Midsummer is usually celebrated on June 21, but it can vary from the 20th - 23rd, depending on the Earth's rotation around the sun. Many believe that the Solstice is the start of summer, since the sun is at it's peak. Other's think Summer starts at Beltane and ends at Lammas, with the Solstice in the middle.
Midsummer is a fire festival. Adding fire to your ritual is a great way to celebrate the Sun God.
Colors: yellow, orange, red, gold. Any bright sunny colors
Today, at Midsummer,
We celebrate life and change
And love of the gods
And of the Earth and Sun.
We will be making a bonfire. Each person is going to write on a piece of paper something they would like to change in their life and toss it in the fire. And of course roasting some marshmallows (even though it has nothing to do with the Sabbat, my kids can't resit)
We will be making a bonfire. Each person is going to write on a piece of paper something they would like to change in their life and toss it in the fire. And of course roasting some marshmallows (even though it has nothing to do with the Sabbat, my kids can't resit)
Note: My daughter, Ladybug helped me create our ritual for this year.
This is my children's favorite story for us to read at Midsummer.
The Nahua Creation of the Sun and the Moon
retold by Rafail Jesus Gonzalez
At the beginning of this world, when darkness was yet everywhere, all the Gods met at Teotihuacan (teh-oh-teh-wak-AHN), Place Where the Gods Are Born. They said, "It is not good that darkness should prevail. It is not good that there is no light. How shall the corn grow? How will humankind live?"
And they all agreed. "A sun is needed; we must make a sun." So said Quetzalcoatl (keht-zahl-coh-AH-t'l), Feathered Serpent, God of the Wind; and Chicomecoatl (chi-coh-meh-coh-AH-t'l), Seven Serpents, Goddess of the Corn; and all of the other Gods and Goddesses too many to name.
So they said, "One of us must agree to be the sun. One of us must leap into the holy fire to become the sun." They brought oak and cedar and mesquite and many other precious woods, and built a huge fire that sputtered and hissed and sent a storm of sparks into the dark.
And they said, "Who shall it be? Who shall leap into the fire and become the new sun?" They all looked at one another, and they were all afraid.
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| Continue reading this story in the book Circle Round |
