Litha Lore

(21st June - Northern Hemisphere, 21st December - Southern Hemisphere)

The Pagan Orthodoxy

Litha (a.k.a. the Midsummer, Vestalia, Gathering Day, Feill-Sheathain) (taken from Saxon tradition, the opposite of Yule) is celebrated on the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. It is also known as Midsummer Nights Eve, Alban Heruin (Druidic).

Litha is a Pagan Sabbat: a holiday celebrated by Wiccans, Witches and many others whose religions fall under the umbrella of Earth spirituality and Paganism. It glorifies the Sun and the male aspect of nature.

Litha lore:

The God and the Goddess are in Their prime, at Their highest power. This is the longest day of the year and the shortest night. The Goddess is pregnant. After this day, the light begins to wane until the Winter Solstice.

Litha practices:

On Litha, we celebrate the power of the Sun and play outside as much as possible, taking pleasure in Nature as a child would. Summertime flowers can be collected and used to adorn the altar, the home, and the body. Many people like to make love charms at this time and also cast love-related spells and any other kinds of magick, since this is the highest power of the God and Goddess and therefore there is quite a bit of energy to harness. Some people believe the elves and faeries are afoot and leave out food for them. Some like to cook potpourri made of flowers. One custom is to make one yellow feather wreath and one red feather wreath and tie them together with ivy.

 

On this Sabbat light and life are at their most abundant. Many Ancient monuments are aligned with the Sun at this point in the Wheel of the Year, the most famous being Stonehenge in England, though there are many more all over the world.
At mid-summer the Sun God has reached the moment of his greatest strength. Seated on his greenwood throne he is lord of the forests and his face can be seen in church architecture peering from countless foliate masks. In many Wiccan celebrations this is when the Oak King (who represents the waxing year) is triumphed over by the Holly King (who represents the waning year). The two are one, the Holly King is the growing youth while the Oak King is the mature man. In other traditions tis not until Samhain that the Holly King triumphs, (as the year moves into the dark half), he may also be seen as the Stag King, in his prime with full antlers, not yet ready for his symbolic sacrifice at Harvest Time.
This Sabbat also celebrates the Goddess in some traditions. She can be seen now as heavy with child, as nature is heavy with the bounty of the coming harvest, though in some Traditions although she is already pregnant (with the God) her 'time' is not yet ready, as she will not give birth to the God until Yule.
This is considered to be a time when energies abound, and is a good time for magic and purification rites. Midsummer Night's Eve is also special for adherents of the Faerie faith. The alternative fixed calendar date of June 25 (Old Litha) is sometimes employed by Covens. The Christian religion converted this day of Jack-in-the-Green to the Feast of St. John the Baptist, often portraying him in rustic attire sometimes with horns and cloven feet (like the Greek God Pan and similar in aspect to the Celtic Cerunnos).
Litha Correspondances

Litha Altar Decorations

The altar should be decorated with summer herbs, greenery, and flowers. Rather than wine the chalice can be filled with milk. If you have made a protective amulet previous to the ritual then you may want to place this on the altar. Before the ritual begins, make a small pouch out of white cloth and fill it with any combination of midsummer herbs that you wish. Be sure to add them in threes. Tie the pouch with a red string and place it on the altar. The altar cloth and candles should be white.

Suggested Litha Ritual

Cleanse yourself and your space in your normal manner (there's suggested Cleansing instructions for the Ritual Bath, Self and your Sacred Space in our Glade of Worship section that you may like to try).

Light the altar candles and the incense, and then proceed to cast the sacred circle (there's a suggested Circle Casting Instructions in our Rituals section you may like to try!). Then invoke the God and the Goddess. Kneel before the altar, facing east, and say:

"With these mystic rites, I celebrate the summer time and the coming bounty of autumn. Now, the world is bathed in the warm glow of the sun, and the fields and seas and skies and forests are teeming with life."

Hold the cloth pouch in your hands. Concentrate on any problems, pain or illness that you wish to be rid of. Picture these things going into the bag. Stand up and walk round to the East side of the altar. Light the pouch with an altar candle. Drop the pouch into the cauldron to watch it burn. As you watch, know that those impurities are burning to ash. Say:

"Oh great Goddess and God, on this magical night I pray that you will help me to know and understand myself and the world around me. May you bring joy and happiness into my life, and may no harm come to anything by my hands."

After this is through, feel free to perform any magic you wish. Midsummer is a very magically powerful night and is considered a classic time for works of magic, Healings and love magick are especially suitable at this time. Midsummer Night's Eve is supposed to be a good time to commune with field and forest sprites and faeries. End with celebratory Cakes and Ale, and then release the Circle in your usual manner.

