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Episode 16: Litha
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Welcome back Witches! With Litha on June 21st, this week's episode is covering the Summer Solstice, or Litha! We're going to share the history of Litha, along with with correspondences, and some ways to celebrate the longest day of the year! So get in losers, and lets discuss Litha!
We would be forever thankful if you left our podcast a 5-Star review. If you really loved the show and want more Get in Loser content, check out our Supercast & Buy Me a Coffee links below. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @GetinWitches, on TikTok @weredoingwitchcraft or email us at weredoingwitchcraft@gmail.com. You can support our show through our
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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio- The Witch
- Cunningham, Scott. Cunningham’s Book of Shadows: The Path of an American Traditionalist. (2018). Llewellyn Publications.
- Moura, Ann. Grimoire for the Green Witch: A Complete Book of Shadows. (2003). Llewellyn Publications.
- Wigington, Patti. Celebrating Litha, the Summer Solstice. (2019) https://www.learnreligions.com/guide-to-celebrating-litha-2562231
- Elding, Ash. 7 Ways to Celebrate Litha. (2021). The Pagan Grimoire. https://www.pagangrimoire.com/litha-celebrate/
- Ancient Celebrations for Today: Litha. Mabon House. https://www.mabonhouse.co/litha
- Litha/Summer Solstice. The Goddess & the Green Man. https://www.goddessandgreenman.co.uk/litha/
- Druti, Bhagat (2019). The Origins and Practices of Litha. Boston Public Library. https://www.bpl.org/blogs/post/the-origins-and-practices-of-litha/#:~:text=Litha%20(also%20known%20as%20Midsummer,with%20hilltop%20bonfires%20and%20dancing.
- Wigington, Patti (2019). Litha History- Celebrating the Summer Solstice. Learn Religions. https://www.learnreligions.com/history-of-summer-solstice-holiday-litha-2562244
- Aine the Goddess who took revenge on a king. (n.d). Irish Myths and Legends. https://www.ireland-information.com/irish-mythology/aine-irish-legend.html#:~:text=%C3%81ine%20is%20among%20the%20most,as%20he%20had%20a%20problem.
- Knock Aine- Voices from the Dawn. (n.d.). https://voicesfromthedawn.com/knock-aine/
- Understanding Stonehenge. (n.d.). English Heritage. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/things-to-do/stone-circle/celestial-stonehenge/
- 12 Days of Midsummer (2015). Nordic Wiccan. http://nordicwiccan.blogspot.com/2015/06/12-days-of-midsummer.html
- Carlson, Cajsa (2019). A Brief History of Swedish Midsommar. Culture Trip. https://theculturetrip.com/europe/sweden/articles/a-brief-history-of-swedens-midsummer-festival/
- Oak. (n.d.). Druidry. https://druidry.org/druid-way/teaching-and-practice/druid-tree-lore/oak
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Get In, Loser' Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Do you feel drawn to learn more about witchcraft and the occult that feel lost on where to start? Then welcome to Get In, Loser. We're doing Witchcraft, a podcast all about what it means to be a witch and where to get started on your journey. Join us as we navigate through various witchy topics and share what we have learned about the craft. So get in, witches, and let's learn about Letha and the summer solstice.
Technical Apologies and Issues
00:00:39
Speaker
If you hear any background noise during this episode, we apologize in advance, but it's just life. There's carpenter bees trying to take off Tiffany's head. Wanna murder me. Jets, kids. It's just a lot. There's too much going on right now. And Zoom is being ridiculous. So, you know. It is. It is. I hate it all. Yeah, same.
Understanding Litha and Its Significance
00:01:03
Speaker
But you know what? We're talking about something super exciting today. We are. We're talking about Luma.
00:01:08
Speaker
So LICA occurs between June 19th and the 23rd and it's celebrated on the summer solstice. For the northern hemisphere it's on June 21st this year and for the southern hemisphere it's on December 22nd.
00:01:25
Speaker
That's really interesting to know because I didn't really, I mean, I, I knew that like the seasons were flip flopped. Yeah. Southern Southern hemispheres, but I didn't, I guess it never occurred to me that like holidays would be totally like occurring in a different time.
