| LITHA |
| Litha is the Sabbat of Midsummer's Eve or the Summer Solstice. Litha is the longest day and shortest night of the year. This is when the sun is at its highest point in power. This was a sacred day to many ancients. It's marked by the alignment of the sun and stones at Stonehenge and circles throughout Europe, at the observatories of the Sumerians, at the Medicine Wheels of the Plains Tribes in North America, the Mayans and others. The Sun is a masculine God symbol (and fire Goddesses) as well, Ushas, Eos, and Aurora of the dawn, Celtic Etainne and Grainne, Akewa, arinna, and Amaterasu, loving Bast and destructive Sekhmet of Egypt. In some tradition, the Lady rules the warm half of the year, and this is when Her power is at its peak. Some believe that the solstice represents the wedding of heaven and earth, as the sun's full strength is poured into the growing crops.. Though the light begins to diminish after Litha, it is not seen as being destroyed, only transmuted. We see it again as it ripens the fruits grains, and vegetables that are gathered at the harvests. Litha is a festival of both triumph and sadness. We share the suns radiance and glory, yet we know that it must fade as the summer comes to an end. Here are some appropraite ways of celebrating this Sabbat: ---Wear the suns colors: crimson, orange, gold or white ---Decorate your altar and cauldron with yellow and white summer flowers, gold ribbons, and a big solar disc or solar wheel ---Build a great fire in the evening, and dance around it. Or, build two fires, sprinkle magickal and medicinal herbs, and pass between the two fires and make your wishes for the blessings of health and prosperity. Later you can scatter the ashes on your fields and gardens. ---Make a boquet of herbs or flowers and nine weends. Bind it with five ribbons one each of red, blue, green, yellow, and white and cast it into the fire calling a blessings on the valuable plants and fiery destruction upon the weeds ---Raise power to perform magick of will and transformation, remember your goals and strive towards them. ---Make a god figure if sticks with a foil-wrapped loaf in the center, entwinning flowers in it, and casting it in to the fire, the sun god dies in the flames, yet is reborn in the grain and the baked bread. (Starhawk) ---Make a catherine wheel, or frame of sticks and withies with flammable material among the spokes. At the climax of the ritual, light it and send it rolling down a hillside into a lake or pond. BE SURE THAT THE HILLSIDE IS STONE, BARE EARTH, OR COVERED WITH MOIST VEGETATION. NO DRY GRASS OR UNDERBRUSH!!! ---Perform fire divination. |
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