Wednesday June 21st marks Litha 2023. Here’s how we’ll be celebrating at Suzie K.
What is Litha?
The pagan feast day of Litha takes place on the summer solstice, also called Midsummer, which varies in date year to year but is usually between June 19th to 22nd. This marks the longest day of the year, with the most hours of daylight, and so a lot of focus is on celebrating the power of the sun, and like with Beltane, bonfires are used to do this.
This day has been marked with celebration throughout history. Traditionally, Litha sees the battle between the Oak and the Holly king, marking the annual end of the Oak king’s reign and the ascendance of the Holly king who rules as the days once again grow shorter. This is the height of the year, when flowers bloom and plants begin to fruit, and all is beauty and fruitfulness, in preparation for the coming harvest.
Litha also marks the time when the fairy world is closest to the human world – Midsummer Night. Fairies pass into the human realm on this evening and can grant blessings.
It’s also associated with the Celtic goddess Danu, who in Irish legend is the Earth Mother, representing nature and abundance.
(Danu statues available in our web shop in two different designs - Celtic Goddess and Mother of the Gods.)
Litha symbolism
Like other festivals, there are certain symbols and colours particularly associated with Litha that you can incorporate into your celebrations, crafts and altars. These include:
Colours – the colours that suggest the height of summer, sunshine, flowers and clear skies – green, blue, yellow, pink.
Flowers – any plants and flowers of high summer, including oak, fern, bluebells, daisies, foxgloves, elderflower, meadowsweet and poppies
Symbols – Bonfires, flowers, the sun
Crystals – the focus of Litha is on the sun and nature, so tiger’s eye, jade, topaz, peridot and emerald can be used.
Food – fresh salads, herbs, strawberries, elderberries, honey and mead
How you can celebrate Litha
Being a midsummer festival, Litha celebrates the power of the sun. The sun has reached its highest point of the year and light rules over darkness. It’s a great time of the year to utilise that summer energy and focus on growth for your own goals and ideas, whilst you continue to give thanks and be grateful for your success in the first half of the year.
Light candles or even bonfires – to honour the power of the sun at the height of the year and celebrate the abundance of summer. A campfire or barbecue with friends is the ideal Litha feast!
Litha is a great time for protection and healing rituals, especially those involving fire or candles – we’ve got lots of spell candles available instore!
The energy of the sun is especially powerful on Litha, meaning it’s a great time to perform magical work or charge and cleanse crystals in the midsummer sunlight. Watch out for our guide to cleansing crystals, coming soon on this blog!
Midsummer is also an ideal time to gather herbs, plants and flowers for drying and using throughout the year (but if you don’t get time, we have lots of lovely dried herbs available in our shop!)
You can make flower crowns to wear, or a floral wreath for your door.
Treat yourself to a wander in nature, appreciating the beauty, relaxing, meditating and reconnecting to the earth.
Leave an offering in the woods for the fairies, to request their blessing and luck.
How we’ll be celebrating Litha at Suzie K
Every Suzie K Turn of the Wheel event is a unique, special experience. Our 2023 Litha celebration is on Sunday June 18th at 2-3.30pm. You can check out Turn of the Wheel dates for 2023 over at our events page – tickets sell out quickly, so don’t sleep on securing your space! Our midsummer celebration will be an unforgettable event of meditation, blessings and seasonal crafts – You can RSVP at the Facebook event page here.
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