Tag: Litha/Summer Solstice

5 Easy Decorating Ideas for Litha

Need some quick and affordable decorating ideas for Litha, the summer solstice? Here are some tips on how to bring the season into your home without breaking your bank account!
Celebrate the sun at midsummer!. Image by Peter Cade/Image Bank/Getty Images

• Suns and Solar Symbols

The Litha sabbat falls on the longest day of the year – that means you have more hours of daylight on the summer solstice than on any other day, and that’s definitely worth celebrating! Solar symbols like suns and circles, gods eyes, Brighid’s crosses and sunwheels are all perfect representatives of this season – hang them on your walls and doors, or add them to your Litha altar. More »

• Fresh Blossoms and Blooms

By the time midsummer rolls around, our flower gardens are in full bloom. This is a time to gather up those blossoms and enjoy their beauty – collect an assortment of brightly colored flowers and bring them indoors to keep you company. Consider, especially, flowers in bright sunny colors like yellows and reds and oranges. Sunflowers, tulips, roses, tiger lilies, and black-eyed Susans are all associated with the sun at the height of its power.

Bring the bounty of your garden inside to celebrate the midsummer harvest. Image © Patti Wigington; Licensed to About.com

• The Bounty of the Garden

In addition to fresh flowers, we’ve also got fresh produce rapidly filling our gardens. The sun brings warmth to the earth, which in turn brings new life to our plants. Harvest your midsummer fruits and vegetables, and leave them in bowls and baskets around the house. Some goodies, like onions and herbs, can be hung up to dry, which will allow you to enjoy the scents as well as the flavor.

Fire and Light

Carrying on the solar theme, Litha is a celebration of fire – after all, that’s what the sun is, right? Use big candles all around your home, in yellows and golds and other sunny colors. You can also string festively colored lights along your walls and windows, to bring that brightness indoors. For your outdoor decor, use a tabletop brazier or even Tiki torches to celebrate with flames and fire. More »

Litha is a time of opposites, between light and dark.Image by Alan Thornton/Image Bank/Getty Images

• Opposites

At Litha, the summer solstice, it’s the last day of the sun’s full power. For the next six months, darkness will begin to take over, growing stronger until Yule, the longest night of the year. At that point, the process will reverse once more and the light return. Decorate your home with symbols of opposites – fire and water, earth and air, darkness and light, yin and yang.

 

Let’s Have Some Fun – Coloring Page Litha

Let’s Have Some Fun Coloring Page Litha

Let’s Have Some Fun – 2 Coloring Pages

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Let’s Have Some Fun – Yule Coloring Page

A Yule Drink and Litha Cake – Combined Them for Brunch or a Snack for a Solstice Feast – Flashback to 2012

I know I have been doing separate posts for Yule and Litha things but when I came across these two recipes, in Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2012, one for each season of the year the two hemispheres are going into, they sounded yummy to me to have together. I apologize in advance for not calculating from American measurements to other parts of Mother Earth. I just found this website https://www.europeancuisines.com/ while it says European Cuisines it covers other countries measuring styles as well.

SIDE NOTE if you do not have a Sun shaped disc to pour the batter in use cookie cutters for whatever shapes remind you of the Sun or use a knife to cut out a shape. Even a young child could use cookie cutters with the child’s caregivers supervising. Then either eat the scraps from the cut outs or put them outside for the wildlife in your area to celebrate the Solstice with your family. This is a good day to have breakfast for dinner/supper/tea or use for part of your feast after your families Solstice ritual

Sun God Supreme

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 Tablespoons of melted butter or oil

1 egg

3/4 cup yogurt

Garnish with 3 cups cubed fruit, all colors

Sift dry ingredients together. Then separately whisk wet ingredients together. Combined wet and dry ingredients, mixing for no more then 20 strokes, one for each day in June (or December) until the Solstice. Let mixture sit for 10 minutes     while you prepare the fruit, set the table, and heat the frying pan lightly coated with oil or butter on a medium heat.

