As we move through into the summer season, we get ready to welcome our next sabbat on June 21st, known as Litha. Often referred to as the Midsummer or the Summer Solstice, Litha is a high-spirited fire sabbat full of buoyancy and merriment. With the earth coming alive, the sun is beaming, and nature flourishing, this is a time for reconnecting with the cycles of nature and honoring the growing light within ourselves and all around us.
Throughout time, Litha was often deemed a time for celebrating the Goddess in her pregnancy, while the Sun God continues to rise until he reaches full strength. For that reason, people would often hold bountiful feasts, perform ceremonial dances, and host bonfires to honor his light and her fertility. However, as the longest day and shortest night of the year, for many, Litha is also a powerful time of honoring our own inner light and coming into our own peak of strength, making this an excellent time for rebirth and change within ourselves.
With so many warm and jovial energies circling around us now, there are many fun and exciting things you can do at this time to honor the energies all around us. So for today, we’re going to share 10 of our favorite rituals you can do to celebrate Litha and welcome in all the healing energy of this summer sabbat in a beautiful new way. Let’s get started.
One of my favorite ways to celebrate Litha is to make sun water. Sun water, much like moon water, is a practice designed to help you absorb the sun's healing energy in a jar of water to use in your personal practices. Symbolically, the sun corresponds with vitality, happiness, strength, cosmic energy, and life, and for that reason, sun water is often used on altars for this time of the year to honor all of these corresponding energies, as well as the Sun God. However, you can also use sun water to water your plants or cleanse yourself and your space.
To make sun water, all you have to do is find a jar, charge it with your intention (such as positive energy or abundance), place the jar on a windowsill as the sun rises on the solstice, and then remove it before nightfall. After that, you’re done! It’s quick, easy, and can be used for a variety of different magical practices, no matter the time of year, and is a great way to work directly with the sun's life force energy.
Next, another one of my favorite ideas for celebrating midsummer is to partake in some calming sunrise or sunset yoga. Since Litha is all about celebrating the sun, a common tradition many people take part in is watching the sunrise and set as part of their Litha ritual. However, you can add your own little twist to this and do some beautiful sunrise and sunset yoga or meditation rituals as well to delve deeper. You don’t have to be a pro in order to do this, and there are many excellent tutorials online for yoga and solstice meditations if you’re in need of guidance. Above all else, this is a great way to get in touch with the earth and the sun and allow yourself to align and work more closely with its healing energy.
Next, much like the other sabbats, Litha is an excellent time to switch up things in your home space or altar. Since the summer is all about getting outdoors, this is the perfect time to get out and collect some natural decor from your yard for your altar. For this, we often recommend collecting flowers from your garden, such as daisies and sunflowers, or herbs such as rosemary and thyme, as these plants are known to be strong correspondences of the summer. However, you can also use faux flowers if you wish.
For other decor, faux fruit and faux vegetables are also great symbols to add to your home to represent the hearty and plentiful growth of the season. For crystals, you might consider stones that carry the color of the sun within them, such as carnelian, amber, citrine, tiger’s eye, sunstone, or agate. You may also choose to decorate your altar or your home space with these same colors, such as yellow, orange, red, green, pink, blue, or white.
More than anything, Litha is all about bringing in that warm and fresh feel to your home, so don’t be afraid to go all out with some new plants, a new color scheme, or some fresh new decor to bring your space to life. 
Next, another big part of Litha’s oldest traditions was to host a bonfire. While done for many different purposes, a bonfire was often considered to be a powerful symbol of the sun, that of which people would dance around and give offerings to on the solstice. For that reason, don’t be afraid to grab some friends and host a bonfire as a way to honor the growing light of the sun. However, if you don’t have access to a bonfire, you can also do a simple candle ritual in your home to honor the sun. For this, one of our favorites is to write down your intention and burn it in the flames to bring it to life. All you have to do for this is take a moment to quiet your mind, focus on what it is you want to ignite into your life, and write it down on the paper. You can then burn it in a fire-safe container, allowing the flames of the fire to represent the burning of this intention into your life.
Whatever you choose to do, fire rituals are one of the oldest traditions of Litha and are a great way to align with its fiery energy. However, please remember to be extremely careful around fires and never leave any fire unattended, whether it’s a bonfire or a candle. Also, do not ever leave a space until the fire has been fully and safely extinguished.
Another beautiful way to celebrate Litha is to just simply get outdoors. With all of the fresh new energies all around us, now is an excellent time to reset your energy, ground yourself, and reconnect yourself to the source. Truly, spending some dedicated time outside is a ritual in itself and can help you to connect deeper with the earth, the sun, and the season. For that reason, whether you choose to go on a hike, have a picnic, or simply take your shoes off and feel the earth below your feet, this is the perfect sabbat to get outside, celebrate, and breathe in the abundant life all around you. 
