What is Litha the goddess of? For modern day pagans, Litha is a day of inner power and brightness. Some people find a quiet spot and meditate about the light and dark forces in their world.
Which goddess is associated with summer solstice? Litha/Summer Solstice June 21st. Here we are at Midsummer, we have arrived at the longest day and the shortest night of the year. The Goddess is now full and pregnant with Child, and the Sun God is at the height of His virility.
Who is the goddess of summer? Aestas, the Roman personification of summer.
What does the word Litha mean? Litha definition
A pagan holiday and Wiccan Sabbat. pronoun.
What is Litha the goddess of? – Additional Questions
What is the Celtic name for the summer solstice?
What is the Celtic Name for Summer Solstice? The Druidic name for the Summer Solstice is Alban Hefin, which means the ‘The Light of the Shore’ or ‘Light of Summer’.
What is summer solstice pagan?
Summer solstice, a time when the northern hemisphere will experience the maximum hours of sunlight, takes place on June 21 – and will be celebrated by followers of Wicca, a form of contemporary Paganism, with a holiday known as Litha.
What are the four pagan festivals?
Four of the festivals have Celtic origins and are known by their Celtic names, Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain. The other four are points in the solar calendar.
What do you eat on summer solstice?
Any food you provide should be Sun-colored, and perhaps round.” Some traditional foods involving such round, sun-colored fruits and vegetables include pumpernickel bread, mead, and grilled foods that use an open flame to represent the sun.
Why is summer solstice magical?
Midsummer folklore dictates that the summer solstice is a liminal, magical time where spirits and fairies are able to cross more easily into the human world. It’s a time to expect the unexpected and allow yourself to believe that wishes really can come true because there’s magic in the air
How did ancient pagans celebrate summer solstice?
‘Sunwheels’ were also used to celebrate midsummer in some Pagan communities. A wheel or ball of straw was lit on fire and rolled down a hill into a river. It was believed that if the fire went out before hitting the water then a good harvest was guaranteed.
What ritual do you do for the summer solstice?
- Plan a scavenger hunt.
- Eat outside and tune into nature.
- Greet the sun with a family sun salutation.
- Start summer resolutions.
- Stay up late and stargaze.
- Involve water in your ritual.
- Get your hands dirty and embrace the earth.
- Bury negatives.
What do you do on summer solstice day?
- 1 Observe sunrise and sunset on the summer solstice.
- 2 Go sunbathing during the day.
- 3 Meditate or do yoga outdoors.
- 4 Play in the water.
- 5 Make a flower crown.
- 6 Create a solstice suncatcher.
- 7 Make an altar of light.
- 8 Gather symbolic midsummer herbs.
How do ancient people celebrate summer solstice?
In the days leading up to the summer solstice, the ancient Romans celebrated Vestalia, a religious festival in honor of Vesta, goddess of the hearth. During Vestalia, married women could enter the temple of Vesta and leave offerings to the goddess in exchange for blessings for their families.
How did Vikings celebrate summer solstice?
They believed that the presence of evil spirits was strong during the longest day of the year, so they would light huge bonfires to ward off dark forces. They may have also visited stone circles, such as Stonehenge. Additionally, plants were thought to have magical powers during the solstice.
Did Native Americans celebrate summer solstice?
Many, if not all, of the native American tribes performed ceremonies focused on summer solstice. The sundance, believed to have originated with the Lakota tribe, is a ceremony that lasted 28 days, with a final four to eight days of intense festivity.
Did the Romans celebrate the summer solstice?
The Roman celebration of Vestalia was held each year in June, near the time of Litha, the summer solstice. This festival honored Vesta, the Roman goddess who guarded virginity. She was sacred to women, and alongside Juno was considered a protector of marriage.
Why is solstice so important?
Solstices occur because Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted about 23.4 degrees relative to Earth’s orbit around the sun. This tilt drives our planet’s seasons, as the Northern and Southern Hemispheres get unequal amounts of sunlight over the course of a year.
How did Romans celebrate the solstice?
Instead of working, Romans spent Saturnalia gambling, singing, playing music, feasting, socializing and giving each other gifts. Wax taper candles called cerei were common gifts during Saturnalia, to signify light returning after the solstice.
Was December 25th originally a pagan holiday?
Though December 25 is the day Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the date itself and several of the customs we’ve come to associate with Christmas actually evolved from pagan traditions celebrating the winter solstice. “Christmas is really about bringing out your inner pagan,” historian Kenneth C.
What was the pagan Christmas called?
Christmas owes its roots to the ancient Roman holiday of Saturnalia, which was a pagan festival which was celebrated from December 17-25 each year. This custom was altered and absorbed into Christmas, and this allowed early Christians to gradually erase these old pagan holidays.