(SIDE NOTE Depending on the ages of the people attending your celebration feast designated cutting the fruit, setting and clearing the table, and doing dishes along with wiping the table and kitchen surfaces. If you allow a child of 3 to cut up their pancake with a plastic knife this can also be used to slice bananas or other soft fruit. This is a family celebration so let the family help with the work and as you are your homes’ Priestess or Priest you can relax and enjoy the feast and time together with a lot less stress) 

Pour batter into sun-shaped discs (or pour batter from a measuring cup with a lip to get lovely round pancakes.) cook until bubbles that have formed in the batter burst and make little dry craters. Flip one and briefly cook the other side. Serve on brighly colored plates surrounded by fruit of all colors, which represent the abundant growth and glory of the Earth Goddess. Drizzle with honey or maple syrup and enjoy.

Pancakes combine the traditional foods of Litha — butter, milk, cakes, and honey — represent the Sun God at the height of his reign.

Copyright Dallas Jennifer Cobb page 77

Magical Mulled Cider

(SIDE NOTE This cider contains no alcohol so the whole family can enjoy it. If you want to spike it for the adults I have used dark rum measured to taste of the person drinking it. It is also good cooled to room temperature but I did not like the taste after being chilled in the refrigerator)

1 quart (or 1 liter) apple cider

6 orange, sliced to look like the sun

12 whole cloves

1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 cinnamon sticks

Honey to taste

Toast the return of the Sun God, and the holy rebirth, with this warming drink when you gather with friends and family on the longest night of the year, Best made over an open fire, but easily concocted on a stove indoors will warm the hearth, heart, and home. Sip this and know anything is possible.

In a large pot combine apple cider which represents the Sun God, cloves, nutmeg, and ground cinnamon. Simmer for at least half an hour to make your house smell wonderfully festive, or longer for a stronger mulled taste. This simmering symbolically brings the God and Goddess together. and adds a little “spice” to the mix. Pour into a mug, carefully an orange slice into each cup. Add cinnamon stick and serve. Makes 6 servings.

Copyright by Dallas Jennifer Cobb page 129

A Very Happy and Blessed Samhain to All

The Wheel of the Year has turned completely around as we come to close of another year.

In the coming year may your and your family’s lives be filled with enough income to meet every thing you have to with some leftover for fun, more love, happiness, laughter, joy, and positive things!

Blessed be dear Sisters, Brother , and Honored Guests

Let’s Have Some Fun – Beltane

Beltane Activities and Correspondences c. 2016

Beltane Activities and Correspondences

Guest Author – Leslie Ravenwing

Herbs – hawthorn, honeysuckle, St John’s wort, wood ruff, all flowers.

Colors- Green, Yellow, Pink, Blue

Foods – Strawberries, Cherries, Fruits, Salads, Wine

Goddesses – Aphrodite, Asherah, Belili, Brigid, Danu, Freya, Flora, Gwenhwyvar, Hina, Ishtar, Maia, Mary, Oiwyn, Oshun, Ostara, Sappha, Tonantzin, Vesta

Gods – Beltene, Cernunnous, Cupid/Eros, Manawyddan and Pan

Activities and Rituals

Fertilize, nurture and boost existing goals, games, activities of pleasure, leaping bonfires, making garlands, May Pole dance, planting seeds, walking one’s property, feasting
Stones/Gems – Emerald, malachite, amber, orange carnelian, sapphire, rose quartz
Other Names – Cetsamhain (opposite Samhain),May Day, Fairy Day,Sacred Thorn Day, Rood Day, Roodmas (the Christian term for Rood Day, Old Beltane, Beltaine, Beltain, Baltane, Walpurgis Night, Floriala (Roman feast of flowers from April 29 to May 1), Walpurgisnacht (Germanic-feast of St. Walpurga), Thrimilce (Anglo-saxon), Bloumaand (Old Dutch)

-Make paper baskets (use yarn as a handle) and place real or silk flowers in each basket. Hang them on door knobs of neighbors and family members but don’t let them know you did it!

-If you have children, make necklaces out of diasies and place them around their necks for the day to bring protection to them.

-Begin planting for the season.

