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Litha, Summer Solstice
June 21
Sun enters Cancer 8:26AM
Waning Moon
Moon Phase...Fourth Quarter
Moon Sign...Taurus
Color...Rose
Incense...Poplar
Birthstone...Pearl
Flowers...Roses and Honeysuckle
Midsummer...
A time for joy, for revelry, for good food, good drink, and for dancing in the wilderness!
A time to celebrate the high point of the year, when the Sun is at it's zenith.
A time when happiness should be unbounded. Correct?
Yes, but there is more.
The midsummer festival can also be an examination of the deeper aspects of the season, and the nature of life itself. We have tantalizing traces of lore from our ancient Celtic and Grecian sources in which Midsummer, like Midwinter, is a time of beginning to understand the most profound and archaic of all mysteries.
There are Midsummer legends of the Holly King and the Ivy King, each of whom symbolically (or, in some parts of the ancient Celtic lands, in actuality) battled the next incarnation of his opposite (whom he had slain a half year before), and by whom he would in turn be slain.
Similarly, there is the Midsummer theme of the holy fatalism of the Celtic and Germanic warriors of ancient times, who fought with the soul-deep understanding that to win would be triumph, an honor to themselves, to their clans, and to their Gods. To die, however, would be an honored sacrifice, and even more holy. For in dying the honorable death, one joined with the God who died at the change of the year and partook of his noble sacrifice, so that the world would become a better place, and the clan and loved ones would gain thereby. In addition, the fallen warrior would himself become one with the divine.
It is a strange way of thinking, to our modern minds, but it is a way of living and a manner of dying that quite possibly has been a part of our common understanding and our various religions ever since our distant ancestors first stood upright and saw the glowing Moon and the stars glittering far overhead.
The first half of the year is ruled by the Young King, and the latter half by the Declining King.
The Maiden, Mother, and Crone are eternal. Literally or figuratively, it has always been thus. Let's take a look at the major mythological archetypal figures that we have at this season, and what they have to say to us at this, the high turning point of the year.
"Life springs eternal, with joy and beauty. It is a time for reveling, for playfullness, love, and a magical charm. It is a time to realize that flowers and kittens and children really need no other reason than themselves for being. We have the wonder of that which is new."
"This is the time for all things to grow, a time to build and a time to explore. It is a time for us to ride the storm to ever newer, ever higher adventures. This is a time for glory, for exhilaration, for fighting the just and holy fight, for finding joy, lust, love, and ecstasy. It is a time for triumph!"
"All ripens at last and reaches it's full destiny. We at last fully understand the world, the Gods and our own selves. What ever happens there after, whether with a great nation or within the soul of one person only, an understanding and an attainment has been made before eternity itself. It is as though a banner is planted by each of us that shall mark what we have attained, to remain until the mountatins themselves have grown old and worn down and beyond that far time."
"In the eternal scheme of things there is a time for everything to end. It is a time for the closing of doors and the razing of cities and for the shattering of monuments. That which is old and outworn must be swept away and so also that which is too weak to survive. If I am the one to wear the iron gauntlet and weild the cruel sword, then so be it! Only I fully know how my heart silently cries out for each living thing that I must destroy. For without death to first clear the way, how can there be a place for new life to flourish? Know well that ending is as necessary in the scheme of things as is the beginning."
"There is a time and a cycle for everything in the universe and it all comes back upon itself again, in the fullness of time. Know always that beyond life are the mysterious and unknown realms of shadow and yet also the place for the soul to seek it's own level to rest and prepare to be reborn again. Further, between the worlds is wisdom deep and power great for those who are worthy. The night may be long and dark, and cold, but there is always tomorrow. Have faith!"
| Yule | Imbolc | Ostara |
| Beltane | Midsummer | Lammas |
| Mabon | Samhain | Our Chosen Path |
