Susan Pesznecker
Litha (pronounced LEE-thuh), occurring around June 21 at the moment of the summer solstice, means many things to different people. To the lay public, it follows the completion of the school year and heralds the onset of barbecues, camping trips, and summer vacations. To those of us magickal folks, it also means those things—but also much more.
The summer solstice is the proverbial longest day and shortest night of the year. In truth, several of the days before and after Litha are the same in length, and Litha isn’t the only longest day—it’s one of them. But there is a precise moment of the summer solstice that’s measured astronomically. To an astronomer, this measurement is based on the Earth’s axial tilt—the way it leans along its axis in relation to the sun. In simplest terms, visible to us, solstice is the time at which the sun reaches its highest annual point in the midday sky, leading to the phenomenon of the year’s longest day and longest period of daylight. When the sun reaches that apex, it seems to pause there for a time and almost appears still. The word “solstice” in fact comes from the Latin solstitium, meaning “sun stopped” or “sun still.”
The winter solstice in December stands opposite Litha on the calendar, occurring between Dec. 21 or 23. Known also as Yule, the winter solstice marks the year’s shortest day and longest night. At the precise moment of the winter solstice, the sun creeps to its lowest position of the year, yielding a short day and scarce daylight. As with Litha, the winter sun also appears to pause briefly before setting in the western sky.
Together, the two solstices mark the sun’s progression through the heavens and show the natural balance between the forces of light and dark. Summer days are long, warm, and vividly bright. The sun is high overhead and able to warm the earth directly, and even summer evenings remain mild, for the ground has little chance to cool during the short nights. In contrast, winter days are short, cold, and dim. The sun is low in the sky and exerts little warming effect, and the nights are long, encouraging a deep, persistent chill. Plants and animals thrive in the summer only to die or become inactive or dormant during the winter months. It’s a tangible model of balance—the interplay of cyclic natural forces that keep the earth alive and vital.
Note that the schema discussed above applies to the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons—and the solstices—are reversed, with summer arriving in December and winter in June. But the effects and the idea of balance are the same.
Different cultures and traditions around the world have long marked the solstices with celebration and ritual—particularly with purifying bonfires and rituals aimed at helping young women find future mates. June and the time around midsummer is a popular time for weddings in many cultures, a trend possibly harking back to those ancient searches for a spouse but also honoring Juno, patroness of marriage, who gave her name to the month of June.
People have also long marked the summer solstice with archaeoastronomical monuments, i.e., workings of stone that track the alignments of the Sun, Moon, and stars. One of the most famous of these is Stonehenge, built by Neolithic people about 3,000 years ago. At the moment of the summer solstice, the sun rises over a special heel stone and shines into the stone circle. Another famous monument is the El Castillo pyramid at Chichen Itza, Mexico; the solstice sunrise illuminates the pyramid and creates the effect of a gigantic snake cascading down its steps. There are many other such monuments across the world, and their study is fascinating.
For magical folks, Litha—sometimes called Midsummer, although some reserve that title for Lughnasadh on August 1—is likewise celebrated in many ways but primarily as a veneration of the sun and its power. Many use this as a time for dedications and initiations or for charging magical belongings. Oaths and bonds are powerfully taken up at Midsummer, and it remains a potent time for weddings and handfastings as well as for the establishment of contracts of any sort. Rituals may focus on fire—the ability of light to penetrate and overwhelm the darkness—or on the sun itself, as in vigils involving the solstice sunrise or sunset. Many folks will appeal to solar deities at this time, perhaps addressing or offering to Apollo, Lugh, Hestia, Horus, or Juno, to name a few. Others gather for feasting and celebration. A Druid friend of mine caps her Grove’s feast with an “Oath, Toast, and Boast” ritual, featuring brimming mugs of ale and mead.