Litha / Summer Solstice Meditation



The Litha meditation is changed each year to suit the configuration of the Moon and planets on the night in question. The version given here is correct for Midsummers Eve (the night of June 23rd/24th), 2003 at around 55° North latitude.

Litha: like all the Solar Festivals, Litha was a time of great importance in ancient times to a people who needed to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

Prepare yourself for meditation in the usual way. Sit comfortably and relaxed. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths to cleanse your body and mind of everyday cares and concerns.

On the Eve of Midsummer, you are leaving your small house in the village where you live and heading towards the great communal hall. All the other villagers are doing the same.

It is a light, warm evening with the clear, fresh scents of the growing crops in the air. The Sun is low in the sky, nearly on the horizon, setting into a golden glow caused by the slight haze of a summer evening.

Enter the hall now. There is an array of good food here, delicious and sustaining; nothing lavish or extravagant, because this is not an occasion for indulgence: you have a long night's vigil ahead of you. Nevertheless, you eat and drink your fill, accompanied by your fellow villagers. In a spirit of friendship, you offer a few particularly choice morsels of food to some of the others. They, in turn, honour you with something you will particularly like.

After eating, you rest for a little while, but not for too long, for the work of the night calls. No word is said, but somehow everyone knows that it is time; and quietly and solemnly they line up and file out of the door. You join them. Some of the people take a torch from a pile and light it at the communal fire. Will you be one of the torchbearers, lighting the way ahead? Or will you be more content to follow where others lead?

You are outside the hall now, heading towards the edge of the village. It is dusk, but not yet dark. The Sun has set. Jupiter, a brilliant object, is descending towards the western horizon.

Your party leaves the village and heads out over the countryside to the high moors. Dusk gathers. As the ground becomes rougher, you are glad of the light of the torches to help you find a firm foothold on the path.

Your way leads steadily upwards through gorse and bracken covered slopes. At length, you come to a wide, open tract of moorland. In the half light, you can just see in the distance a patch of darker colour, which as you approach you can make out as a circle of standing stones. They are still a long way off, though; and it seems to take an age for you to reach them.

But at last you are there, in the midst of the magnificent standing stones. Within the circle of tall, carefully hewn standing stones, there are a number of smaller, rougher stones lying on the ground. These have not simply been cast aside, nor are they there by accident. They are placed there so that you may sit or lie in comfort during the nighttime vigil that is to come.

You gratefully sit down on one of the stones. You must not get too comfortable, though, for your intention is to remain awake all night to see in the dawning of the coming day.

As Jupiter continues its descent in the western sky, some of the torchbearers gather fuel and make a fire in the centre of the circle. This will serve to keep away the chill that might otherwise fall later in the night, and to form a focus for your meditations. Someone starts a chant. Others join in, and soon the whole party is singing together. The chant continues for many minutes, until, as if by mutual agreement but apparently without a signal of any sort, everybody falls silent.

Time passes. It is just after midnight now. The bright planet Jupiter disappeared below the horizon some time ago, and all you can see overhead are the stars, twinkling against the sky, which is now completely dark, though not so dark as the night sky of winter. Another planet appears above the eastern horizon, a brilliant planet with a reddish colour: this is Mars.

More time passes, as Mars climbs steadily into te sky. The night remains quiet and still. Just the occasional rustle of a person making a small movement, perhaps pulling their clothing tighter around them as the air cools, or perhaps standing for a few moments to stretch cramped limbs. The moon has now risen, a bright semicircle hanging low in the eastern sky.

You sit, quietly, contemplating the moonlight and the embers of the dwindling fire.

What goes through your mind as you sit there? What mysteries of the Universe reveal themselves to you on this long night's vigil?

Another hour passes. At length, one of the elders gets up and walks purposefully towards the eastern side of the stone circle, poised and alert, almost as if sniffing the air.

"It is time," he says.

In the East, you think you can begin to see something: the first chink of light that indicates the coming dawn. The local wildlife has noticed it, too; you hear the first of the birds start to sing to usher in the new day.

You all gather together in the middle of the circle of stones. You continue to wait together as the sky slowly turns from black, to grey, then to blue; for a few minutes, the bright planet Venus appears above the horizon and then, finally, there is a brief golden glow on the horizon and the Sun breaks into view. As it rises in the sky, its rays of light and warmth shine down, directly between two of the upright stones and onto the waiting group of people. Soak up that light and warmth for a moment. Feel the blessings that the Sun brings with it.

And now, it is time for the villagers to return home. They have a long walk ahead of them, then they will breakfast and retire gratefully to bed. But you remain behind, and sit again on one of the rocks, for you will journey home by a different route.

Sit quietly for a few moments, then return to objective reality, in the place and the time where you started your meditation. Put your consciousness in the centre of your head, just behind your eyes; and when you are ready, open your eyes.

Take a few hours, or a few days, to absorb the significance of this meditation. If you wish, you may repeat the meditation several times during the period around the Festival concerned.

Ritual

"I celebrate the noon of Summer with this ritual
held in honour of the Blazing God of the Sun...
All of nature vibrates with the fertile energies
of the Goddess and the God.
The Earth is bathed with the warmth,
and light and life of the Sun.
The Wheel of the Year turns again...
since Yule the light has been growing ever stronger.
At Ostara the light finally became greater than the dark,
and the light has kept on growing until today,
the middle of the time of light, Litha, Midsummer.
From here, the light begins to fade again, until once more, the Wheel will turn to darkness and Yule will return.
Today the Sun is high, the Light is bright, the Earth is warm.
As the Lord of the Sun blazes above,
the Fires of my celebration shall flame below."

Ring the bell three times, then continue, saying:

I celebrate life on this midsummer day, sadness is cast aside and joy flows within as the High Summer now begins.

Light the red candle in the cauldron and say:

The Light of the Sun, the God of life, shines around me and in me for all the world to see.

Set the candle in bowl and place on pentacle, with fingertips sprinkle water from cauldron upon Altar, saying:

The Lord and Lady of the Greenwood have made their pact. The oak King turns his face to that of the Holly King so He may wed the Queen and pass into her care. The Lord rises into the Lady and prepares to descend into the corn, in both ways to be born again of the Mother.

Pour water from cauldron into blessed water bowl and say:

The Life that enters the Lady's care is sanctified and purified in Her love.

Clap or ring bell nine times, raise open arms and say:

As the Sun moves on His course, so the course of Life moves closer to Death that life may come again. Soon will the Lord of the Corn move into His realm to become the Lord of the Shadows, but now, in the fullness of Summer, He shares the joy of His Life and His Love with all of the Earth.

Hold Athame over votive candle and say:

As the God and Goddess share their light and life with me, so do I share with others and offer comfort as is meet.

Mix herbs in bowl with athame; add herbs to votive candle and say:

I call upon the powers of Fairie imbued in these herbs that the Midsummer Fire be empowered. Herbs of the Earth; symbols of otherworld, the planets, of life, and of love, your scent fills the air and drives away care.

Rest palms of your altar and say:

Lord and Lady, you fill my life with your bountiful love and gifts. I call upon thee both for your continued blessings and offer my petition to thee both that your love and caring remain with me always. Bless me now and receive my blessing, my appreciation for life, for love, for joys, for that spark that brings me to you. May I pass this joy to others. So mote it be.

Hold up wand and say:

At this time of Midsummer Joy, I re-affirm my love for my Lady and my Lord.

Back

Next