-Create a MayPole and dance around it with your family or friends.

-Make a dish of fruits, berries, nuts and leave in the wood for the animals and fae folk to enjoy

– This is a night for bonfires, torch-lit processions and the high revelry of witches, preferably in high places. It is prime time for the Great Rite, a night (like Samhain) when the Goddess descends into women. Cailleach Beara (Cally Berry, Brighid’s crone aspect) turns to stone this night and does not to return until Samhain. Beltane Eve also marks the setting of the Pleiades

Let’s Have Some Fun – Samhain

Samhain (Sow-en) – The Celtic roots of Halloween

As millions of children and adults participate in the fun of Halloween on the night of October 31st, few will be aware of its ancient Celtic roots in the Samhain (Samain) festival. In Celtic Ireland about 2,000 years ago, Samhain was the division of the year between the lighter half (summer) and the darker half (winter). At Samhain the division between this world and the otherworld was at its thinnest, allowing spirits to pass through.

The family’s ancestors were honoured and invited home whilst harmful spirits were warded off. People wore costumes and masks to disguise themselves as harmful spirits and thus avoid harm. Bonfires and food played a large part in the festivities. The bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into a communal fire, household fires were extinguished and started again from the bonfire. Food was prepared for the living and the dead, food for the ancestors who were in no position it eat it, was ritually shared with the less well off.

Christianity incorporated the honouring of the dead into the Christian calendar with All Saints (All Hallows) on November 1st, followed by All Souls on November 2nd. The wearing of costumes and masks to ward off harmful spirits survived as Halloween customs. The Irish emigrated to America in great numbers during the 19th century especially around the time of famine in Ireland during the 1840’s. The Irish carried their Halloween traditions to America, where today it is one of the major holidays of the year. Through time other traditions have blended into Halloween, for example the American harvest time tradition of carving pumpkins.

Two hills in the Boyne Valley were associated with Samhain in Celtic Ireland, Tlachtga and Tara. Tlachtga was the location of the Great Fire Festival which begun on the eve of Samhain (Halloween). Tara was also associated with Samhain, however it was secondary to Tlachtga in this respect.

The entrance passage to the Mound of the Hostages on the Hill of Tara is aligned with the rising sun around Samhain. The Mound of the Hostages is…

Click here to read the rest of this article about Samhain

Beltane Correspondences

The Spiritual Meaning of Mabon

Let’s Have Some Fun – Printable Mabon Coloring Pages

Imbolc marks the Irish pagan start of spring – something is stirring

As the great wheel turns, we find ourselves slowly re-emerging from the deep dreamtime of winter into the portal of Imbolc.

Kathy Scott Trailblazery  

The Wheel of the Year is a medicine wheel marked and celebrated by most, indigenous cultures around the earth in their own ways.

In Ireland, the ancient ones measured their cosmos in wheels, spirals, in the movement of the stars, and the rising and setting of the sun and moon.

The ancient Irish were deeply connected to the land, the seasons, and the cycles of the natural world and honored these portals with ritual and ceremony. Our ancestors have gifted us with a rich cultural inheritance aligned with the rhythms and patterns of the natural world. This cyclical way of living offers great wisdom that can support and resource our wellbeing today as ‘ancestors-in-training’.

The Wheel of the Year is a medicine wheel marked and celebrated by most, indigenous cultures around the earth in their own ways.

In Ireland, the ancient ones measured their cosmos in wheels, spirals, in the movement of the stars, and the rising and setting of the sun and moon.

The ancient Irish were deeply connected to the land, the seasons, and the cycles of the natural world and honored these portals with ritual and ceremony. Our ancestors have gifted us with a rich cultural inheritance aligned with the rhythms and patterns of the natural world. This cyclical way of living offers great wisdom that can support and resource our wellbeing today as ‘ancestors-in-training’.

Imbolc marks the quickening

The word Imbolc derives from the Irish, ‘i mbolg’, meaning ‘in the belly’, or “first milk” in the old Irish Neolithic language. It heralds the birthing season, as the soon-to-be-born lambs are growing in their mother’s bellies. Another powerful metaphor to describe this time is ‘winter pregnant with summer’. The seeds of summer are still hidden deep in the earth, in the womb of the goddess and while the worst of the winter darkness is over, Spring has not fully arrived yet.