00:01:44
Speaker
So Litha is, you know, sometimes it's pronounced Litha, Litha. I've heard it pronounced so many different ways. It's referred to sometimes as Midsummer or as we mentioned already, Summer Solstice.
00:01:55
Speaker
It celebrates the beginning of summer is really all it is. Well, and it's one of the minor Sabbats on the pagan wheel of the year. It's a day that like honors the longest day of the year. And it's time to like celebrate the abundance and the beauty of mother earth. And with it being the longest day of the year, it also makes it the shortest night of the year. And it's believed that this is the time when the sun is its most powerful.
00:02:19
Speaker
And much of what we know about Litha and its celebrations are based on a culmination of many different cultures. And unfortunately, much of the actual history surrounding this holiday wasn't written down, just like a lot of what we've discussed with just witchcraft and pagan beliefs anyway. So a lot of what we do know is from lore traditions and oral history.
00:02:41
Speaker
And then a lot of actual documentation too was burned when Christianity kind of took over as the dominant religion. So anything that wasn't Christian, even like medical, like medical science and documentation was burned during these times. So it's really sad that a lot of history like this was lost because of the lovely Christianity.
00:03:01
Speaker
is really sad. Yeah.
Folklore and Traditions of Litha
00:03:03
Speaker
So during lethal celebrations, bonfires were kind of a staple tradition. And the bonfires were left over to help encourage fertility, purification, health and love, as well as for protection and prosperity. The fire actually represented the sun. It was also believed to be a time when the fae would pass into the human realm at twilight, and then they would offer blessings to people.
00:03:27
Speaker
And it was believed also that the fairy realm was the most accessible on this night. So in old practice, it was said that like, if you wanted to be able to see fairies that night, you would just soak time in olive oil and then anoint your islands. And it was believed that the fairy folk could be found under an elder tree, but that if you ate their food, you would have to stay with them for seven years.
00:03:52
Speaker
So are these fairies like Cardin from the Cruel Prince or are they like the ugly fae creatures? Probably the ugly fae creatures.
00:04:06
Speaker
because you know if it was if I just rubbed some olive oil soaking time on my eyelids and then all of a sudden Daddy Reese was there I don't know if I'd have a problem staying in the fairy world for seven years. Also in pagan tradition this marked the height of the oak king or the solar god's power. When I was doing research on this I came across a lot of information about the oak king and he represents daylight
00:04:35
Speaker
And he rules from Yule slash Winter Solstice to Litha. And the Holly King, which is the Oak King's rival, he represents darkness and rules from Litha to Yule.
00:04:48
Speaker
I found the information on the oak and holly king really interesting because there are so many different variations and beliefs on them. So some of them they were like rivals, some of them they were brothers, and then some of them they were also like the same person that like would transform as the seasons transformed into the next season they transformed into the other version of themselves.
00:05:12
Speaker
like that like a bit of self like transformation and you know I really like that. Yeah it was like either they transformed from like the young to the sage or from the oak to the holly king so I found that interesting.
Cultural Celebrations of Litha
00:05:27
Speaker
Alitha is considered the end of the oak king's reign and then the rise of the holly king who then oversees the world
00:05:33
Speaker
as the days start to shorten and then we descend into the cold, dark winter. So that's kind of the differentiation between them. And then during Litha, the Holly King of course wins and the days get darker from here on out until Yule when they battle again or there's that self-transformation however you want to believe where, you know, during Yule
00:05:55
Speaker
the Oak King then wins or there's that transformation, however you want to say it, but whatever the case that happens at Yule and the days of course become lighter and we move away from that darkness.
00:06:10
Speaker
So the focus during the summer solstice is set on abundance, on growing your crops or gardens or whatever, and then welcoming the first days of summer. And in the rise of Christianity, it was actually adopted by the Catholic Church and it became St. John's Day celebrating John the Baptist.
00:06:32
Speaker
No, no, they took it and they were like, uh, this is John the Baptist day. We're going to celebrate him. So a lot of times whenever people think about the summer solstices or Litha, they
00:06:42
Speaker
immediately think about the stone circles. So stone circles were oriented around solstices and equinoxes, so we know that they were tracked, but we don't know exactly why or how this was done. Stonehenge was one of the most famous, probably the most famous stone circle, and it was erected in a way to highlight the rising of the sun on the summer solstice.
