Litha/ Summer Solstice

The protective rituals on the night of the summer solstice included also the preparation of wreaths. Unmarried girls were carefully selecting the herbs and flowers for their wreath. Its shape and color was meant to symbolize the warming power of the Sun, among many other meanings. In Mazovia the most common elements for the wreath was the all-yellow crown daisy (złocień), dandelion (mniszek lekarski), arnica (arnika), marigold (nagietek), St. John’s wort (dziurawiec), buttercup (jaskier), globeflower (pełnik), and also camomile (rumianek). After midnight the girls performed a ritual in which the water and the fire were meant to connect. The herbal wreaths were decorated with a candle, and they swam down the rivers with the burning flame.

At the Summer Solstice the Sun has reached its climax. It is the longest day of the year. At its most glorious peak the Sun God sacrifices his power and bestows his solar seed upon the Earth womb. On this glorious day we celebrate his fertilizing power, even though from now on it will be waning.

The Summer Solstice is the midpoint of the year. But just as Yang contains the seed of Yin, the peak of the Sun power marks his demise – yet, his selfless sacrifice gives life to all.

Summer Solstice is a time to celebrate the creative power of the Sun. It is a time to reflect on both, the process of becoming and the process of death.

The Summer Solstice, also known as Litha, occurs on Tuesday, 21st of June, marking the astronomical first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

The sun is at the height of its power – the longest day!

This is a dual celebration. On one hand, it’s a celebration of the outward cycle of the sun and all that has manifested and on the other, it is a celebration of the return of the dark as from now on the days will shorten. Take time to honour something in your life that has ended and something new that is beginning.

This is a time of rampant growth. The trees are in full leaf and blossom, plants are flowering, and an abundance of fruit and vegetables are ripening.

It’s a time to celebrate what you have achieved and manifested. It is a time to enjoy what you have and who you are.

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 safe to do so, light a fire or a fire pit.

Create a circle or wheel out of stones or sticks. Start with a centre stone. Then mark the changing seasons North and South (Winter and Summer Solstice) and East and West (Spring and Autumn Equinoxes). Then mark the cross points in between (NE, SE, SW, and NW) to represent other key times throughout the year – Imbolc (February), Beltain (May), Lammas (August) and Samhain (Halloween). Ponder on what each direction means to you.

Whatever you do, make sure to enjoy the quiet moments and take in all that nature has to offer, and enjoy the sun while it’s still warm!

Celebrations of the Summer Solstice vary across the globe and from culture to culture. In some cultures, it is also known as “Midsummer’s Night” and celebrations begin with twilight. In others the Summer Solstice starts with sunrise and continue well into the night of the 21 June. Countries such as Alaska, Iceland and the Nordics are blessed with continuous sunshine after enduring long months of darkness and here the festivities may continue for several days!

In Shamanic practice the Summer Solstice is one of the most sacred days of the year. At this time the Sun and Earth align in such a way as to support all growing things to come into their completeness. This is the time of year when we gather together and celebrate all that we have accomplished and all that been bestowed upon us. This is a time to laugh and share with our friends. This is a time of passion and energy, openness and joy.

Summer Solstice celebrations honour the energy of the day and focus on the themes of fulfilment, enlightenment, abundance, sharing, and the joy of living on this beautiful Earth and are full of Shamanic journeying, story telling, dancing & singing, together sharing food with welcome friends.

Summer Solstice allows us to absorb beneficent power and strength from the Earth and Sun into our minds, bodies, hearts and souls – just as are the plants, animals and other beings drawing power and strength during this time. Celebrating we can intentionally send back to the universe an abundance of spirit, love and of nourishment; just some of the energy and blessings that we are always receiving. This is a time to share what we are grateful for in our lives appreciating that the experience of abundance and gratitude is universal.

Develope your own ceremony and ritual to show gratitude and celebration! Dancing singing, drumming; anything to show gratitude is all welcomed.

It’s the midsummer’s evening, the shortest of night,

Where our planet is blessed with the greatest of light.

The sun at its power, sharing its wealth,

With the earth glowing in abundance and health.

The trees’ leaves are green, the birds are in song.

The days are as warm as they are long.

We honor the animals, the plants and living things,

The sun and the water and for the life that it brings.

May you find well-being and may you find peace,

In days after solstice, as the light does decrease.

May the blessings of the solstice be yours I pray,

And the light warm your heart and soul every day.

Typically flowering on the longest day of summer, this ‘sunshine’ plant is a powerhouse of usefulness. Topically it is a skin plant for cuts, burns, wounds, bruises and some skin diseases. You can use it freshly picked, rubbing the flowers straight onto the skin. You can also chop up small or liquidize the top parts (small top leaves but mostly flowers) and put the ‘mash’ over the area as a fresh poultice (covered in material to hand and with a hot water bottle on top if you wish). Alternatively, make St John’s Wort oil, soak the flowers and top leaves in olive oil, cramming in as much plant material as possible. Shake daily and watch the oil turn a little red. After 3-3 weeks strain it off and you will now have your own ‘St John’s Wort oil’ for topical use.

St John’s Wort is, of course, invaluable internally for low mood, depression, S.A.D and more. (It also comes with a long list of when you must not and cannot take it, and having read this through, you are then free to try it out if appropriate. It especially must not be mixed with anti-depressants and those taking 5HTP.)

Another use for St John’s Wort is to increase deep sleep (rapid eye movement). It helps to normalize and balance neurotransmitter function as it contains amino acids that are neurotransmitter building blocks. So ultimately it can have a calming and anti-depressant effect and will help build and repair adrenal glands that are low or dysfunctional.