In the ancient Celtic tradition, there is a celebration of the relationship between the dualistic forces of light and darkness, between what is seen and Click here to read the rest of this article about Imbolc from www.irishcentral.com

Flashback 2002 Lammas

Lammas is the first of the harvest festivals and this year despite the fiery Sun, it has a strong, sensual feel of cardinal earth. Mars lends a masculine energy to the Sun this week to help with the organizing for this bread festival. Round cornbread as a solar disk is an apt and easy choice for the altar, but if you plan several days ahead, you can sprout a small amount (1/4 cup) of wheat or barely for kitchen witchery. Add this to your other grains to your own bread from scratch; or buy frozen bread dough, thaw, pat into a rectangle, and sprinkle the sprouted grains. Roll up your dough like a jelly roll and place in a greased bread pan into which you have sprinkled Irish oats. You can use a sharp knife to crave goddess symbols into the loaf before baking.

©️ By K. D. Spitzer Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2002 Page 93

Flashback 2002 Imbolc

Imbolc is an important day of purification and initiation; on the Sun’s day, February 2, the energies are very airy. This Sabbat is a good day for coven work, with an emotionally detached masculine Moon and Sun on the Sun’s day.

Dress yourself and your altar in white, while serving white beverages or any dairy food to honor the calving season. Spread the top of a one-pound round Camembert or Bire cheese with raspberry preserves. Cut a circle of puff pastry large enough to cover the cheese, wrap it, tucking the ends of the pastry under. Use scraps to decorate the top with goddess symbols. Brush with beaten egg yolk. Bake at 425 degrees until golden, and serve hot and melting on crackers. During this ritual, bless and dedicate all candles you will need for other ritual work throughout the year. A good way to start the ceremony is to light candles in the darkened room with chanting to encourage the lengthening days.

©️ By K. D. Spitzer Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2002 Page 41

Some of the Witchcraft/Magickal Correspondence for Imbolc

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Flashback 2022 – Lughnasadh/Lammas

Lughnasadh Bone Charm

Lughnasadh falls opposite of Imbolc on the Wheel of the Year. While Imbolc is widely considered a sabbat of the divine feminine, many consider Lughnasadh a celebration of the divine masculine. Being the first of three harvest festivals, we can mark the occasion with plentiful gratitude for not only the flora and fauna that feeds us physically on a daily basis, but also gratitude for the fact that the harvest allows us to survive and thrive, thereby increasing our positive spiritual influence in the world.

Simply acquire any bones to which your intuition leads. Yes, humanely and sustainably sourced chicken or cow bones are okay! Ensure that the bones are dry, and use a permanent marker to draw symbols and words related to the harvest, satisfaction, and sustenance onto them. Consider tying stalks of wheat or any grain to the bones once you are finished decorating. Hang these in your home (especially inside or outside the front door) to encourage a plentiful life and to honor the earth now and forever.

Raven Digitals Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2022 Page 107

Imbolc Lore and Rituals

Celebrating the Seasons by Selena Fox

Imbolc, also known as Candlemas and Groundhog’s Day, occurs at the beginning of February. It marks the middle of Winter and holds the promise of Spring. The Goddess manifests as the Maiden and Brigid. The Groundhog is a manifestation of the God. Colors are White, and sometimes Red. It is a festival of spiritual purification and dedication.

Thoroughly clean your altar and/or temple room. Do a self purification rite with Elemental tools — cleanse your body with salt (Earth), your thoughts with incense (Air), your will with a candle flame (Fire), your emotions with water (Water), and your spiritual body with a healing crystal (Spirit). Bless candles that you will be using for rituals throughout the year. Invoke Brigid for creative inspiration. Take a Nature walk and look for the first signs of Spring. Reflect upon/reaffirm spiritual vows and commitments you have made.

Resources

Click here to read the rest of this article about Imbolc from www.circlesanctuary.org