, red/maize/yellow or gold flower, love amulets, seashells, summer fruits & flowers, feather/flower door wreath, sun wheel, fire, circles of stone, sun dials and swords/blades, bird feathers, Witches' ladder.

Colors
Blue, green, gold, yellow and red.

Customs
Bonfires, processions, all night vigil, singing, feasting, celebrating with others, cutting
divining rods, dowsing rods & wands, herb gathering, handfastings, weddings, Druidic
gathering of mistletoe in oak groves, needfires, leaping between two fires, mistletoe
(without berries, use as a protection amulet), women walking naked through gardens
to ensure continued fertility, enjoying the seasonal fruits & vegetables, honor the
Mother's fullness, richness and abundance, put garlands of St. John’s Wort placed
over doors/ windows & a sprig in the car for protection.

Goddesses
Mother Earth, Mother Nature, Venus, Aphrodite, Yemaya, Astarte, Freya, Hathor,
Ishtar, all Goddesses of love, passion, beauty and the Sea, and Pregnant,
lusty Goddesses, Green Forest Mother; Great One of the Stars, Goddess of the Wells

Gods
Father Sun/Sky, Oak King, Holly King, Arthur, Gods at peak power and strength.

Animals/Mythical Beings
Wren, robin, horses, cattle, satyrs, faeries, firebird, dragon, thunderbird

Gemstones
Lapis lazuli, diamond, tiger’s eye, all green gemstones, especially emerald and jade

Herbs
Anise, mugwort, chamomile, rose, wild rose, oak blossoms, lily, cinquefoil, lavender,
fennel, elder, mistletoe, hemp, thyme, larkspur, nettle, wisteria, vervain ( verbena),
St. John’s wort, heartsease, rue, fern, wormwood, pine,heather, yarrow,
oak & holly trees

Incense/Oil
Heliotrope, saffron, orange, frankincense & myrrh, wisteria, cinnamon, mint, rose, lemon, lavender, sandalwood, pine

Rituals/Magicks
Nature spirit/fey communion, planet healing, divination, love & protection magicks.
The battle between Oak King, God of the waxing year & Holly King, God of the waning
year (can be a ritual play), or act out scenes from the Bard’s (an incarnation of Merlin)
"A Midsummer Night’s Dream", rededication of faith, rites of inspiration.

Foods
Honey, fresh vegetables, lemons, oranges, summer fruits, summer squash,
pumpernickel bread, ale, carrot drinks, mead.

Litha

Litha, or Alwan Eru-in, marks the climax of the sun's power. It is the longest day of the year and marks the middle of the summer on June 21st. With picnics and games people celebrate the gifts of the sun, nature and life. Burning hoops are rolled down little hills to symbolize the descent of the sun. Brandished torches can be compared with the never-ending progress of the year's cycle. As on Beltane fires are lit. Cattle are driven through the fire to protect their fertility. Another legend tells that the fertility of men and woman is ensured if they skip naked through a garden on Litha night

On Litha nature presents fruits, crops reach the height of maturity and the lands and fields bloom in shining green. The harvest starts and fires are lit to commemorate the richness of life and offerings nature gives throughout the approaching winter months. It is a sign of faith that the darkness will disappear again.

In Mythology Litha is linked to the son of the sun, the god Baldur. He dies at the climax of his life; just as the sun descends from now until Yule. This is the date when Baldur will be born again. So Litha is a celebration of joy.

Midsummer {Summer Solistice}

Typically on or around: June 21

Also Called:Midsummer festival - in American & Celtic traditions; Alban Hefin - in Caledonii traditions; Feill-Sheathain - Pecti-Wita traditions.

Also known as 'Midsummer Night's Eve', it is the longest day of the year. The Midsummer festival celebrates the kingly aspect of the God.

It is a festival of passion and glory, a time to merge and commune with nature, sprites and fairies. In the Celtic traditions it is also a celebration of the Mother Goddess who is seen heavy with child, ready to deliver the fruits of the season so to speak.

Colors of red and maize yellow and gold are excellent decorations representing the Sun God, the masculine aspects of the season. Sunflowers and sunflower seeds are also excellent examples (provided you've planted them in early spring). Or replace the early spring wreath on your door with a new summer decoration of red feathers for for sexuality and yellow feathers for prosperity, intertwined or braided with ivy.

Alter candles should be of gold and red.

Money tree plans can be added to your mantle decorations for monetary wealth, (providing you once again have had an early planting season).

