Mid-Summer
a.k.a.
Litha, Alban, Hefin, Leth,
and Saint John's Eve
The Faeries Gather
The Summer Solstice
June 20-22

Mid-Summer is seen as the middle point of the light half of the year. Looking at a calendar, a modern observer will note the June 21st is currently considered to be the begining of summer, however, in the old style of reckoning, summer began on Lady Day and will end on Lughnasadh. This is simply a different way of looking at things, and if a modern witch finds this confusing, he should consider simply thinking of the day as "the Summer solstice." It has recently come into fashion to refer to the holiday as "Litha," a word supposed to derive from a Saxon word denoting the opposite of Yule. The fact that this is a new term does not lessen its validity, but be warned that it might confuse people who have not heard it before.

Mid-Summer is said to be a mystical time when the forces of magic are increased and fairies roam our world. As portrayed in Shake-speare's A Mid-summer Night's Dream it is a night of romance and confusion. It is also the time when the powers of light are at their grandest.

Although the sun will spend longer in the sky on this day than on any other, it is the known way of things that the sun will soon become increasingly absent from us. Mid-summer is a time to celebrate the power of light, but it is also a time to think ahead to the shortening days ahead.

It is common amongst pagan groups to hold that the Sun King is not one god but two. It is on mid-summer that the dark half of the sun god begins to gain power. Often, mock battles are played between representatives of the two gods who fight over the attentions of the lady goddess. Although the dark god is defeated, he has weakened the god of light who has now begun to die.

Fires traditionally bedeck the hills on this festival. The fires are traditionally kindled from fir and oak with assorted herbs throne upon the flames. Besides adding light for the nighttime festivities, the fires where thought to ward off ill-meaning spirits and it was thought lucks to jump over them. Other sources of flame would include lanterns carried by revelers "walking the march," who were often attended by morris dancers and costumed players dressed as a variety of beasts. In Germanic countries smaller lanterns set afloat on rivers and lakes.

Homes would frequently be decked with such plants as birch, white lilies, roses, and Saint John's Wort. Saint John's Wort was of particular importance to the Mid-Summer celebrations and in addition to wearing it and spreading it about the house, young girls would often use it to help divine the future of their love lives.

Saint John himself also has much importance in relation to this holiday. To the Christians, mid-summer is Saint John's Day and celebrates his birth, much as Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ in coincidence with Yule. The reason given as to why Saint John's birth is celebrated when every other Saint's day occurs at death is that John is a special case since he was born exactly six months before Christ to announce the coming of the Messiah.

Interestingly enough, the early Celtic-Catholic people apparently saw Saint John the Baptist as a very pagan figure. He was known as "the Oak King" and had a strong connection to the nature in the wilderness. There are even statues of him with horns, and occasionally as a satyr, as though people regarded him as a Christian Pan. This may seem very odd to a modern person, but keep in mind the fact that the early Christians, particularly those it the British Isles often simply put knew names to old deities.

The most common symbols of the summer solstice to modern pagans are the spear of the sun god and the bountiful cauldron of the goddess. Colours associated with the solstice are blue (for water), green (for growing plants), and yellow (for the sun.) Foods include all summer fruits and vegetables, ale and mead. Herbs often used on the holiday are mistletoe, vervain, heartsease, lavender, and, of course, Saint John's Wort.

A Faerie!
Have an enchanted Mid-Summer!