Moon and Shadow: About Paganism

By the old folk calendar, summer began on May Day and ends on Lammas (August 1st). This puts the celebration of Litha right in the middle, making it ‘midsummer’. This is the longest day of the year, the height of the growing season, and the time the Sun God has reached his strength. The Holly King fights the Oak King for his throne, returning rule at the time of Yule. Click here for more on this…

The Goddess is seen heavy with child, and at the height of her power. The Sun God also is at his height, so energies and Life abounds at this time of the year. Litha is a time for full celebration and enjoying of Life and all that its providing you.

Some activities you can do to celebrate:

*Feasting with foods such as

*Cleansing and ridding oneself of negative in your life. Make a small pouch of natural materials such as wool or cotton. Fill this with a combination of midsummer herbs. Tie the pouch with a red string. Focus on any problems, pain, or illness you with to be rid of and concentrate to the bag. Now throw the bag into the fire to be transformed into something positive.

*Jumping the fire. Put some herbs/incense in a small cauldron. Jump over the smoke and name what you wish to leave behind.

*This is a fire festival so bonfires are common. Another tradition is burning wheels but be very careful with this- this can set a field on fire. Wheels were covered in straw then set alight. The burning wheels represented the sun’s travel across the skies. Rolling downhill, it was said if the wheel continued to burn the entire way down, this meant a bountiful harvest in the Fall.

*Making flower or herb wreaths can be fun. Mixing the plants can create a beautiful and aromatic decoration to wear.

Some Midsummer rituals:

Midsummer ritual

More Samples of RItuals

Basic ritual

A Solitary Ritual

Some Crafts:

Hair Wreath

Make a sundial (also includes how they work)

Eye of God(or Goddess) Many pagans make these on Midsummer

Making Pinwheels

Finger knitting (video)I often make cords from embroidary thread in this same method

Some Recipes:

Blueberry Mead

A collection of Litha Recipes