Litha

The Sun shines strong upon the ground,
Nature's abundance grows all around,
Gently nourished by summer rain,
Apples, Oats, Wheat and Grain,
Promises of bounty, time reveals,
And On and On turns the Wheel!

The Horned One walks the bright Greenwood,
Rare glimpses seen make all feel good!
His Power once again at its Height,
Together with the shortness of night,
Summertime joy is all we feel!
And On and On turns the Wheel!

Hot and humid it begins to oppress,
All life moves less and less,
Thunders' rumble taints the air,
The weather turns a lot less fair!
Lightning flash and Thunders Peel,
And On and On turns the Wheel!

Summer storms pass swiftly by,
And once again time doth fly,
Soon will come Harvest Time,
Wheat become bread, Grape become Wine!
A bounty taken to provide a meal,
And On and On turns the Wheel!

Still to come a last farewell,
Death embraced as He fell,
Blood freely given falls to the floor,
Sacrifice ensures life once more!
This Land again now will Heal,
And On and On turns the Wheel!

Suzanne Read Litha 2006

Words carry energy and this gives language its power and its potential
to heal or hurt. Most of us can remember a time that someone sent a word
our way, and it stuck with us. It may have been the first time we
received a truly accurate compliment, or the time a friend or sibling
called us a name, but either way it stuck. This experience reminds us
that what we say has weight and power and that being conscious means
being aware of how we use words.

The more conscious we become, the more we deepen our relationship to the
words we use so that we speak from a place of actually feeling what we
are saying. We begin to recognize that words are not abstract,
disconnected entities used only to convey meaning; they are powerful
transmitters of feeling. For the next few days, you might want to
practice noticing how the words you say and hear affect your body and
your emotional state. Notice how the different communication styles of
the people in your life make you feel. Also, watch closely to see how
your own words come out and what affect they have on the people around
you.

You may notice that when we speak quickly, without thinking, or rush to
get our ideas across, our words don't carry the same power as when we
speak slowly and confidently, allowing those receiving our words time
and space to take them in. When we carefully listen to others before we
speak, our words have more integrity, and when we take time to center
ourselves before speaking, we truly begin to harness the power of
speech. Then our words can be intelligent messengers of healing and
light, transmitting deep and positive feelings to those who receive
them.

What is Empathy?

http://healing. about.com/ cs/empathic/
a/uc_empathtrait s_2.htm
From Christel Broederlow
Empathy is the ability to read and understand people
and be in-tune with or resonate with others,
voluntarily or involuntarily of one's empath capacity.

Empaths have the ability to scan another's psyche for
thoughts and feelings or for past, present, and future
life occurrences. Many empaths are unaware of how this
actually works, and have long accepted that they were
ìsensitiveî to others.

Empathy is a feeling of another's true emotions to a
point where an empath can relate to that person by
sensing true feelings that run deeper than those
portrayed on the surface. People commonly put on a
ìshowî of expression. This is a learned trait of
hiding authentic expression in an increasingly
demanding society.

An empath can sense the truth behind the cover and
will act compassionately to help that person express
him/herself, thus making them feel at ease and not so
desperately alone.

Empaths experience empathy towards family, children,
friends, close associates, complete strangers, pets,
plants and inanimate objects.

Empathy is not held by time or space. Thus, an empath
can feel the emotions of people and things at a
distance. Some are empathic towards animals (ie: The
Horse Whisperer), to nature, to the planetary system,
to mechanical devices or to buildings etc. Others will
have a combination of the above.

Empaths are highly sensitive. This is the term
commonly used in describing one's abilities
(sensitivity) to another's emotions and feelings.
Empaths have a deep sense of ìknowingî that
accompanies empathy and are often compassionate,
considerate, and understanding of others.

There are also varying levels of strength in empaths
which may be related to the individualís awareness of
self, understanding of the powers of empathy, and/or
the acceptance or non-acceptance of empathy by those
associated with them, including family and peers.
Generally, those who are empathic grow up with these
tendencies and do not learn about them until later in
life.

Empathy is genetic, inherent in our DNA, and passed
from generation to generation. It is studied both by
traditional science and alternative healing
practitioners.

Empathy has both biological/genetic and spiritual
aspects.

Empaths often possess the ability to sense others on
many different levels. From their position in
observing what another is saying, feeling and
thinking, they come to understand another. They can
become very proficient at reading another personís
body language and/or study intently the eye movements.
While this in itself is not empathy, it is a
side-shoot that comes from being observant of others.
In a sense, empaths have a complete communication
package.

