Historic Summer Solstice The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year. It falls between June 21 and June 24. From this point forward, the days will become shorter until the Winter Solstice celebrated at Yule. The Oak King dies at the hand of his brother, the Holly King, who will rule until Yule, when the Oak will again be reborn as king. This battle is again celebrated at Yule with the God in his guise as the Oak King prevailing and the days become longer again. (See Winter Solstice) Some folk wonder why a day in June is considered "midsummer" when in many places the warm weather is just beginning. The calendar has changed many times over the centuries and our modern calendar depends less on the movements of the sun than in years past. Our Celtic ancestors counted May Day (May 1) as the first day of Summer and Lammas (August 1st) as the last day of Summer. Counted this way, the Solstice is, indeed, the mid-point of summer. Midsummer is also known as Litha (Saxon) or Alban Heruin (Celtic). It was one of the Fire festivals. Bonfires would be lighted and it was considered bad luck to let the fires go out. [See Beltaine for more about fire festivals. Many of the activities described in the Beltaine Fun pages would be equally appropriate for Midsummer.] Christians knew Midsummer as the Feast of St.John the Baptist, which was celebrated on June 24. Now is the time when the God and Goddess are at the apex of their power. The Goddess is beginning to swell with the life of the young god who was planted at Beltaine. The world is bursting with life and almost everyone feels more at ease and happier than they will at any other time of the year. Many of the activities that we naturally associate with Summertime are appropriate ways to celebrate the Solstice: Visit the forest or the seashore for a picnic Search for flowers. Five plants were thought to have special magical properties on this night: rue, roses, St. John's wort, vervain and trefoil. If you aren't familiar with them yourself, visit the library a check a book about wild flowers. Play games with your children. Shadow tag, water fights and tug-of-war are traditional. Stay up to welcome the dawn on this shortest night of the year. Rub rowan on your eyelids and watch for faeries. Tell the story of the Oak King and the Holly King, Pwyll and Havgan or of Robin Hood around the campfire.

To Grandma's Cauldron To Midsummer Fun

Beltaine| Imbolc| Lugnasadh| Mabon| Mid-Summer| Ostara| Samhain| Yule|