The Mid-Summer Sabbat (also known as Litha, Gathering Day, Alban Hefin, Feill-Sheathain and the Summer Solstice festival) is the celebration of working or masculine energies of the Sun. The Goddess is in the aspect of the Mother who is soon to give birth and can also be honored during this Sabbat for her nurturing of life and growth.

For the God, he comes in two forms in this festival as the Oak and Holly Kings. Just as these two battled for supremacy during Yule, they do so again during the Summer Solstice. Only this time the Oak King wins the battle to represent the waning of the celestial year.

As the longest day of the year, this Sabbat is perfect for the 'working' side of your life. Any task that needs the attention of masculine energies can be performed on this day. From business needs to weeding or tending to the garden. Now is a good time to look at your house plants and determine which ones need to be repotted. You can plant those clippings you've been rooting in water for the past month or two as well.

Sabbat Symbols:
Span the shades of green for your decorations. Make a solar disk, gather feathers or polish your blades. Fire is also a key symbol for the Mid-Summer festival as it represents the energy of the Sun. It might even be a good night for a bonfire, telling tales and stories of battles and victories of the conquering Oak King.

Preparations:
Begin the festival with a light yard cleaning. Weed the garden, fertilize the flowers and plants in your yard. And pot those rooting plants. There are many ways to decorate home and hearth for each Sabbat, keeping the God/

The principle festival of the entire year in India.

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

Feast of Epona in ancient Gaul

Thing-Tide at a later date in Scandinavia

Litha

Litha is the Wiccan Sabbat that marks the Summer Solstice and usually occurs around June 21. It marks the first day of summer on traditional calendars, but it is actually the Midsummer mark for Pagans.

Litha marks the longest day of the year, the day when the sun reaches its apex and is aspected to zero degrees Cancer. This is a day that celebrates the God in all his glory. It is also the time of year when the Goddess is glowing with motherhood in her pregnancy.

In Wiccan lore, once again the Holly King and the Oak King battle. This time, it is the Holly King who is victorious, and from this point on, the days grow shorter.

For those of you familiar with Shakespeare, you might remember the play centered around the Solistice: "A Midsummer's Night's Dream". It is believed that Midsummer Night's Eve is a special time for those who believe in the Faerie traditions. Like Samhain, this is a day where the veils are thin between the realms of the Sidhe (the Faerie realm) and the world of mortals. It is a time for merriment and the making of wishes.

Litha marks the first of three harvest celebrations. This is the time to gather the herbs from your garden. Tradition suggests using your boline or a scythe to cut the plant by the moonlight. Some suggest chanting the use of the planet while doing so.

Honey is a popular symbol for this time (one of the names of the June Full Moon is the Honey Moon). Serving Meade as well as dipping your cake in honey during the feast part of your ritual, symbolizes the sweetness of life and the season.

As we've seen happen in the past, Christianity has tried to hone in on our holiday. They have declared it John the Baptist's birthday. I've read that other Saints in the Church are remembered on the day they've died. But not so with John the Baptist. He is the only Saint recognized on his birthday. They celebrate the Solstice with the Jack-in-the-Green to the Feast of St. John the Baptist, often portraying him in rustic attire, sometimes with horns and cloven feet (like Pan).

Correspondences:

Names: Litha, Midsummer, Solstice, Alban Heriun

Date: The summer solstice or when the sun is one-degree Cancer.

Deities: all Father Gods and Mother Goddesses, Pregnant Goddesses and Sun Deities; Aphrodite, Astarte, Freya, Hathor, Ishtar, Venus and other Goddesses who preside over love, passion and beauty; Athena, Artemis, Dana, Kali, Isis, Juno, Apollo, Dagda, Gwydion, Helios, Llew, Oak/Holly King, Lugh, Ra, Sol, Zeus, Prometheus, Ares, and Thor.

Ritual workings: Self-dedication, rededication, pet blessings, focus on love, marriage and divination.

Colors: white, red, maize yellow or golden yellow, green, blue and tan.
Gemstones: all green gemstones, especially emerald and jade, tiger's eye, lapus lazuli and diamonds.

Plants/herbs: oak, mistletoe, frankincense, lemon, sandalwood, heliotrope, ivy, copal, saffron, galangal, laurel and ylang-ylang; carnation, chamomile, cinquefoil, daisy, elder, fennel, hemp, honeysuckle, larkspur, lavender, lily, male fern, mugwort, pine, roses, Saint John's wort, wild thyme, wisteria and verbena, vervain.

Incense: Lemon, Myrrh, Pine, Rose, Wisteria.