00:07:06
Speaker
Nearly every agricultural society has marked the high point of summer or the summer solstice in one way or another. And the word solstice actually derives from the Latin word for probably saying it wrong. I should have looked this up and I didn't, but solstidium, either solstitium or solstidium. Probably, I'm sure mine is wrong, but we tried.
00:07:30
Speaker
It is what it is, right? I don't know Latin, but it literally translates to when the sun stands still. So something that I found through our research over all of the episodes that we've done.
00:07:45
Speaker
is that different cultures obviously celebrate or recognize different things during this basically the same time frame. So for the Midsummer or Summer Solstice, Athenaean Greeks marked this as their new year and then they would celebrate the goddess Athena like during this time instead of the Oak King.
00:08:07
Speaker
And for Romans, ancient Romans, they honored this time and believed it was sacred to Juno, who was the wife of Jupiter. And she was the goddess of women and childbirth. The ancient Romans honored Juno.
00:08:18
Speaker
with a festival and they celebrated Vestalia, which was a holiday honoring Vesta, the goddess of the hearth and vital force. Yeah. And Juno was also known as Juno Luna, and she gave women the gift of menstruation, which I'm not sure how much of a gift that is, but you can have it.
00:08:39
Speaker
I don't want it. But she was also known outside of being the goddess of women and childbirth as the patron saint of marriages. And this is where we get the month of June from, which I thought was pretty interesting. Yeah. The summer months and especially June are still seen as the most popular times to get married. We'll see this today. I mean, if you just look, I mean,
00:09:00
Speaker
even in the States, like literally the summer, especially June is prime time for marriages. That's when venues are most expensive. That's when everybody's getting married. And it's crazy that it has evolved from these ancient times. And speaking of marriages,
00:09:16
Speaker
Just a real quick word on hand fasting that I found during the research for this episode, what that I thought was interesting. And we discussed hand fasting more in depth in our wheel of the year episode, but I came across a website that was talking about how at Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding, there was an element of hand fasting because they had like their hands and they covered them and they like did something with a cord or a ribbon.
00:09:41
Speaker
And I thought that was really interesting because obviously they're part of the Church of England. And I'm not sure if this is a norm for weddings within the Church of England or if this is something that the Church of England, maybe this was like an old ritual that stemmed back from like Catholicism before that. And they got that route from hand fasting, but I thought it was really interesting to read that because I've never seen that in a wedding. I've never seen it outside of like the pagan community.
00:10:09
Speaker
And I know, you know, I watched that wedding and I didn't even notice it. I had to go back and watch a clip and I'm like, Oh damn, that did happen because I never even, I never noticed it. You know, the queen was sitting there and she was like, she's a witch. Right. So a little bit more on Stonehenge Stonehenge, they have dated it back to about 2,500 BC. The stones were placed.
00:10:36
Speaker
to align with the movement of the sun. And as we mentioned before, very little information about what sort of ceremonies might've taken place has ever really been recorded. We just know it's been dug up by archeologists, essentially.
00:10:51
Speaker
What we do know is based on excavations of the area and what has been found is that the area was kept clean of any sort of debris that would have been seen in normal everyday living. So it was assumed that the stone circle was a sacred place. The Neolithic people who built Stonehenge were farmers and herders and obviously they tracked the sun and the changing seasons
00:11:14
Speaker
And this would have been important to them anyway, because, you know, the changing seasons dictated what they could grow and when, but there was also probably a spiritual significance to the stones outside of just keeping a calendar.
00:11:26
Speaker
And this could have been a place for ancient civilizations to practice ancestral works as so far about 150 cremated remains have been found at the site. And while we don't know for sure, there's speculation that maybe the ancient Neolithic people also worshiped some sort of sun deity. And this could explain why the stone circle was so important to them. That's interesting.
Norse and Scandinavian Traditions
00:11:50
Speaker
It really is. And then, so outside of just the Neolithic time period in England, there's been a lot of information about Litha and the summer solstices and Midsummer passed down through Scandinavian and Germanic traditions, their history and lore. So Midsummer is the second greatest festival of the Germanic holy year. And in Germanic lore, it hearkens back to the time of Baldur and the Vikings. And I'm sure I'm saying this wrong.
