Welcome to the Summer Solstice!

Summer Solstice. Midsummer. Litha. Alban Heflin. Feast of the Sun. Sonnenwende. Thing-Tide. By whatever name you know it, ’tis the season to celebrate the sun!

The Summer Solstice has been celebrated for millennia all over the world. So, chances are, you know at least a bit about it. But how much do you really know? Test your Midsummer knowledge with a brief Summer Solstice quiz before we talk Solstice celebrations and music to accompany them.

Summer Solstice Quiz

Summer Solstice Pop Quiz Question 1: What causes the earth’s seasons?

1. The change in distance between the earth and sun during the earth’s orbit.
2. The 23.5-degree tilt of the earth’s axis.
3. Persephone ate pomegranate seeds in the Underworld and can only come upstairs a few months a year.
4. The Disney corporation

Summer Solstice Pop Quiz Question 2: At Summer Solstice, the sun enters which zodiac sign?

1. Gemini
2. Aries
3. Xena
4. Cancer

Summer Solstice Pop Quiz Question 3: When the Northern Hemisphere is celebrating the Summer Solstice, the Southern Hemisphere is celebrating what?

1. Winter Solstice
2. Fall Equinox
3. Spring Equinox
4. Bring Your Wombat to Work Day

Summer Solstice Pop Quiz Question 4: Why doesn’t the Solstice fall on the same day every year?

1. Because of the difference between the calendar year (365 days) and the tropical year (365.242199 days)
2. Because of the gravitational pull of the moon and other planets
3. Because the earth’s rotation is slightly wobbly
4. All of the above
5. None of the above

Summer Solstice Pop Quiz Question 5: True or False: The earliest sunrise and the latest sunset occur on the summer solstice.

1. True
2. False

Summer Solstice Pop Quiz Question 6: What happens at noon on the Summer Solstice?

1. Someone starts singing
2. The sun is at its hottest of the year
3. The sun is directly overhead at the Tropic of Cancer
4. The dead rise from their graves to join the Wild Hunt

Summer Solstice Pop Quiz Question 7: If Midsummer is June 20^th—22^nd, when is the first day of summer?

1. June 20, 21, or 22
2. June 1st
3. May 1st
4. All of the above
5. Both 2 and 3, but not 1

Summer Solstice Pop Quiz Question 8: Why is Summer Solstice called Litha?

1. To honor the ancient Lithuanian goddess “Litha” or “light bearer”
2. Because modern pagans read the JRR Tolkien Lord of the Ring series
3. “Litha” was the original Celtic name for this festival
4. A guy in Manchester “lit-the” fire on Solstice and the name stuck

Summer Solstice Pop Quiz Question 9: What popular tourist destination is aligned to the rays of the rising Summer Solstice sun?

1. Stonehenge
2. Newgrange
3. The Statue of Liberty
4. Foamhenge

Summer Solstice Pop Quiz Question 10: Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year.

1. True
2. False

How did you do? (See answers below.)

• 8-10 Correct answers: Midsummer Maven. You know your stuff! Why aren’t you writing this blog?
• 5-7 Correct answers: Litha Learner. You’ve been around a bit and you’re growing in your knowledge. There’s always more to learn!
• 4 or fewer correct answers: Solstice Starter. We all begin somewhere. For you, that where is here!

Wanna learn more about that lovely sun lighting up your Summer Solstice? There’s a song for that…

Using Music in Your Summer Solstice Celebrations

The Summer Solstice offers myriad ways to celebrate based on the traditions, symbols, and themes of Midsummer. These range from the stone circles built to align with that solstice sun to the Midsummer bonfires to the games, crafts, and activities popular in our modern pagan Litha celebration. Each has delightful music that can be incorporated to bring even more magick to your rituals. I’m just offering a few ideas–add yours in the comments below!

Greet the Dawn

Do as your ancestors and get up early on Midsummer day to greet the sun on her longest day to shine. Try “Celebrate Summer” by Alane Crowomyn to set the mood as the dawn approaches.

Build a Fire and Jump It

Lighting fires is a traditional method to celebrate the Solstice. The fires embodied the energy of the sun. Plus the fires had the added benefit of scaring away any evil spirits that might have crossed the veil at this spiritual time. Singles, couples, friends, and even animals jumped the fire for luck in the coming year. “I Am Flame” by Alane Crowomyn is a perfect fire jumping song.

Handfast

The “June bride” is not a new phenomenon. The tradition of holding a handfast or wedding around the Summer Solstice goes back for centuries. If you are ready to tie the knot with your lover (or honor the knot you tied many moons ago), “Chalice to Blade” by Alane Crowomyn and “Join Together (The Handfasting Song)” by Deb Kroehwimwin were both written for this exact purpose.

Stone Circles

Stone circles and stones have been erected across the world to mark the passing of the sun. Perhaps the most famous Summer Solstice viewing location is Stonehenge, where the rising run at the Solstice directly lights up the altar stone. Get a crane (or lots of friends and a keg) and set up your own stone circle. Or simply evoke the essence of the stone circle with “Sing Up the Stone” by Alane Crowomyn or “Stone Circle” by Marilyn Krowommn.

Invite the Faeries

Summer Solstice is one of the three fairy sabbats of the pagan year (the other two traditionally recognized as Winter Solstice and Samhain). They can certainly add some magick and a sense of wonder to your celebration. Check out our recent blog on rituals with the faeries, which includes a plethora of fabulous fairy songs, including a brand new song Lady Titania by yours truly, which is prepped for release on an upcoming Crow Women album. “Midsummer’s Fey” by KIVA is another song that’s perfect for today.

