Litha/Midsummer

Litha is celebrated on the Summer Solstice, which is on June 21, 2003. It is the fifth of the 8 Wiccan Sabbats. This holiday is when the Earth is the closest to the Sun, and since the Sun is traditionally masculine in Wicca, this holiday celebrates masculine energies. It is also called Midsummer in some traditions.

This holiday is also now a part of the Christian tradition in the form of the feast of the birth of St. John the Baptist. In other words, it is a joyous time for them as well. Litha is about joy and life. It is a time for dancing and feasting, and the celebration of everything masculine.

In modern Wiccan tradition, it is a festival where the Oak King, who was came to power during Yule, is overthrown by the Holly King. The Holly King will reign until Yule, and the cycle is complete. In Wiccan myth, the Holly King represents the joyful energies of Spring and Summer, while the Holly King represents the calm and introspective energies of Fall and Winter. Litha, like Yule, Imbolc, and Beltaine, is also a holiday celebrating Fire and it's purifying powers. Many Wiccans create pouches filled with things that represent their troubles and throw them into the fire to be resolved by the Lord and Lady, and the element of Fire.

A Litha Ritual by Scott Cunningham

You will need a cauldron filled with water in front of your altar. A heather branch should be beside Altar.

Invoke:

Great One of Heaven, Power of the Sun,
I invoke thee in Thy ancient names;
Michel, Balin, Arthur, Lugh,
Come again as old into this, Thy land.
Lift up Thy shining spear of light to protect me.
Put to flight the powers of darkness.
Give us fair woodlands and green fields,
Blossoming orchards and ripening corn.
Bring me to stand upon Thy hill of vision,
And show me the path to the lovely realms of the Gods.

Make invoking pentagram above your altar with the wand.

Raise both hands high, then plunge the wand into the cauldron. Hold the wand up and say:

The spear to the cauldron,
The lance to the grail,
Spirit to flesh,
Man to woman
Sun to Earth.

Place the wand on your altar and pick up the heather branch.

Sprinkle yourself with water from the cauldron, using the branch, saying;

Thus do I dance before the Cauldron of Cerridwen, the Goddess,
Being blessed with the touch of this consecrated water;
Even as the Sun, the Lord of Life, is arisen in His strength
in the sign of the Waters of life!

Then say:

Let the midsummer fires shine forth!

Place the altar candles in the center of the circle, about four feet apart, along the east-west line. Then pass between the two candles. Replace the candles on the altar.

Click To See This Ritual By Scott Cunningham at Tryskelion.com

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