Hello All,

I'm planning on putting together my second ever pagan celebration.  However, I'm really not sure where to start.  I've read a few things now, and most of it is really focusing on the sun God's progression over the year cycle.  I'm not against the male deity, but I'd really like to do something that incorporates both female and male.  Which female deities are strongly associated with the summer solstice?  Most of my admittedly limited knowledge is based on celtic/druidic sources, but I'm really interested in every path.

Thanks,

Raith

Litha has often been a source of contention among modern Pagan and Wiccan groups, because there's always been a question about whether or not Midsummer was truly celebrated by the ancients. While there's scholarly evidence to indicate that it was indeed observed, there were suggestions made by Gerald Gardner, the founder of modern Wicca, that the solar festivals (the solstices and equinoxes) were actually added later and imported from the Middle East. Regardless of the origins, many modern Wiccans and Pagans do choose to celebrate Litha every year in June.

In some traditions, Litha is a time at which there is a battle between light and dark. The Oak King is seen as the ruler of the year between winter solstice and summer solstice, and the Holly King from summer to winter. At each solstice they battle for power, and while the Oak King may be in charge of things at the beginning of June, by the end of Midsummer he is defeated by the Holly King.

This is a time of year of brightness and warmth. Crops are growing in their fields with the heat of the sun, but may require water to keep them alive. The power of the sun at Midsummer is at its most potent, and the earth is fertile with the bounty of growing life.

For contemporary Wiccans and Pagans, this is a day of inner power and brightness. Find yourself a quiet spot and meditate on the darkness and the light both in the world and in your personal life. Celebrate the turning of the Wheel of the Year with fire and water, night and day, and other symbols of the triumph of light over darkness.

Litha is a great time to celebrate outdoors if you have children. Take them swimming or just turn on the sprinkler to run through, and then have a bonfire or barbeque at the end of the day. Let them stay up late to say goodnight to the sun, and celebrate nightfall with sparklers, storytelling, and music. This is also an ideal Sabbat to do some love magic or celebrate a handfasting, since June is the month of marriages and family.

In the end, what you choose to do and how you wish to celebrate is entirely up to you. We each travel our own Path....

just about all the old faiths have both a god and goddess for all the seasons look upon the mythologies of the past and find one that you feel comfortable with then find what they would do to on those divines.

I have often had faery rituals for Midsummer- to me that is definitely a fav