The Summer Solstice!

In Australia (the Southern Hemisphere), the Summer Solstice (also known as Litha) is celebrated December 21-23 when the sun enters the star sign Capricorn. Summer Solstice also known as ‘Mid-Summer’ and marks the longest day and shortest night of the year. It is also when the sun is at its highest peak in the sky.  (In the Northern Hemisphere, the Summer Solstice occurs in June, when the sun enters the star sign Cancer. It is celebrated June 21-23.)

The summer solstice occurs once a year in December when the Sun’s track across the Australian sky reaches its highest point. It is a day that features the most daylight hours of any in the year.

The Summer solstice usually occurs on 21 December, but can vary to 20 or 22 December. 

 

 

An interesting idiosyncrasy relating to the solstice is that it does not actually occur on the day with the earliest sunrise and latest sunset. This is because the effects of the off-centre tilt of the Earth on its axis and its elliptical orbit around the Sun combine near the dates of the Solstice to make the Sun appear to move slightly slower than expected – especially when measured by a watch or clock. As a result, the earliest sunrise occurs before the date of the summer solstice, and the latest sunset happens after the solstice.

A similar situation occurs during the winter solstice around the 21 June. On this, the shortest day of the year, the sunrise is not the latest and the sunset is not the earliest. However, this day does have the least amount of daylight hours.

Both symbolically and literally, the summer solstice is a time of celebration, ripeness, warmth, joy, heat and lust. It is a time for the God and the Goddess, represented by the Queen and the King of the wheel of the year myth (the Holly King and the Oak King), to reach fulfilment and perfect companionship. It is also bittersweet because this is the time when the King is wounded, and the wound will see his strength ebb over the coming months (as we move from Summer to Winter)

The Oak King and the Holly King

In many Celtic-based traditions of neopaganism, there is the enduring legend of the battle between the Oak King and the Holly King. These two mighty rulers fight for supremacy as the Wheel of the Year turns each season. At the Winter Solstice, or Yule, the Oak King kills the Holly King, and then reigns until Midsummer, or Litha. Once the Summer Solstice arrives, the Holly King returns to do battle with the old king, and defeats him. The Holly King them rules until Yule.

In some traditions, the Oak King and the Holly King are seen as dual aspects of the Horned God. Each of these twin aspects rules for half the year, battles for the favour of the Goddess, and then retires to nurse his wounds for the next six months, until it is time for him to reign once more.

 

Often, these two entities are portrayed in familiar ways - the Holly King frequently appears as a woodsy version of Santa Claus. He dresses in red, wears a sprig of holly in his tangled hair, and is sometimes depicted driving a team of eight stags. The Oak King is portrayed as a fertility god, and occasionally appears as the Green Man or other lord of the forest.

Ultimately, while these two beings do battle all year long, they are two essential parts of a whole. Despite being enemies, without one, the other would no longer exist.

Summer Solstice Across Different Cultures:

Ancient Greeks

According to certain iterations of the Greek calendar—they varied widely by region and era—the summer solstice was considered the first day of the year. Several festivals were held around this time, including Kronia, which celebrated the agriculture god Cronus. The strict social code was temporarily turned on its head during Kronia, with slaves participating in the merriment as equals or even being served by their masters. The summer solstice also marked the one-month countdown to the opening of the Olympic games.

Ancient Romans

In the days leading up to the summer solstice, ancient Romans celebrated the Vestalia festival, which paid tribute to Vesta, the goddess of the hearth. Rituals included the sacrifice of an unborn calf remove from its mother’s womb. This was the only time of the year when married women were allowed to enter the sacred temple of the vestal virgins and make offerings to Vesta there.

Ancient Chinese

The ancient Chinese participated in a ceremony on the summer solstice to honor the earth, femininity and the force known as yin. It complemented the winter solstice ritual, which was devoted to the heavens, masculinity and yang. Ancient Northern and Central European Tribes Many Germanic, Slavic and Celtic pagans welcomed summer with bonfires, a tradition that is still enjoyed in Germany, Austria, Estonia and other countries. Some ancient tribes practiced a ritual in which couples would jump through the flames to predict how high that year’s crops would grow.

Vikings

Midsummer was a crucial time of year for the Nordic seafarers, who would meet to discuss legal matters and resolve disputes around the summer solstice. They would also visit wells thought to have healing powers and build huge bonfires. Today, “Viking” summer solstice celebrations are popular among both residents and tourists in Iceland.