Foods: honey, fresh vegetables of all kinds and fresh fruits such as lemons and oranges, pumpernickel bread as well as Summer squash and any yellow or orange colored foods. Flaming foods are also appropriate. Traditional drinks are ale, mead, and fresh fruit juice of any kind.

Animals: robins, wrens, all Summer birds, horses and cattle. Mythical creatures include satyrs, faeries, firebirds, dragons, thunderbirds and manticores.

LITHA aka Midsummer aka Gathering Day Description:
The Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year and the height of the sun’s power.
From this point forward, the year begins to wane and the sun will begin to set a little earlier each day. At Midsummer, the Goddess is heavy with pregnancy, just as the earth is pregnant with the coming harvests bounty and the cattle in the field await calving. Rituals were focused on nurturing new life both in the ground and in human and animal wombs. The Sun is at his peak in the sky, the Sun God at the peak of his life, and his approaching fatherhood is celebrated. Symbolism:
The fire element is most prominent at Midsummer. It is the most easily seen and immediately felt element of transformation. It can burn, consume, cook, shed light, aor purify, and because of its heat, fire is most intimately associated with the hot Midsummer sun. Sun and Fire:
Because of the Sun’s obvious role at Midsummer, this was a time of fire rituals and fire magick. throughout western Europe, and balefires still figure prominently at modern Midsummer rites.
The Celts would light balefires all over their lands from the sunset the night before Midsummer until sunset the next day. Around those flames the festivities and ritual would take place. The Old Norse word for balefire is “biiken�? and is still used today in reference to Midsummer fires. Fire Cauldron:
In Scotland, the use of the cauldron, a Celtic symbol of life, death, and rebirth, is important to the Sabbat celebration that honor Cerridwen the Crone Goddess, who tends the cauldron. The cauldron is present to remind revelers that the sun is not truly dead, but will be reborn from this cauldron of rebirth from the Goddess, at Yule. Death:

On the night after Midsummer, In Greece and Rome, mock funerals were held for the now waning sun and for celebration of the start of the harsh season, another reminder that death is not final.
Processions to and from the ritual site were common at the warmer Sabbats, especially at Midsummer. The Norse especially loved lengthy processions and would gather together their animals, families, and lighted torches and paraded through the countryside to the celebration site. There, their torches were placed into the ground around the sacred circle, often in lieu of balefires. Christian Holidays At Midsummer:
St. John’s Day—Instituted at the insistence of Ireland’s St. Patrick to occur just before Midsummer to draw attention away from the Sabbat celebration. To discourage pagan ways, patriarchal leaders in Ireland began a superstition which deemed this a very unlucky day, especially for one’s animals. In a distortion of old folk beliefs, threats of faeries carting off prized stock and unsuspecting human revelers became an effective scare tactic to keep Midsummer festivals inside and away from the larger community.
Whitsunday, commonly called Whitsuntide, is the fiftieth day after Easter. Bonfires once used to be lit to acknowledge this date, but have been replaced by candle services in nearly all British churches. Of all the Sabbats this is one which was most often celebrated during the daylight hours rather than at night, and our pagan ancestors too advantage of the long day by beginning their festivities early. It is not surprising that a traditional Midsummer event is to start the day by waking early enough to greet the rising sun. In western Ireland and Scotland this was commonly done by family or clan groups who would take with them a rooster, and animal long sacred to the Sun gods of Europe. They would greet the Sun with the same joyous crows as the bird. In Lappland where the sun doesn’t se ta Midsummer, entire communities would climb to the top of the highest mountain to watch as the sun lowered itself, skimmed the heights of the distant hills, and rose triumphantly again. Some traditions began looking to the coming harvest at their Midsummer rites. Eastern Woodland Indians of the United States did the Calumet Dance which asked their Gods to bless the upcoming harvest, particularly the corn crop which would be reaped at Lughnasadh, or Green Corn Day. The dance was done by two males, warrior picked for their bravery and strength. They carried feathered staves which represented male and female genitalia. In the American Southwest, the Navajo held a nine day feast celebrating the sun’s return and did a dance called Yeibichai, or the Night Chant Dance, which last d from dusk to dawn. The purpose was to produce rain for parched desert crops. In Korea fruit trees were blessed with a mixture of earth, cow dung, and figs in a form of sympathetic magick that would ensure their successful harvest. The idea was that, thus blessed, they would not wither with the dying of summer. Young couple drank this mixture for fertility, and it was also used to anoint the sick at Midsummer festivities.
In the United States summer squash are usually ready to eat by Midsummer, and they were a delicacy introduced to Europeans by Native Americans. These hearty vegetables sustain abuse from even the most inept gardeners and grow in abundance. Look for new and interesting way to prepare them for the Midsummer feast. As a heavily pregnant woman begins to lactate, so does the Mother Goddess, and Midsummer Sabbat rituals often substitute milk for wine or water. Magick rituals were frequently done just prior to this Sabbat in eastern Europe to ensure the continued milk production of their goat and cattle herds. The Oak King and the Holly King who battled for supremacy at Yule fight again at Midsummer. This time it is the Oak King who is slain and the Holly King, king of the waning year, who now reigns, gaining in power and strength until Yule. The robin, symbol fo the Oak King, is seen less and less, and the wren, symbol of the Holly King, is more prevalent as summer winds down. Other cultures had similar ways to symbolize the death of the waxing year and the birth of the waning. In southern England there was an old tradition practiced until early in this century called Jack-in-the-Green. Jack-in-the-Green was a man chosen from the community to dress like a verdant, green bush and dance through the village. At the end of his merriment on Midsummer night he is symbolically killed in order to release the spirit of summer so that the waning year may begin. In eastern Europe milk was poured onto the ground to symbolize the end of the growing phase and the start of the harvesting phase of the agricultural year. Well Dressing is another ancient Midsummer ritual activity known to the Angle-Celtic traditions, and one still practiced in rural areas on this Sabbat. The day before Midsummer, women (usually young virgins, but sometimes young men also) would form a procession from their village or clan camp, and venture out to adorn the sacred wells. This was done to honor the spirits and deities of the well, to secure fresh and clean water for the next year, and to ensure fertility for the village, since the well is symbolic of the birth canal of the great Earth Mother Goddess. The wells were dressed with flowers, garlands, fine cloth, ribbons and other finery. Summer family reunions, regaining their popularity in America, grew out of the tribal and clan gatherings that took place at Midsummer. These ancient families came together to take strength and unity from the peak of the sun. You can paganize your gathering by emphasizing your clan or family name and its history. If you are a Scottish family, sport you tartan. If you are Norwegian, build your party around a Viking theme. If you are Greek or Jewish, do the old dnaces of your people, many of which have pagan significance.
Litha
Summer Solstice (around 21st June)

