“It’s Summertime, Summertime, Sum-Sum-Summertime…” We have traveled halfway around the Wheel from Yule , and the Sun stands still once again. We experience the longest day, the shortest night, the brightness and the fullness of the start of our season of summer. We celebrate the life-giving, life-affirming, life-abundant time of growth, both within and without.
For the Crow Women, Litha brings us together as sisters and devotees of the Goddess and the God.
We feast on seasonal foods, drink wine (and leave a libation on the ground to honor the Goddess and God), and sing many summer songs and chants. We are after all the Singing Crows… have you listened to our newest album, Seasons: A Pagan Journey Around the Wheel? The album features songs for each of the eight Sabbats. It has a lovely song for solstice: Celebrate Summer
We also are reminded that now begins the slow decent of the Sun King into the time of death and dying as the days begin to grow shorter. Can you tell? Do you notice that the sun rises a bit later, and sets a bit earlier, once solstice passes? If we pay attention we can journey with the sun as the Wheel of the Year turns.
The Crow Women always celebrate Litha in a big way! We live in the Southwest, where sunshine is abundant. While we always find ourselves outdoors, we do not need to travel into the wilderness to set up our celebratory space. We have convened many a Summer Solstice on the property of one of the Crows.
One of my early experiences of Litha was with a large number of Crow Women and guests, at which one of our members brought as a “first date” her soon-to-be partner. Now, that’s a bold move! It obviously worked out, as they are still together, and she is a frequent and welcome guest at our open ceremonies.
We sometimes gather near a lovely and popular trail area, going off the beaten track. One year, we were deeply immersed in our sacred worship of the abundance of the God and Goddess, when a pair of adventurous mountain bikers rode vigorously right through the center of our circle of power! They seemed oblivious to our activities! We wondered if they felt touched by majik as they rode through…
Another year, we were in a similar location, again with a number of guests, when some rustling was heard in the bushes. One guest became convinced that it must be a bear! Now we know that in our location bears are highly unlikely to approach a large and loud gathering, but try to convince our nearly-hysterical friend about that reality! It added an element of animal spirituality to our ritual, though.
A yearly tradition that we never miss is the creation of a Summer Solstice wreath, made of willow twined into a circle. We decorate it with summer flowers and colorful ribbon. It is used in ceremony; we each in turn gaze through it, as the Priestess proclaims, See with Clear Sight the Mystery of the Unbroken Circle! We love to document our experience with portrait photos of each Crow Woman within the wreath.
At the end of our ritual, we decide the disposition of the wreath- many of them have hung on Grandmother Tree, a large and majestic Juniper in my yard (remnants of these wreaths are there even now). Sometimes we have cast the wreath into running water, to be carried onward toward the west. Often we install the wreath in the location of the ritual, for other passers-by to notice and admire.
One year, we decided to hang the wreath high up on a nearby tree, so I balanced on the strong shoulders of another Crow to hang the wreath— unfortunately, I slipped, and with gasps from the ritual participants, fell many feet- into a springy bush, where I found myself unharmed. Surely guided to a soft landing by the Crow Goddess!
Because of our location in the often drought-burdened Southwest, we are not always able to enjoy a fire. We make do with an LED lantern in those years. But one year, at my house, we made the Solstice fire in an old wheelbarrow, which then became really hot! One of the participants trained a water hose on the wheelbarrow for the remainder of the ritual, and we made sure it was drowned when we were done. Later we discovered that we had drained the cistern, and neither our house nor the neighbor’s house which shares our well had water until the next day!
Whether your circle observes the Summer Solstice outdoors in the world of Nature, or in an indoor sacred space, we hope that your Litha gathering will be blessed with beautiful weather, celebrations of song, delicious food and heavenly wine. Blessed Be!
Thanks for the lovely picture of Donna