Greetings, Sea Witches, and happy Litha to you all! With summer finally opening its sun-filled mouth, we’d like to share some ways of celebrating both the solstice holiday as well as the summer season itself.
Above all else, Litha (also known as the Summer Solstice, or Midsummer) is a solar celebration—a day rich with reverence for the Sun, the star that warms our Earth. One of the eight neo-pagan sabbats alongside Ostara, Beltane, Mabon, and the rest, Litha beckons appreciation and gratitude for the abundance and plentiful harvest we reap by the light of our Sun, from hearty crops to levity and joy. Summer croons and stretches into long, lingering evenings as she pulls us into her hearth warmed by fire, lilting enchanted tunes of imaginary creatures and wildflower forests blooming in ethereal realms.
With Litha as its official starting point and longest day of the year, summer yearns to be celebrated all season, and who are we to say no? Let any and every day of this most abundant time of year inspire your solar revelries as you soak in the light and heat that will sustain you through the impending darkening of months to come.
Herein find a guide to celebrating Litha, from rising with the year’s earliest dawn to casting your summer herbs and intentions into a solstice bonfire at dusk. Grab your speaker, dial into some enchanting Litha tunes (compiled on Spotify or YouTube), and let's wander out into the solstice sun!
Celebrating Litha at Sunrise
Litha is the longest day of sun in the year. An easy, practical way to celebrate this solstice day is to drink in its rich sunlight from the moment our star crosses over the horizon to the moment it reaches the Earth’s edge again.
Particularly if you live somewhere with an open, eastern-facing view, Litha is a most special day to get up early and greet the dawn. Meet the sun in one of its quietest moments, and meditate with the energy it emanates.
Midsummer Dance & Inner Child Play
Summer is a season of gangly growth, and for many of us the season unfolds itself with thick nostalgia for childhood adventure. In celebration of this solstice, let there be room for the eternal child within you to play. Go for an adventure! Dance, jig, or go looking for fairies in the waters and the woods.
Connect with the younger yous still swimming in your inner realms, and go forth in a way that intentionally invites their sense of wonder into your world. You may even wish to write your younger self or selves a letter, extending a hand from your present moment to bring them into the warmth of summertime again.
Summer Offerings & Nature Time (Clean Your Ecosystems)
Creating moments of intentional connection with Nature is a wonderful way to celebrate any of the witchy holidays. As summer blooms, Litha invites you to explore your local ecosystems at the height of their abundance.
Activate your senses and celebrate with your body. Garden, forage, hike, swim, dance…tune into the environment around you, and notice how the solstice feels within your own vessel.
This is also an opportunity to make an offering to your ecological community. Whether it’s picking up any trash you spy while out and about, or making this the day you start a home composting system, let Litha guide you into a more ecologically intertwined way of life.
Solstice Crafts
If you’re inclined to work with your hands, Litha invites you to weave the sun into your acts of creation. Try crafting a bespoke suncatcher to absorb the essence of the solstice and radiate its power through your space across the coming year.
Lay a bottle of water beneath the Litha sun to create solstice-charged sunwater; use it for tea, pour into a bath, keep the water on your altar, or leave it as an offering of solar energy to the Earth when the time feels right. Gather relics on your natural wanderings and assemble a sun wheel to ground and mirror the fully risen sun.
Feast with Friends & Family
Litha marks the season of bounty. It is a celebration of having made it through the long winter, and of beginning to harvest the decadent fruits of our labor. We can reflect this time of abundance in the natural world with a feast of gratitude with loved ones gathered round.
Make use of what the spring has ripened by cooking a meal with seasonal produce! Some of our favorite solstice dishes include homemade zoodles with vegan pesto and golden tomatoes; lavender lemonade; a local produce stir-fry; and sun cookies.
Light a Litha Bonfire
Photo by Barna Kovács on Unsplash
With Litha opening a portal to the season of heat and summer sun, you can celebrate the sun’s fire energy with a hearty bonfire of your own.
This is an old and widespread solstice tradition that can be seen across cultures, and many folks consider it good luck to jump over the fire on the solstice day!
The hearthplace filled with fire honors the spark of life that fills your world. Commune with the warmth of this pure creative energy, and let it radiate into every corner of your being.
Herbal Magic for Litha
If you’re interested in celebrating the summer solstice with a ritual, we have an easy herbal practice for your partaking. Explore and acquire a few herbs associated with summer and the sun, and evaluate how they correlate with what you want to bring to life throughout this season. Then, drop them over your solstice fire and watch slowly as they burn. Read our full post about this Litha fire ritual here.
