LITHA THE SUMMER SOLSTICE

As a witch in the southern hemisphere, the wheel of the year turns upside down. The summer solstice happens during the Christmas (or Yule) season. 

This is the longest day of the year, and a time of joy and strength for the light. It is a time when the powers of nature are at their fullest. 

In the past this was often marked with bonfires and celebrants staying awake through the short night. To leap over the bonfire was to assure a good crop; some said the grain would grow as tall as the leapers could jump. 

Due to fire restrictions in Australia throughout summer, celebrations for this Sabbat tend to be quite different from those throughout the rest of the year. No candles can be lit, no cauldrons burned, and no open flames are allowed outside throughout much of the country. 

Litha falls in the dry stifling heat of summer in the southern part of our land, but in the north, Litha falls in the hot, wet season, and represents fruitfulness. 

In Australia, the Sturt Desert Pea is a sacred flower of this time. This is a time of ascendancy of the God, at his most powerful now, while the burgeoning Goddess brings forth the bounty of the Earth.

The birth of the sun (Son through the Goddess) during this 

time is an occasion of celebration and hope. Like the sun of the tarot, a time of enlightenment, promise and beginnings as a new year approaches.