Next, much like the spring, the summer is a beautiful time to reconnect yourself with the earth by gardening. Whether you choose to start a garden or tend to one that’s already growing, gardening is a beautiful way to ground yourself and honor the essence of life that the sun has given us. If you’re just starting a garden, you can do a simple intention-setting ritual as well. For this, all you have to do is hold the seeds you wish to plant, set an intention for something you wish to ‘grow’ into your life, and then plant your seeds. Each time you water them, you can add positive energy to help your plant and your intention to grow.
On the other hand, if you have a lush garden already, depending on what you have planted, you may also be able to use clippings from your garden to make your own summertime herb bundle. Whatever you choose to do, now is a great time to work more closely with plants and nature spirits and ground yourself with their calming energies.
Next, as mentioned above, the summer is an abundant time of new growth, beautiful blooms, and celebrating the abundance of the thriving life of the earth. For that reason, it is also an excellent time to get crafty with some flowers and other natural pieces around you. Whether you choose to buy or clip a few flowers from your garden, flowers are a strong symbol of the blossoming summer and can be used to make a variety of crafts during this time of the year, such as a colorful flower crown or a simple floral wreath, just to name a few.
Outside of using flowers, however, you could also craft in other ways, such as by crafting your own altar besom, a sun wheel, a birdhouse, chimes, a crystal chain, and more. You can also focus on weaving in the positive energy of the season into whatever you create by simply focusing on it as you craft. You can then conclude your ritual by charging your creation in the light and warmth of the sun to seal it with solstice energy. More than anything, crafting is a beautiful way to honor the old-time traditions of this sabbat, so don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty and see what magic you can create! And, of course, always give thanks to mother earth for the natural gifts she has bestowed upon us as you do so. 
Next, Litha has long been celebrated with beautiful music and dancing with friends and loved ones. With the excitement of the summer light raising our spirits, this may be the perfect sabbat for you to get your body moving! Whether you choose to do this alone, with your friends, or at a local solstice festival, allow nature's light-hearted energy to move through you and free your soul!
You could also take this a step further and allow the music you create or the dances you do to symbolize your own personal honoring ceremony to the sun, the summertime deities, and the nature spirits to make this even more meaningful. More than anything, this is a time to be merry and let your spirit shine through, so don’t be afraid to dance to the rhythm in your soul like no one’s watching.
Next, one of the best but most uncommon things to do for the Summer Solstice is to stargaze. Energetically, the night of solstice is known to be one of the few times of the year when the veils between worlds is thin, making spirit work and divination important. And as we celebrate light and dark at this time, this is the perfect opportunity to get out and make the most of the solstice energy during the day with nature spirits as well as the night with the celestial energies.
For that reason, one of my favorite ideas is to stargaze while journaling. To do this, just take some dedicated time to gaze up at the stars, allowing whatever wisdom or message you are meant to receive to flow from the celestial forces to you freely. As you do this, jot down the things you see, feelings you get, thoughts you have, and words that come to you and see what message the Universe may have in store for you. This may help to bring your attention to your own inner light and darkness as well, which is another strong theme for this sabbat, helping you to work towards achieving total and complete balance.
More than anything, even if you don't make a ritual out of it, be sure to get out under the beautiful night sky and welcome in all the Universal transcendence around you, as you may just find yourself reaching some beautiful new enlightenment along the way.
And lastly, as with any sabbat, Litha is also a great time to do a cleansing of yourself and your space to reset the energy within and around you. Starting with a cleansing of yourself, we recommend taking some time to quiet your mind, journal, and delve into a bit of a reflection. Whatever is in your life that is no longer serving you, now is the time to let these energies go. You can do this by meditating or by performing physical acts, such as lighting candles, incense, or a cleansing bundle to purify your energy.
After this, we also recommend doing a cleansing of your home for midsummer as well, as any seasonal change is the perfect time to push out the old and bring in the new. For that reason, don’t be afraid to open up all the curtains and the windows in your space and allow the fresh air of this powerful sabbat to sweep through and bless your home with the rejuvenating summer air. Of course, you can also burn a cleansing stick or use a cleansing spray to help with this if you prefer. Whatever you do, now is the perfect time to let go of old energies and breathe in the fresh new opportunities of summer, so make cleansing yourself and your space a priority above all else if you want to restore the energetic balance around you.
Overall, Litha is a beautiful time of the year to get out, live for the moment, and just have fun. No matter how you choose to celebrate this summer sabbat, this is the perfect time to reconnect with the earth, live a little more freely, and welcome positive new changes into your heart. Get outside, reconnect, and focus your attention on the things that set your soul ablaze. Remember, this sabbat is all about the power of light, so don’t be afraid to let your inner light shine through in its own beautiful and unique way.
Happy Solstice!
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Gwen
January 09, 2024
Thank you for all your amazing articles…I learn something new each post…have a Blessed Litha