Alternate Names
Midsummer, Celtic 'Oak Festival'
Druidic Name
Alban Hefin or Alban Heruin (Light of the Shore)
Christian Equivalent
Saint John the Baptist's Day (24th June)
Place in the Natural Cycle
Litha is the solar festival that marks the longest day of the year, with the sun rising and setting at its most northerly points. The summer quarter of the year runs from Beltane to Lughnassadh, so Litha stands at the midpoint of summer.
Further Details:
Litha celebrates the height of the sun's power and the abundance of summer. Nature is alive, and fields and fruits are growing towards harvest, but the blessing is mixed, for once light reaches its apogee it can only decline. Litha is a fairly modern term for the summer solstice, and it may be derived from an Anglo-Saxon word for 'moon' that referred to the sixth and seventh months of the year. The Druidic name for the festival, Alban Heruin or 'Light of the Shore', is very appropriate for this turning point of the year, lying at the midpoint between 'Light of the Earth' and 'Light of the Water' (the Druidic terms for the equinoctial celebrations).
In the past, midsummer fires were lit for purification, protection and in the hope that the sun could be kept powerful for long enough to ensure a good harvest. People would leap over these fires in the belief that the crops would grow as high as they could jump. Drumming, dancing and singing were common, making this festival a noisy and social time. The full moon in June is known as the Mead or Honey Moon, and mead is a traditional drink for Litha, just as June is a popular time for weddings and hence honeymoons.
Litha honors the apex of Light, sometimes symbolized in the crowning of the Oak King, God of the waxing year. At his crowning, the Oak King falls to his darker aspect, the Holly King, God of the waning year (days grow shorter after Litha). In terms of the God and Goddess cycle, the God is made King through his marriage to the Queen at Litha.
Just as the winter solstice festival was appropriated by the Christian church to celebrate Christ's birth, so the popular summer solstice festival was taken to mark the birth of one of the church's most important saints: the cousin and baptizer of Jesus, John the Baptist. Other saints' days correspond to the supposed dates of their deaths, but John's is unusual in marking his birth. Saint John's Wort is a flower of traditional importance to midsummer celebrations.

Litha is a time to consolidate your strengths and clear away negative thoughts and energies. It is a time to be joyful and full of life, while at the same time mindful of the waning of the light from now until Yule.

Important Announcement The MSN Groups service will close in February 2009. You can move your group to Multiply, MSN’s partner for online groups. Learn More
Light & Shadows of Chalandor	[email protected]