00:12:19
Speaker
If we have any Norse pagans that are listening, I'm sorry in advance. So Midsummer is a time to make blessings to Baldor. In the past, this was done by making model Viking ships constructed from wood filled with flammable offerings and set on fire. This time of year was marked by planting of the harvest and then sailing out to do battle in other lands.
00:12:40
Speaker
It is also the time of action, risks, and having a daring heart, which I thought was really sweet. Yeah. Outside of like doing battle and other lands, but I guess, you know what? You got to make your money, right?
00:12:52
Speaker
And then for Norse mythology, also we can't talk about Norse mythology in Midsummer without talking about Odin, who was a chief God in Norse mythology. He had one eye like the blazing sun. And if you do work with deities or follow the Nordic pagan beliefs, this might be a great deity to research and get to know. Also, when I was doing research for this, I came across information that this is where they speculate Father's Day comes from.
00:13:16
Speaker
Um, it's usually celebrated in June and it's related to mid summer holidays and the Nordic pagan beliefs, which would make sense if they honored Odin on this day, he's considered the old father. So it is. Yeah. Yeah. And then the fact too, because Beltane, which we've already discussed, you know, in, at least in America, mother's day is celebrated in May. I know you came others days celebrated in March.
00:13:44
Speaker
So I get two mother's days every year, but, you know, just relating mother's day back to Beltane and then father's day to midsummer. And with that, I think it's pretty interesting. That is, I like that. So, um, as far as Scandinavian lore and their current celebrations for Scandinavian people, there was a belief that.
00:14:04
Speaker
plants were especially magical on Midsummer's night. And there's a belief that rolling around in the dew on Midsummer while naked was said to be good for your health. I'm not tried it, but you know what? Maybe I will. No judgment. Yeah. Maybe I'll try that this year. Um, probably get arrested. Yeah.
00:14:22
Speaker
But, you know, it's fine. And plants for health purposes were harvested during this time. There was a belief that during this time, supernatural beings were at their most active. And mid-summer has been celebrated both past and present with picnics, dancing around the Maypole, performing the little frog dance, which you can find on YouTube. I did not look it up, but I meant to. And now I'm sad that I didn't because I'm curious. I was waiting for your explanation of this one. I was like a little frog dance. What is this?
00:14:51
Speaker
I forgot to look it up. I need to do that though. Well, and then just real quick going back to like plants being for health purposes being harvested during this time. That's something that we're still doing now today. Like I'm literally, I literally foraged a bunch of plants that are good to have during the winter months to dry out so that we had them for if we need them, you know, like us in the plant world. We also still do that. So
00:15:19
Speaker
That's amazing. Food that was usually eaten on midsummer were gravlax, salmon, potatoes with dill and sour cream, and pickled herring. What is gravlax? It's a fish, I guess. Oh, okay. I mean, I guess that would make sense. Yeah, I've not had it. And then obviously not had salmon either because I'm allergic to it. But I could totally get down on some potatoes with dill and sour cream.
00:15:43
Speaker
No, it won't kill me. And they're delightful. Yeah. Celebrations would usually continue through the night and alcohol, such as beer, schnapps, and vodka are usually consumed during the celebrations. And there's the belief that if you collect seven different flowers and put them under your pillow on Midsummer's Eve, you will dream about your true love, which is beautiful. Unless you're already married and then you put seven different flowers underneath your pillow. And you can do that. And daddy race pops up.
00:16:12
Speaker
Yeah, that would be terrible or wonderful depending on who you talk to. Maybe if you're married, don't do it just in case.
Celtic and Wiccan Perspectives on Litha
00:16:20
Speaker
Just don't do it.
00:16:22
Speaker
So for ancient kelp practices, some of these were documented by Christian monks and some of this documented history exists today. So we have at least something, but the celebrations that the ancient kelts practice, they would do them on top of hilltop bonfires. According to what was documented by the Christian monks, it was said that they would celebrate the space between the earth and the heavens. I don't know how true this actually is or if this is the monks
00:16:49
Speaker
trying to rationalize the practices because they didn't really understand them. So we don't know exactly why they were doing these bonfires, but this is just what the Christian monks documented. And then this is my favorite story that I researched for this episode. Anya, have you heard of this Irish queen of the fairies? No. She's kick ass and she's my new favorite.