While there is much we don't yet understand about how
empathy works, we do have some information. Everything
has an energetic vibration or frequency and an empath
is able to sense these vibrations and recognize even
the subtlest changes undetectable to the naked eye or
the five senses.

Words of expression hold an energetic pattern that
originates from the speaker. They have a specific
meaning particular to the speaker. Behind that
expression is a power or force-field, better known as
energy. For example, hate often brings about an
intense feeling that immediately accompanies the word.
The word hate becomes strengthened with the speaker's
feeling. It is that person's feelings (energy) that
are picked up by empaths, whether the words are
spoken, thought or just felt without verbal or bodily
expression.

Who Is An Empath?

Empaths are often poets in motion. They are the born
writers, singers, and artists with a high degree of
creativity and imagination. They are known for many
talents as their interests are varied, broad and
continual, loving, loyal and humorous. They often have
interests in many cultures and view them with a
broad-minded perspective. They are mother, father,
child, friend, nurse, caregiver, teacher, doctor,
sales people... to psychic, clairvoyant, healer, etc.
(That is not to say that any of these categories are
all empaths.) The list is extensive and really
unimportant. It is more important to notice that
empaths are everywhere-- in every culture and
throughout the world.

Empaths are often very affectionate in personality and
expression, great listeners and counselors (and not
just in the professional area).

They will find themselves helping others and often
putting their own needs aside to do so. In the same
breath, they can be much the opposite. They may be
quiet, withdrawn from the outside world, loners,
depressed, neurotic, lifeís daydreamers, or even
narcissistic.

They are most often passionate towards nature and
respect its bountiful beauty. One will often find
empaths enjoying the outdoors, beaches, walking, etc.
Empaths may find themselves continually drawn to
nature as a form of release. It is the opportune place
to recapture their senses and gain a sense of peace in
the hectic lives they may live. The time to get away
from it all and unwind with nature becomes essential
to the empath. Animals are often dear to the heart of
empaths, not as a power object, but as a natural love.
It is not uncommon for empaths to have more than one
pet in their homes.

Traits of an Empath

Empaths are often quiet and can take a while to handle
a compliment for they're more inclined to point out
another's positive attributes. They are highly
expressive in all areas of emotional connection, and
talk openly, and, at times, quite frankly in respect
to themselves. They may have few problems talking
about their feelings.

However, they can be the exact opposite: reclusive and
apparently unresponsive at the best of times. They may
even appear ignorant. Some are very good at blocking
out others and that's not always a bad thing, at least
for the learning empath struggling with a barrage of
emotions from others, as well as their own feelings.

Empaths have a tendency to openly feel what is outside
of them more so than what is inside of them. This can
cause empaths to ignore their own needs. In general an
empath is non-violent, non-aggressive and leans more
towards being the peacemaker. Any area filled with
disharmony creates an uncomfortable feeling in an
empath. If they find themselves in the middle of a
confrontation, they will endeavor to settle the
situation as quickly as possible, if not avoid it all
together. If any harsh words are expressed in
defending themselves, they will likely resent their
lack of self-control, and have a preference to
peacefully resolve the problem quickly.

Empaths are sensitive to TV, videos, movies, news and
broadcasts. Violence or emotional dramas depicting
shocking scenes of physical or emotional pain
inflicted on adults, children or animals can bring an
empath easily to tears. At times, they may feel
physically ill or choke back the tears. Some empaths
will struggle to comprehend any such cruelty, and will
have grave difficulty in expressing themselves in the
face of another's ignorance, closed-mindedness and
obvious lack of compassion. They simply cannot justify
the suffering they feel and see.

People of all walks of life and animals are attracted
to the warmth and genuine compassion of empaths.
Regardless of whether others are aware of one being
empathic, people are drawn to them as a metal object
is to a magnet! They are like beacons of light.

Even complete strangers find it easy to talk to
empaths about the most personal things, and before
they know it, they have poured out their hearts and
souls without intending to do so consciously. It is as
though on a sub-conscious level that person knows
instinctively that empaths would listen with
compassionate understanding.

Here are the listeners of life. Empaths are often
problem solvers, thinkers, and studiers of many
things. As far as empaths are concerned, where a
problem is, so too is the answer. They often will
search until they find one--if only for peace of mind.

Written By Christel Broederlow Copyright (c) 2002
Christel Broederlow Shortened Version from The Empath
Report 101

About this contributor: Christel is a natural born
empath. Webmaster of The Universal Empath 101 and
author of numerous articles about empathy through
personal experience and continual research.

Suggested Reading
Empath Suffering
Empathic Expereinces
Sensitive Person's Survival Guide

Related Articles
Traits of an Empath
Discovering Nature - Nature Journal Tips from the
Homes...
Beyond Detachment, What Can The Empath Do?

