Litha; A Celebration of the Sun.
The Summer Solstice, Litha, is upon us. In the Southern Hemisphere, traditionally it falls on December 21st. On this, the day with the longest amount of sunlight, the Sun King has reached His peak and His presence declines with the lessening hours of light. The Goddess is at Her most potent; ripe with the Blessed Child conceived at Beltane and the promise of the harvest. The Sun King watches the Goddess grow with child, shining His glory down upon Her, knowing that soon He will weaken as the light wanes. His sacrifice is a time of transformation and renewal. He understands when old things pass away, they provide room for new things to come into being and as the Wheel of the Year turns, the darkness lengthens, with the Sun King reborn at midwinter.
Australia is a vast and ancient land. In the north of the country, December marks the beginning of the monsoon season with the parched Earth receiving blessed rain. Life springs forth as billabongs team with frogs and birdlife. Adolescent quolls venture out on their own. Blue-tongue lizards scuttle through the leaf litter. Birdwing butterflies dance their majestic mating dance. Snake sheds his skin and basks in the glory of the sun. Possum and Crocodile have their young. Kookaburra calls in the dawn. In other parts of the continent there’s sweltering heat and little rain. Bushfires rage across the land, wreaking havoc on the habitats and lives of our diverse wildlife. This year in Australia it has been a time of destruction, with homes and lives lost, millions of hectares of wilderness destroyed, and countless thousands of animal lives lost. While fire can have a destructive nature, the heat from bushfires is vital for the germination of some native plants. We must reconnect with our land and the elements and strike the right balance to prevent destruction of this nature happening in the future.
As the sticky sweat purifies our body now is a perfect time to take our cue from Snake and shed our skin. With this shift of the seasons, this is a great time to use magick focusing on transformation. A solstice spell could involve heading out into nature to watch the sun rise and contemplating what is no longer working for you. Due to the heat, some plants will have flowered and are now letting go of their blooms as they adapt to the temperature. What are you holding onto now that you could let go? What do you wish to leave in this time and place that you won’t require to reap your harvest? Write it down and release it by safely burning it. Then focus on how you will use this energy to transform your life. Write down what you want to grow and what seeds you will plant now and ask the Goddess for assistance in making this a reality.
This time of year is a celebration, with plenty of giving and receiving, and for many, Christmas is a secular celebration, a time to spend with family and friends. Litha can be something that everyone can enjoy. Hold a barbeque with lots of fresh healthy food and invite the Solstice Fae into your home with offerings of milk and honey with gold stars and candles honouring the sun. With the New Year just around the corner, we are able to take stock and write resolutions for what we would like our lives to look like.
We have enormous potential, each and every one of us and we can create the life we would like to live. One that is in harmony with nature, honours our ancestors and leaves a path that generations to come will be proud to follow.
When we weave our own traditions, we create our own magick.
What will you weave in the New Year?