00:17:13
Speaker
So she is the queen of Munster and the queen of the fairies. And she's known for her power over crops and fields. And she's a Celtic equivalent to Aphrodite and Venus. And the cinders from the bonfires celebrating mid-summer were thrown into the field for props, like as an offering.
00:17:31
Speaker
And that they did that for prosperity and like wealthy crops, but it didn't have any, like, it wasn't like, Oh, because of Anya and they offered them, it was more like, Oh, this is for good luck over our crops.
00:17:44
Speaker
Yeah. And so it was just the lore behind it is so interesting. So basically the legend states that King, I don't know how to say his name. He's not important. I'm just going to call him King alum. I'm sure that's pronounced wrong, but his name, you know what? We're not even give his name power. So.
00:18:03
Speaker
I'm just going to call him King AA because he is the worst in this lore. Every time he would go to sleep, he would wake up to his grass dying. And he was like, what the fuck? So he was advised by the druid to go to knock any for its restorative powers. And that's actually a real place, I guess in Limerick Ireland. I've heard of it. And I didn't know that. Um, but while he was there, he fell into a drowsy half sleep.
00:18:32
Speaker
and forced himself on our queen of the fairies. And she maimed him by biting off his ear. Good. Should have been off something else. Yeah. All the parts. Yeah. So she's my favorite person. So outside of just ancient Scandinavian and Celts and Germanic practices, there's also the Wiccan beliefs surrounding midsummer that are obviously
00:19:02
Speaker
I mean, I know they're based on ancient pagan beliefs, but they are quite a bit newer than a lot of the ancient beliefs. Leitha is believed to be the celebration of the marriage of the God and the goddess, which we talked about last week in our first deity episode.
00:19:18
Speaker
So if you haven't listened to that, make sure you go back and listen to it. But in Wicca, this celebration is for the Oak King's wedding to the pregnant goddess. And others believe that the Holly King is who impregnates the goddess with the Oak King himself. So I found that to be really interesting. That is interesting.
00:19:38
Speaker
But at any rate, the goddess during Lita is full and pregnant and the sun god is at its height of virility and it's at its height of sun giving power. This is a time when the earth is full of fertility and it's the time of celebration. And Wiccans believe that with this time, there is the promise of a return to the dark as the power of the sun will begin to wane from this moment on.
00:20:05
Speaker
And of course, as we've mentioned already, that the days will grow shorter and the nights will become longer.
00:20:10
Speaker
Outside of just the lore and the oral histories and some of the documented histories and traditions surrounding Litha and Midsummer and the summer solstices, let's talk about the symbols associated. As Tiffany's already mentioned, bonfires are a huge one. Traditionally, people stayed up all night on Midsummer's Eve to watch the sunrise. And bonfires lit on hills and places that were held sacred were done as a way to honor the sun. And they would sprinkle aromatic
00:20:40
Speaker
herbs into the bonfire.
00:20:42
Speaker
And bundles of herbs were lit to bless the animals and torches were lit to bless homes and fields, which is pretty interesting. And all I could think of is me telling you that story, Tiffany, of the guy in the field behind our house. With his branches. Blinding the branches. He was just celebrating early. He was just celebrating a whole month early. Maybe I should have just let it slide, but it was, you know, two o'clock in the morning. So I don't know.
00:21:13
Speaker
And then along with ancient Celtic traditions, the colds from the fire were scattered in the field to ensure a good harvest. Many people also believe that jumping over bonfires for good luck and along with bonfires, some European traditions, even now we'll still set a large wheel on fire and roll it down a hill into a body of water. This is a way to basically symbolize the balance between fire and water.
00:21:39
Speaker
as the water mitigates the heat of the sun and it's a symbolic way to protect against droughts is what it's believed to be used for, which is pretty cool. I also read that it was symbolizing the changing path of the sun so that when they would roll it down the hill into the water, because Leitha essentially is celebrating that the sun is
00:22:02
Speaker
moving on to a different path where the days are shorter and the nights are longer. So it was like a way to celebrate and recognize that as it like rolls into the water and then it like goes out and becomes dark.
