Midsummer
(June 21*)
Midsummer, also
called Litha, is the Sabbat of the Summer Solstice. This is the time of the year when the sun is
at his peak (for the Northern Hemisphere anyway). The days are longest and nights shortest, and
earth is harboring life at the greatest of her potential. At this time, the God, wed to the Goddess at
Beltane, sees his wife full and pregnant, and she asks him to leave the free
life he has known and loved, and to take on his responsibilities to her, their
child and the land. This change is very
difficult, because with these responsibilities comes the promise of old age and
death. The God becomes the Sun King and
oversees the land with the memories of his youth. He has now accepted his destiny. It’s no coincidence that Father’s Day is
placed so close to Midsummer. We use
this time to show respect and appreciation to fathers for all that they have
given to care for their families.
Certain views of the God and
Goddess are different for this day. In
many cultures this is a time when the Oak and Holly Kings battle again, as at
Yule, and this time, the Holly King comes out victorious, signifying the end of
the sun’s rise and coming of darker times.
Celebrate the Holly King and mourn the Oak King, but remember that they
are just two sides of the same coin.
Midsummer is also a time for
letting go. As with the God letting go
of his youth for his responsibilities, so must we let go of things to move on
and grow. This is the bittersweet time
in life. A time to remember the good times
and feel the sting of realizing they are in the past. At this time many ceremonies involve the
creation of beautiful things only for the sake of destroying them again, to
remind us that nature gives us beautiful things to admire for only a small time
and they are meant to be let go. The
tradition of the wicker man involves building a wooden man and adorning him
with beautiful flowers, then setting him on fire. It is not only to remind us of the things we
have or the times we spend, but the lives of loved ones and also
ourselves. This life is to be enjoyed,
but to be let go of when our time has come.
We are given beauty, but it cannot last forever. With that in mind we celebrate the wonderful
state of the earth and the power of the sun at this time.
Celebrations of the sun usually
involve lighting a bonfire and “leaping the bonfire” for fertility, love,
health, and purification. Petitions are offered up to the flame to purify the
self and clear out worries and troubles that the person is ready to give
up. On the altar, we place fresh flowers
and fruits, images of the sun and other symbols of the season, and things we
are now ready to give up, such as baby blankets, old letters, shoes that don’t
fit anymore or items that we are finished with, but that other people might
find of use. Let go and free up your
future for the new. You will always have
these things in your mind and that is the most powerful vault you could hope to
store anything in.
What am I doing for
Midsummer? Well, this week my pet fish
died and I thought it unsuitable to send my beloved friend down the city sewer,
so I’ve kept him in the freezer for this time of letting go. I have been thinking of drying him and
cremating him in not only a way of letting go, but in reverence of flame and
its ways of transforming material. Good journey, my tiny friend. Until we meet again, blessed be.
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