 |
 |
 |
|
 |
Celebrated the first day of Summer
20 June 2000
(Each year this date changes, consult your almanac to find the date for the
current year)
ALSO CALLED:
St. John's Day
Midsummer
Alban Hefin
Litha
Summer Solstice marks the longest day of the year when the Sun is at it's highest point. For Witches and Pagans, this sacred day symbolizes the power of the sun which marks an important turning point on the Great Solar Wheel of the Year, for after the Solstice of Summer, the days grow visibly shorter. Midsummer is both a fire festival and a water festival, the fire being the God-aspect and the water the Goddess-aspect.
In certain Wiccan traditions, the Summer Solstice symbolizes the end of the
reign of the waxing year's Oak-King who is now replaced by his successor,
the Holly-King of the waning year. (The Holly-King will rule until the Winter
Sabbat of Yule, the shortest day of the year.)
The Sun-God significance of the Midsummer Sabbat is very clear.At the Summer
Solstice, he is at his highest and brightest, and his day is at its longest.
Witches, naturally and rightly, greet and honor him at the peak of his annual
cycle, invoking him to "put to flight the powers of darkness" and to bring
fertility to the land. Midsummer is perhaps the most celebratory of the
Festivals, in the sense that it rejoices in the full flood of the year's
abundance, the height of light and warmth.
The Summer Solstice is the traditional time when Witches harvest magickal herbs for spells and potions, for it is believed that the power of herbs are strongest on this day. It is the ideal time for divinations, healing rituals, and the cutting of divining rods and wands. All forms of magick (especially love-magick) are also extremely potent on Summer Solstice Eve, and it is believed that whatever is dreamt of on this night will come true for the dreamer.
For modern witches, fire is a central feature of the Midsummer Sabbat as it is of Beltaine. But since the cauldron (which on May Eve holds the Beltaine fire) is used at Midsummer for the water with which the High Priestess sprinkles her coven, it is suggested to have twin bonfires or twin candles for the Midsummer rite.
One Midsummer tradition may be of interest to any woman who is anxious to conceive and who owns a vegetable garden. She should walk through it naked on Midsummer Eve and also pluck some St. John's Wort, if there is any. This is a mirror-image of the ancient and widespread fertility rite in which women walked naked round the fields to ensure and abundant harvest, often emphasizing their sympathetic magick by riding broomsticks.
TRADITIONAL PAGAN FOODS:
INCENSE:
CANDLE COLORS:
GEMSTONES:
Samhain
/
Yule
/
Imbolg
/
Ostara
Beltane
/
Summer
Solstice /
Lugnassadh
/
Autumn
Equinox
17 June 2000