00:22:15
Speaker
I love that. Yeah. And so we've mentioned Oak a lot already on this episode of the podcast and Oak tree worship is very important to Litha and just Oak trees in themselves are important to Litha. The Oak tree is known for its strength and longevity. And it's known as the holy tree of Europe.
00:22:33
Speaker
It's the tree of life as the roots penetrate deep into the underworld and its branches reach toward the sky. It's the sacred tree to Jupiter, which, as I've mentioned, was the husband of Juno, and the oak tree was the tree of Odin, who is also associated with Litha and the Norse pagan beliefs, as we mentioned earlier.
00:22:51
Speaker
And there are many beliefs that like in Wales, for instance, if you rub an oak tree with your left palm, you will be healthy all year. And I thought this was interesting. The Celtic name for oak is again.
00:23:04
Speaker
probably pronouncing it wrong, duh, which translates as doorway. So pretty interesting because, you know, when I was reading this online, the article that I was reading mentioned that this could be symbolic because it symbolizes that we're crossing the threshold into the darkest part of the year. So with the oak tree, it's kind of like that doorway into you.
00:23:28
Speaker
I like that. It's I thought that was really really cool and I didn't know some of this these facts about like the oak tree and why it's associated with litha like that so pretty interesting. Also mistletoe which was surprising mistletoe is usually associated with yule but it's also gathered during litha as it's often found growing on oak trees
00:23:50
Speaker
Which is something I didn't know either. I did not know that. But apparently if you're wanting to find some mistletoe, just look for an oak tree because they tend to grow on oak trees. But it was thought that mistletoe is at its height of power during litho. It's thought that mistletoe is at its height of its power during litha, especially while it's growing on oak trees. And mistletoe in itself is just known for its healing and fertility powers, which again, tied right back into litha.
00:24:18
Speaker
A big symbol for litha and midsummer are bees and honey. The midsummer full noon is also known as the honeymoon and using honey during litha is a great way to celebrate the summer solstice because during this time the bees are making honey and honey is the reflection of the life-giving sun as honey can also be life-giving.
00:24:39
Speaker
I also love that. Yeah. Holiday has so many like really interesting tie ins. I like it. It really does.
Modern Pagan Practices
00:24:47
Speaker
So Lita is a classic time for magic of like all kinds. It's the time to align yourself with the powerful energies of the sun and of summertime. And it's a really good time to set intentions.
00:25:00
Speaker
It's a time of growth and expansion, and you should be expanding your ideas or businesses or your goals and your desires during Lita. It's a time to acknowledge your successes this far in the year, like what you have already accomplished so far in the last like six months.
00:25:18
Speaker
Leitha is one of the best times for working protection spells as well. And it's also good to use solar energy, harnessing it into your manifestations and your spellwork. It's also a great time to cleanse and purify. Modern day pagans tend to view this day as a time to reflect on your own inner power and brightness, spending time with your family outdoors, meditating, and many will celebrate with both fire and water.
00:25:44
Speaker
So it wouldn't be an episode of ours without at least listing some correspondences. So for Leitha, the element that corresponds to it is fire, which we've talked about several times throughout the episode. Colors would be blue, green, yellow, pink, purple, gold. Honestly, it's just kind of looking into nature right now. What are the colors of the sky, the colors of the plants around you, the flowers.
00:26:09
Speaker
For incense, incense to burn would be lavender, musk, sandalwood, chamomile, elderflower, mugwort, ravain, thyme, and fennel. And then to decorate with would be hemp, larks, fir, pine, rose, St. John's wort, and wisteria.
00:26:27
Speaker
We have talked about some of the foods, but I think those were more historically, right? I mean, some of things are still celebrated to date, but for the most part, this was like the oral history and the lore associated with it. Right. So some more, I guess, modern day food correspondences would be, as Sam mentioned earlier, honey. Honey cakes are a really popular one. And then using elderberry, strawberry, fennel, thyme, fresh greens,
00:26:56
Speaker
drinking mead or wine, using seasonal fresh fruits and herbs, or like making an herbed bread, pastries, chicken, potatoes, hard boiled eggs, really just using what's in season if you have a garden like what you're growing at the time.