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, fulfilment, the need to
seize the moment.
The summer solstice has been celebrated in cultures as far apart as Russia and North America, where
Sun dances were an assertion of power and courage and in a new form still bring healing to the nations
and the Earth.
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 Europe and
Scandinavia, such as Stonehenge in Wiltshire, are aligned to the summer solstice sunrise, as are a
number of stone medicine wheels in America and Canada.
These places, built on centres of great power, have accumulated not only the power of the thousands of
midsummer suns that have shone on this day since their creation, but the hopes and prayers of those
who have and still gather at such places. These include priests, Druids, healers, warriors, monarchs and
ordinary men and women who connect with fusion of Sky and Earth energies, the sacred and
ceremonial marriage of god and goddess on this most magical of days.
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 hillsides,
flaming tar barrels were swung on chains and blazing torches tossed in the air. In Sweden, they still
hold a midsummer weekend with a midsummer tree, or pole, decorated with greenery and flowers
forming the centrepiece of music and revels. There is feasting in towns as well as the countryside in
what is a national event and thousands of people gather as they have for centuries at focal points such
as the Island of Oland on the Stockholm archipelago.
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 the eve
of the actual solstice. Hopeful lovers would carry it or place it under a pillow.
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
circumstances such as poverty to fulfil their potential. It can help to tackle global warming, famine and
disease, and to prevent oppression of people and cruelty in intensive farming methods where livestock
suffer for human greed.
On a personal level, 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 both physical, mental and spiritual. These spells are especially potent for
maturing adults approaching middle age.
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 falls
Crystals: Amber, carnelian, citrine, golden beryl, sunstone
Flowers, herbs, oils and incenses: Chamomile, dill, elder, fennel, frankincense, lavender, St John’s wort
and vervain
A Summer Solstice Stone Ritual
This ritual can be used to absorb the courage, power and joy of the season. You can carry out this ritual
at any time during the three-day period. You might like to perform it at dusk on the eve of the solstice
or at one of the other traditional times, such as midnight, the dawn of the solstice day or noon.
Alternatively, you may prefer to watch the actual solstice sunrise from a hill or an open place or even
close to one of the sacred sites at dawn.
* Take eight large, long, rounded stones, one for each spoke on the Wheel of the Year.
* Arrange them around the edges of a circle. The eight points correspond with the mid-winter solstice
in the North, Imbolc in the North-east, the spring equinox in the East, Beltain in the South-east, the
summer solstice in the South, Lughnassadh in the South-west, the autumn equinox in the West, and
Samhain in the North-west. (In the southern hemisphere, they will all move six months so that the
summer solstice is in the North, etc.)
* In front of each stone, place a yellow beeswax or gold candle and set a large gold candle in the centre
of the circle. If you have a cauldron or large pot, you can set the central candle in that. Surround the
central candle with flowers and herbs of midsummer, if possible freshly picked from an outside source,
and any greenery.
* If you are working in a group, members can stand around the circle, one at each of the points of the
year, with the rest of the coven standing in the North, in a line, facing the South. If you are alone, you
may wish to adapt the ritual so the stones and candles are smaller. Place the central candle on your
altar, which will on this occasion be standing in the North, facing the South, and move round the altar
in a circle.
* Enter the circle at the mid-winter solstice (North), the position of the birth of the Sun, and light the
central candle, saying:
Sun, sacred centre of warmth, light, light and fertility, I greet you on this your time of glory.
* Behind the candle, light a semicircle of frankincense sticks, saying:
Sun who has been from the beginning, King, God, Father, orb of inspiration, I greet you now at this
your time of glory.
* Face the North and light the mid-winter candle, saying:
The Sun is born anew, see light grows, light flames to illuminate the darkness and promises renewal as
the Wheel turns too.
* Move round the Wheel to face the North-east. Light the Imbolc candle, saying:
The Sun increases and the maiden flames the white fields. You claim her as your own and so the year
turns and life and light wax as day returns.
* Move next to the East and, facing this direction, light the spring equinox candle, saying:
Once more you overcome the darkness; the throne of light is yours to ascend and longer days are won.
* Move to the South-east and, facing this direction, light the Beltain candle, saying:
Your warmth brings green growth once more to the barren Earth. I kindle fires to draw your healing
strength and the corn will grow high.
* Move to the South, face the direction of the summer solstice, light the candle and say:
The Sun is at its height and all nature filled with power. The Lord and Lady of the Universe, Sky and
Earth, are joined on this day.
* Around the summer solstice candle, scatter a circle of dried or fresh dill, St John’s wort, vervain and
clover (trefoil) – these are the herbs that bloom at this time and were used to exorcise harm and bring
protection to home and people. If you cannot get any of them, use rosemary or any of the herbs of the
Sun.
* As you scatter the herbs, say one of the variations of the old midsummer chant that can be found in
folk legend in Europe. My favourite is:
Trefoil, vervain, John’s wort, dill,
Drive off darkness at your will.
Trefoil, vervain, John’s wort, dill,
May the summer sunshine fill
All with life and hope – and keep
Hearth and home safe while I sleep.
Scoop up some of the herbs in a tiny purse or drawstring bag. Keep it and place it beneath your pillow
before sleep. You will, it is said, dream of the person who can make you happy and also, if you add
some golden pollen to the sachet, of ways of increasing your wealth.
* Light the final three candles in turn, saying:
Wheel turn, though light from henceforth falls,
Turn year, till spring and new life calls.
* Leave your solstice wheel of candles to burn down.
* The following day, when daylight comes again, plant golden flowers and spend the day in the open
air if at all possible, enjoying every moment of light until you witness the Sun setting in the West.