Native Americans

Many Native American tribes took part in centuries-old midsummer rituals, some of which are still practiced today. The Sioux, for instance, performed a ceremonial sun dance around a tree while wearing symbolic colors. Some scholars believe that Wyoming’s Bighorn medicine wheel, an arrangement of stones built several hundred years ago by the Plains Indians, aligns with the solstice sunrise and sunset, and was therefore the site of that culture’s annual sun dance.

Maya and Aztecs

While not much is known of how exactly the mighty pre-Columbian civilizations of Central America celebrated midsummer, the ruins of their once-great cities indicate the great significance of that day. Temples, public buildings and other structures were often precisely aligned with the shadows cast by major astrological phenomena, particularly the summer and winter solstices.

Druids

The Celtic high priests known as the Druids likely led ritual celebrations during midsummer, but—contrary to popular belief—it is unlikely that these took place at Stonehenge, England’s most famous megalithic stone circle. Still, people who identify as modern Druids continue to gather at the monument for the summer solstice, winter solstice, spring equinox and autumn equinox.

 

Summer Solstice Sacred Objects:

Symbols of the summer solstice can include…

• Lemon and water for purification
• Mermaids
• Sun symbols
• Apollo
• Fire
• Lamps
• Coals
• Sunflowers
• The Sun
• Heat magic
• Sacred trees, flowers and herbs:

Summer Solstice Correspondences:

Purpose

Rededication to the Lord and Lady, beginning of the harvest, honouring the Sun God, honouring the pregnant Goddess

Dynamics/Meaning

Crowning of the Sun God, death of the Oak King, assumption of the Holly King, end the ordeal of the Green Man

Tools, Symbols & Decorations

The sun, oak, birch & fir branches, sun flowers, lilies, red/maize/yellow or gold flower, love amulets, seashells, summer fruits & flowers, feather/flower door wreath, sun wheel, fire, circles of stone, sun dials and swords/blades, bird feathers, Witches’ ladder.

Colours

Blue, green, gold, yellow and red.

Customs

Bonfires, processions, all-night vigil, singing, feasting, celebrating with others, cutting divining rods, dowsing rods & wands, herb gathering, hand-fastings, weddings, Druidic gathering of mistletoe in oak groves, - leaping between two fires, mistletoe (without berries, use as a protection amulet), women walking naked through gardens to ensure continued fertility, enjoying the seasonal fruits & vegetables, honour the Mother’s fullness, richness and abundance, put garlands of St. John’s Wort placed over doors/ windows & a sprig in the car for protection.

Goddesses

Mother Earth, Mother Nature, Venus, Aphrodite, Yemaya, Astarte, Freya, Hathor, Ishtar, all Goddesses of love, passion, beauty and the Sea, Green Forest Mother; Great One of the Stars, Goddess of the Wells

Gods

Father Sun/Sky, Oak King, Holly King, hur, Gods at peak power and strength.

Animals/Mythical Beings

Wren, robin, horses, cattle, satyrs, faeries, firebird, dragon, thunderbird

Gemstones

Lapis lazuli, diamond, tiger’s eye, all green gemstones, especially emerald and jade

Herbs

Anise, mugwort, chamomile, rose, wild rose, oak blossoms, lily, cinquefoil, lavender, fennel, elder, mistletoe, hemp, thyme, larkspur, nettle, wisteria, vervain ( verbena), St. John’s wort, heartsease, rue, fern, wormwood, pine,heather, yarrow, oak & holly trees

Incense/Oil

Heliotrope, saffron, orange, frankincense & myrrh, wisteria, cinnamon, mint, rose, lemon, lavender, sandalwood, pine

Rituals/Magicks

Nature spirit/fey communion, planet healing, divination, love & protection magicks.

The battle between Oak King, God of the waxing year & Holly King, God of the waning year (can be a ritual play), or act out scenes from the Bard’s (an incarnation of Merlin) “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, rededication of faith, rites of inspiration.

Foods

Honey, fresh vegetables, lemons, oranges, summer fruits, summer squash, pumpernickel bread, ale, carrot drinks, mead.

Sources:

• http://aussiewytch.wordpress.com/sabbats/litha-summer-solstice/litha-in-australia/
• http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/summer-solstice-traditions
•  http://aussiewytch.wordpress.com/sabbats/litha-summer-solstice/litha-or-midsummer-solstice-mayhem-magic-miracles/
• http://paganpages.org/content/2011/06/litha-correspondences-2/