00:27:13
Speaker
I think this would be awesome too. You could just make a huge salad with all of these herbs and throw in some fruit, the berries and the chicken and the eggs. That's an amazing way to celebrate. I watched a YouTube video and I don't remember which one it was, but she went through her entire like celebration, like how she, from the time she wakes up until she goes to bed, how she celebrates and she does a fruit salad.
00:27:38
Speaker
using fruits that are in the colors of like the sunsets and the sunrises. After she cut it all up, she arranged it into a sun on a like charcuterie board and just drizzled it with honey and spent her morning like meditating and eating fruit salad from this really cute little sun shape on a board.
00:28:00
Speaker
I love it. That's beautiful. I'm absolutely stealing that for my celebration. Well, and you could use this part for it. So you could also use foods that have the same vibrational energy of the sun. So think about like using oranges or bananas, lemons, grapefruits, peaches, things that are kind of in that same color scheme of the sun are considered to be fruits and vegetables that have the same vibrational energy as the sun.
00:28:27
Speaker
I don't know a whole lot about that and how they get to that, but that's what I've read. Love it. So I'm going with it. Anything with food I'm here for. Yeah, right. That's how I like to celebrate all of my holidays is around the food. So crystals that correlate to Lita are Peridot.
00:28:44
Speaker
amber, emerald, lapis lazuli, garnet, obsidian, moonstone, jade, diamond, and tiger's eye. And then we've mentioned some deities already, but just to list a few more. Aphrodite, Apollo, Astarte, Freya, Ishtar, Helios, Lu, Loki, the holly king, Sol, Ra, Zeus, and the green man or the horned god, and Thor.
00:29:12
Speaker
and this is a great time if you do work with deities to either connect or reconnect with your deity. And then symbols, just going back over a few of them, we've mentioned fire a ton and, you know, bonfires were lit on Litha. And it was believed that the original reason that we lit bonfires for Litha was to assist the sun on its journey through the sky as it changed its course and the day started to shorten. Some other symbols could be
00:29:39
Speaker
Sunwheels or flowers, like even sunflowers, are considered a really good correlation to leitha. For trees, plants, and flowers, there's the beech, elder, holly, obviously the oak trees, mistletoe, as Sam mentioned earlier, elderflower, lavender, pine, fern, rose, honeysuckle, chamomile, fennel, mugwort, St. John's wort, and vervain.
00:30:03
Speaker
And I think the reason why there's so many, because there's obviously there's like tree plant and flower correlations to every holiday. But I think because of the time of year where plants are in abundance, that that's why there are so many that actually correlate to leaf it. For animals, we have butterflies, robins, and other summer birds. Cattle and horses were listed separately. I don't know why, because they could be considered cattle in my head, I guess.
00:30:29
Speaker
But horses were like, it was like cattle and horses. So I was like, okay, maybe there's a reason, but I couldn't find anything. Fireflies, crab, and octopus, which I found the last two really interesting. And then mythical correspondences would be sulkies and fairies, which we talked about a little bit earlier. And then the zodiac for this time is cancer.
How to Celebrate Litha
00:30:50
Speaker
So let's talk about how you can celebrate Liffa. One great way is with elder flowers. So they peak at mid-summer. I mean, Tiffany literally just mentioned elderflower. So you can use elderflower in your drinks. You can infuse it into honey. This is a great thing to do during mid-summer. Drinking mead. You can even try to make your own mead if you don't have access to any sort of store-bought mead and setting up something on your altar.
00:31:17
Speaker
For elderflower, I'll share on our social media. I do an elderflower cordial that's absolutely amazing to add to drinks or cakes or anything really. It's just delightful. I love elderflower anything, so I can share that. When it comes to your altar, you want to use sun or solar colored candles. So again, just kind of thinking back to the sunrise and the sunset.
00:31:42
Speaker
like the yellows, the oranges, those fiery reds and golds. And then symbols for the altar could include the sun, Bridget's cross, or a god or goddess statue. And then using those corresponding crystals that we mentioned earlier, or crystals that relate to your own intentions for letha, use offerings from your own garden or your flower bed, or if you go out on a nature walk or something.
00:32:07
Speaker
Something like oak leaves, herbs, flowers, or grasses that are abundant this time of year could be used. And then other things that might represent the sun to you.