Raising your vibration is the only effective way to get to the life you truly want to live. While you are emitting a low vibration or frequency your life will never really be in harmony and you will constantly live with an inner feeling of discontent. It is this life of discontent that you put up with and accept that keeps you in a state of low vibration. When you find the courage to do something about your low quality of life and choose to make things better you are on the right track to raising your vibration. Raising your vibration comes down to many factors and listed below are 10 key steps that will definitely help towards raising your vibration immediately. 1. Be mindful of your thoughts. It is imperative to keep a close eye on the habitual thoughts that enter your head. It can be difficult at first to be aware of the many thoughts that constantly bombard your mind all day long but by beginning to notice unwelcome or negative thoughts you can start to replace them with a positive thought you already have preprogrammed in your mind. When I say preprogrammed I mean you have a positive thought in your mind, a thought that you know makes you happy, that you substitute in place of any negative thought that comes into your mind. The key to this thought substitution is to spend as much time thinking positive thoughts and less time thinking negative thoughts. By spending more mental time in the positive, this will help raise your vibration. 2. Only talk about what you want, not what you don't want. If you are looking for a new relationship, don't say things like "I can never find the right person for me". If you talk like this, this is exactly what you will get. You get what you say and think. Even if you haven't been too successful in finding the right person previously, it doesn't matter. Change your words and you will change your life and what you get in your life. Instead say something like "I intend to find the perfect person for me". Have a confident expectancy that at any time you could meet this person and you will exponentially increase your chances of finding them. The same thing goes for money, don't talk about not having enough money, either don't talk about it at all or only talk positively about having money and as what you want comes to you, this helps raise your vibration as you feel better about yourself. 3. Stay away from negative or pessimistic people. These types of people are running a very low vibration and their low vibration can have a negative impact on your vibration level. Instead of raising your vibration you will lower it and this will bring about more events residing on a low vibration, like problems, stress and worry. 4. Spend some time not thinking. Yes that's right, stop thinking so much. To do this I like to take a walk through the bush or away from the city and the noise. Go to a place in the country if you can and take a long walk, concentrating on your surroundings, keeping your mind off your usual thoughts. This is a great way to clear your head and also help raise your vibration. If you can't get away, try listening to some soothing music and avoid thinking by concentrating on the sounds. 5. Join groups of like minded people. Spend time with people interested in the same things you like and learn at the same time. Before I started writing for my website I took a 3 months community college course in Writing. Not only did I improve my writing I also got to spend time with other people who shared a similar interest with me. I always walked away from each class feeling positive about being a writer and this had a positive effect on my vibration as it made me feel good about myself. 6. Give away something you can afford each week. Give away your time, some money to a charity you believe in or give away something you don't use anymore but may be useful to someone else. What you give is what you get in life, so by giving you will receive in one way or another. Help others and you will be helped. You have a profound effect on raising your vibration when you help others as it makes you feel good from the inside. 7. Be aware of your actions. Everything you do comes back to you in some way so always be wary of how you treat others and how you act in all situations. How you treat others is how you will be treated, by doing the right thing by everyone you come into contact with will help to raise your vibration as others continue to do the right thing by you. Treating everyone well will attract positive people and opportunities into your life. 8. Avoid the television, radio and media in general. It is especially important to avoid all news programs as they do much more harm to your vibration level than they do good. By watching TV you end up taking in so much negative energy it becomes confusing to your subconscious mind and some of that negative imagery and energy gets absorbed by your subconscious and elevates a feeling of fear from within. Most of the media works by fear mongering, they want to shock you into a state of fear so you keep on watching and the more you watch the more addicted you become. This has a disastrous impact on your vibration level. 9. Stay optimistic at all times. This can be difficult to do especially when you are in a crisis but when you are in a crisis situation, this is when it's most important to stay positive. By remaining positive you keep your vibration high and when you are vibrating at a higher rate your problems will dissipate so much quicker or you may find it was not really a problem at all. Positive things and events are attracted to positive people. Surrounding yourself with positive people is a great way to remain in a positive state of mind. 10. Stay in touch with your feelings. This is the most important factor in keeping your vibration level high. Your feelings are the cosmic glue in regards to your entire life. When you are feeling good about yourself only other things residing on the same good frequency will be attracted into your life. Your level of vibration runs parallel with your feelings, meaning you are in control of your life and the events that come into your life at any given moment. If there was one most important point in relation to raisaing your vibration it would be to stay on top of your feelings and don't allow yourself to feel negative or pessimistic. The better you feel about yourself and your life the higher you will raise your vibration