Wiccan Way

The Summer Solstice, also called Litha or Midsummer, is the celebration of the sun's peak of power at the end of the waxing cycle of the wheel. Mirroring the winter solstice, this is the longest day of the year.

This holiday is celebrated throughout many cultures as the time when the God begins to weaken and leaves the side of the Goddess to travel to the underworld where He will ultimately meet His death. This pending "death" of the God, illustrated in nature by the death of the sun and the coming of winter, is difficult to imagine during the scorching heat of summer.

Nevertheless, the wheel of the season turns and we acknowledge His fate, knowing that we have planted seeds that will soon reap benefits before the long winter arrives. Appropriate rituals for this holiday include personal purifications, charging ritual objects with the sun's power, the making of mead (honey ritual wine) and all healing work.