00:32:17
Speaker
And also with your altar, you can put sunflowers up because that would be a great representation of the sun and then also water. So this could be moon water, storm water, rain water, or water that you pick up from any stream or body of water or anything that's sacred to you could also work during this time. So it doesn't have to be like moon water or something.
00:32:39
Speaker
And then also, if you do use tarot cards, you can use the sun card as a representation of the sun for your altar. One of the easiest ways that you can celebrate, Leitha, is just to simply spend time outside. Just be in nature, be under the sun, and take in all of the nature around you. And just enjoy the long daylight hours. Obviously, do it safely. Wear sunscreen. Don't overheat yourself, because it's very hot this time of year. So be smart about it.
00:33:06
Speaker
You can have a bonfire and a potluck with your friends and family. The bonfires are intended to bring luck and protection for the upcoming harvest and to aid the sun on its journey, as I said earlier, as it shifts directions and the days start to shorten. If you're a night person, you can start the night before staying up through the night and watching the sunset and then celebrating all night and the coming of the sunrise.
00:33:31
Speaker
If you're a morning person, obviously just set your alarm to wake up a little bit earlier and watch the sunrise. Or you can virtually watch the sunset on Stonehenge now with technology. You know, before not everybody had access to go to Stonehenge or to see the sunrise or the sunset on Stonehenge, but now it's done virtually every year. I get notifications on Facebook and I don't know how I got that.
00:33:55
Speaker
But now it'll be like, are you going to watch the sunrise on Stonehenge? And I'm like, I don't know. Am I, what time is it? I don't know how that happened, but it, Facebook notifies me every year about this, the sun rising over Stonehenge. And I'm like, you can gather and dry herbs to use throughout the winter months, spend the day just foraging and then, you know, wash your herbs and lay it not to dry and use them, you know, when it's cold and they're not growing anymore.
00:34:21
Speaker
Take some time to meditate. You can set out a jar of water to create solar water. Just spend time dancing in the sunlight absorbing its energy. And then crafting even. There are a ton of crafts that correlate to letha. You can create a god's eye in solar colors. Make floral wreaths. You can build a fairy house which is thought to invite their goodwill into your life. Make a dream pillow to keep nightmares away or to encourage insightful dreams.
00:34:51
Speaker
Make a suncatcher to hang in your house, but if you make one, leaving the suncatcher outside during the day under the sun to let it absorb the sun's energy is thought to bring that energy inside your home and it'll boost your home with the solar energy. If you do it that way first, you can make a flower crown or just press flowers to preserve them for the winter months and use them in your craft. You can make a witch's ladder.
00:35:15
Speaker
And you can tie a bunch of fennel with red ribbon to hang over your door for a long life and for protection within your home. And another thing that I saw too online, which I'll add to our social media is ways in which you can make a lithium bezum or ritual broom, or if you're wanting to use a broom to do like a hand fasting or jumping the broom ceremony, you can use that as well.
Litha Rituals and Reflections
00:35:41
Speaker
And then something I found that I thought would be really interesting to share
00:35:45
Speaker
For anyone that wants to practice a litha ritual, what you can do is outside if you have like a little table or just a section on your patio that you can spread a cloth on and then set out a tall yellow candle which represents the longest day of the year and a shorter black candle representing the shortest night of the year. And then a heat safe container like a cauldron or maybe like an empty candle jar.
00:36:14
Speaker
and then you're going to need a few scraps of paper and on each of them you're going to write down things that no longer serve you. Once you've gotten everything written down and you've read through them,
00:36:24
Speaker
You're going to burn each one of them by lighting them on your candles and then tossing them into your cauldron or heat safe container and let them burn. And as they burn, you're going to release them from your life, making way for new things within your life. And then reflect over everything that you've achieved over the last six months of the year and let your candles burn all the way down. And once they're burned, that's it. You just clean it up.
Outro and Future Topics
00:36:59
Speaker
That's it for this episode of Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft. You can find our source material for this episode linked in the show notes. If you love this episode, we would be forever thankful if you leave us a five-star review on wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you really love the show and want more Get In Loser content, check out our Supercast link provided in the show notes or search the Supercast website for Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft.
00:37:22
Speaker
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