Visit a Sacred Well or Spring (or create your own with a tabletop fountain)

Summer Solstice is a time when the sun’s power is at its greatest, and thus its healing power is appreciated by many. Sacred wells and springs are a source of that healing power of sun and earth. Visit, drink from, bathe in, or sing to your favorite water source (heck, even the tap!) with “Wondrous Water” by Jude Harrison or “Let’s Go Down” with lyrics by Carole Crowwomyn set to a traditional tune. “Deep Well Woman” by Alane Crowomyn would be another perfect selection, especially combined with the activity below (working a healing spell).

Work a Healing Spell

Whether your aim is to heal yourself, someone else (with their permission), or the planet, your healing energies will be multiplied by the sun’s energy today. “Healing Circle Song” (sung by the Crow Women on Crow Goddess) can help focus that energy.

Dance to Summon the Rain

Summer Solstice occurs at the height of the growing season in many regions. The right amount of rain at this time can determine whether the harvest is sufficient to sustain the community through the winter. Help encourage the rain gods to provide with your own rain dance or song. Try “Bring the Rain” by Alane Crowomyn.

Create a Wheel

Wheels, circles, discs, wreaths all symbolize the sun. Our ancestors would often light wooden wheels on fire and roll them downhill at Midsummer. Perhaps you don’t want to go that far (or your local fire department already has you on their radar for unauthorized bonfires). Create your own wreath for your head or for hanging on a branch in your yard. Or make an Ojo de Dios in reds, oranges, and yellows to have your own sun circle for your altar. For the flaming wheel effect, might as well look to classic pagan musician Johnny Cash and “Ring of Fire“.

Celebrate a Solar Deity

You’ve plenty of solar deities to choose from–they are all at the height of their power on this day. Some of them will die at Midsummer to be born again at Midwinter. “Sun King” by Reclaiming and “Die & Be Re-Born” by Abbi Spinner McBride both harken the journey of the sun gods.

Hold a Battle Between the Oak King and the Holly King

The Oak King and the Holly King have long represented the light half (Oak King) and the dark half (Holly King) of the year. At each solstice, they battle for supremacy. The Summer Solstice sees the reign of the Oak King end as the Holly King returns. Hold your own symbolic battle with celebrants of any gender representing these two monarchs of the seasons. Play “A Solstice Song (Oak and Holly King)” by Sthomason as a perfect accompaniment to the battle.

Drink Mead

Do you even need an excuse? “Sing Ho! for the Mead” (by Alane Crowomyn) as you quaff and toast to the sun.

Sing and Dance the Day Away

Take a cue from our ancestors and use the Summer Solstice to play! Sing and dance from dawn to dusk the entirety of this long day. Go for upbeat pagan Summer Solstice songs such as “Oak Leaf Crown for the Summer King” by Touch the Earth or “Oak & Ash & Thorn” with lyrics from the poem “A Tree Song” by Rudyard Kipling with music by Peter Bellamy (we love the jazzy version linked as performed by one of our favorite pagan bands, KIVA. Or try fun summer songs from pop culture. I’ll be pulling out “Summer Vibe” by Walk Off the Earth, “Summertime” by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, and “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles.

Want more Summer Solstice musical inspiration? Check out Alane Crowomyn’s Spotify Playlist for some more great pagan songs to celebrate this Sabbat.

Pop Quiz Answers

• Question 1: The 23.5 degree tilt of the earth’s axis. Although yes, Persephone contributed as well if Greek mythology is to be consulted.
• Question 2: Cancer.
• Question 3: Winter Solstice.
• Question 4: All of the above. Each of these contributes to the shift of a little over 5 hours progression each year until leap year comes along to “correct” the calendar.
• Question 5: False. Although the day of the solstice has the most daylight hours of the year, the earliest sunrises of the year occur before the summer solstice. The exact timing will depend in part on your latitude: In the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, it occurs about a week earlier than the June solstice. The latest sunsets of the year will occur several days after the solstice, again depending on latitude.)
• Question 6: The sun is directly overhead at the Tropic of Cancer. That is, if you are in the Northern Hemisphere. If you are celebrating the Summer Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, the sun will be striking the Tropic of Capricorn. Though, honestly, wherever you are, someone breaking into song is very likely as well.
• Question 7: All of the above. The first day of summer can depend on a lot of things, such your location in the world, and your perspective. For instance, meteorologically, summer begins on June 1, not June 21. Astronomically, the first day of summer is said to be when the Sun reaches its highest point in the sky, which occurs on the summer solstice (June 20–22). Therefore, the summer solstice is considered to be the first day of summer, astronomically speaking. In Northern Europe, May Day (Beltane) is the beginning of the summer.
• Question 8: Because modern pagans read the JRR Tolkien Lord of the Ring series, where Tolkien used the term to describe a summer festival. The term may be based on a Saxon word for “light”, but there is no evidence to suggest that the term was commonly used to describe the Summer Solstice until after Tolkien introduced it.
• Question 9: Stonehenge. Although if you answered “Newgrange,” that is partially true. There is a stone at Newgrange aligned with the Summer Solstice. However, Newgrange is more frequently associated with the ray that cuts across the inner chamber at the Winter Solstice. And yes, Foamhenge really did exist in Natural Bridge Virginia, as a replica of its more famous sibling, although we hear it has not withstood time as well as the original and may no longer be there for your visit.
• Question 10: False. It has 24 hours just like every other day of the year. Actually the longest day of the year in hours could be said to be the last Sunday in October, which has 25 hours thanks to the end of Daylight Savings Time. Summer Solstice has the longest number of daylight hours. But yes, we usually call it the longest day, so if you said true, that is correct in its own way.

So how do YOU celebrate Midsummer? Let us know in the comments below.