HAPPY MID-SUMMER
Also known as Summer Solstice, Litha, Alban Hefin, Sun
Blessing, Gathering Day, Féill-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.
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Esao Andrews_ "Joyride to Nettles Summit" |
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.
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