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Ah, the common quandary. What to do when it’s rain, rain, and more rain forecasted on the longest day of sunlight of the year? Well for starters, it wasn’t raining when I woke up to greet the sunrise with some yoga sun salutation poses, facing east. My partner and I are determined to continue with our plans to go camping at one of our favorite spots later today. Hopefully, it’s not too wet to build a fire at some point. Right now, nothing seems too heavy, and we’ve certainly camped in intermittent drizzle before. Even if the sun is hidden temporarily, I can still feel its energy there, and the chirping birds certainly felt it, singing it up this morning around 5:13 a.m. (CST.)

Midday Ritual

I also plan to light an orange votive candle at noon and follow the ritual suggested by James Kambos in Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook for 2024. Kambos recommends lighting the candle and staring into the flame, then writing the name or names of the positive people in your life that re-energize you on a brightly colored piece of paper. After each name, add a note about how they boost you up, then tuck it away for an uplifting pick-me-up when you need it most. I liked these ideas of honoring and recognizing the different phases of the sun throughout the day (morning, midday, and ending with a quiet reflection at sunset). As the sun keeps optimism alive, we too can take comfort in knowing that it will shine brightly again for us in all of its glory, at its earliest convenience. You really can’t keep the sun down or out of sight for long.

There are special times when it is said that the veil between the worlds is thinner than usual. These three “spirit nights” are Beltane, Midsummer and Samhain. Beltane and Samhain are Celtic festivals that celebrate the start of the summer and winter seasons, as the ancient Celts only had two seasons instead of four. The whole shift occurring in nature at these times was reflected in the lives of those who lived by the seasons. At Beltane, the cattle would be taken to their summer pastures, and driven between two large bonfires, we assume for purification, blessings, and possibly to make any nasty ticks and other bugs drop off either by the smoke or the heat. At Samhain, the cattle returned to their winter fold, and those that couldn’t be kept over winter were slaughtered. Huge feasts celebrated the ancestors and the mighty dead, and care was taken to avert the restless dead or the Sluagh na marbh. At any rate, the lives of those who lived with their cattle were very much changed and shifted during these times of the year.

The summer solstice marks the time of the greatest light, when all nature seems to be reaching its peak. As such, this too was seen as a liminal time, and very much connected to the Fair Folk, or faeries. Not just in Celtic lands, but especially in Germanic and Scandinavian countries Midsummer was a huge festival and celebration. As summer arrives later in these countries, it has a similar feel to the Celtic Beltane. Like at Beltane, here a large pole similar to the Maypole was erected and danced around. Plants were at their highest powers, and so collecting the herbs that you needed was especially important at this time. Midsummer is still one of the biggest celebrations in countries like Sweden, where there is lots of food, singing and games. Though it has been overlaid with Christian mythology the nativity of St John the Baptist, it is still more a giant party than anything else. And why not?

By why are these especially liminal times? Well, when one season switches over to the next, we can often feel like we are in an in-between time.

A sovereignty Goddess of the province of Munster, Áine was one of the Tuatha Dé Danann, a tribe of magical people (also regarded as deities) who arrived in Ireland before the Celts. Áine was and a goddess of love, fertility, light, and summer. Celebrated at Midsummer, June 23rd is sometimes regarded as Áine’s Day.
        Áine is also known as the faery queen of Munster. Her residence was Knockainey, Cnoc Áine in Gaelic meaning “Áine’s Hill” where bonfires were lit at Midsummer and offerings left by the spring/well at the foot of the hill. Knockainey is not far from another site associated with her, the enchanted lake of Lough Gur. Both Knockainey and Lough Gur were believed to hold entrances to the faery realm. According to legend, Áine was traditionally crowned with meadowsweet and reputedly gave the flowers their pleasant, sweet, almond-like fragrance.
        Blooming from June through August, meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria syn. Spiraea ulmaria) is also known as bridewort, meadwort, queen of the meadow. Growing up to four feet tall, it has toothed leaves with prominent veins and whitish down on the underside. The tiny, five-petaled flowers are creamy white and grow in loose clusters atop the stems.
        The common name comes from the Anglo-Saxon meodu-swete, “mead sweetener.” Traces of meadowsweet have been found in Neolithic (New Stone Age) drinking cups, attesting to its use in brewing for thousands of years. Its use as a medicinal herb continues today.
       The Anglo-Saxons also used it as a strewing herb to sweeten the air of homes. Queen Elizabeth I reputedly would have no other herb in her chambers. Considered sacred by the Druids, in a legend from the medieval Welsh Mabinogion, meadowsweet was one of the plants used by the wizard Gwydion. In Ireland, it was used to break enchantment by faeries, however, faeries were also noted as dancing amongst the meadowsweet in the fields.
        When used around the home, meadowsweet promotes feelings of harmony and security. Meditate with a cluster of flowers in each palm to bring your energy into alignment or to help you find inspiration. Grow meadowsweet in your garden or sprinkle the powdered herb around your home to delight the fae. In tribute to Áine, prepare a candle with the flower essence and light it in her honor. Sweeten your magic with the queen of the meadow.

So why is camping so important to do on the Summer Solstice, AKA, Litha? For one thing, it puts you directly in touch with nature and the four elements in sensory surround sound! It also forces you to slow down and get simple with it, something we could all sorely use some more of, to be sure. Plus, it allows for some necessary sun worship. One of my favorite activities to partake in when camping at this time, is to greet the day with some good old-fashioned sun salutations. Going barefoot in the grass with the birds chirp/cheering you on as you move through the positions is definitely a bonus. You can enjoy camping in a large group like the Pagan Spirit Gathering (PSG), or go solo and brew some sun tea while you’re at it, during the day. Most of us in the Midwest are in dire need for some Vitamin D about now, so by all means, soak it up from sunrise to sunset, if you can. Just remember to stay well-hydrated and lather up with the sunscreen while you’re at it.

Earthy Vibes

While you’ve got the  earthy vibe going, be sure to give a listen to Tammi Kapitanski, our June podcast guest for “Women Who Howl at the Moon.” Tammi is the proprietress of Remedy Within, a massage therapy and spiritual gift shop. She knows her gemstones, tarot, and reiki and was a delight to talk to. She considers herself a practicing witch and has a good deal of natural knowledge to share with us.

I arrived a little late to the party—the party of the B-52's summer classic, "Cosmic Thing." In June of 1990, I had just graduated Madison Area Technical college with a commercial art degree. I was saving up dough to head out West and explore my possibilities in California. In the backroom of the small custom frame shop while measuring and precision-cutting mounting board, I rifled through the store owner's CD stash to inspire me while I worked. The bright, inviting colors of "Cosmic Thing" immediately caught my eye, and I already knew I dug the B-52's. From then on, I was hooked. It is the quintessential hot season record, where every single song on the album is a must-listen to.

My partner and I recently acquired a mint condition vinyl of it, and I have to say, these songs stand the test of time. From the title track encouraging you to "shake your honey buns," to the zen utopian ballad of "Topaz," you do indeed feel compelled to shake it and sing along. The dystopian panic of, "Channel Z," still feels incredibly pertinent today, compellingly shouted/sung by frontman Fred Schneider. The harmonies of Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson have never sounded more lovely, and drummer Keith Strickland really stepped up to help write most of this amazing tuneage.

Och, is my sleep ever screwed up.

Constitutionally an early riser, I'm habitually up with the Sun. This means that as we march toward Midsummer, the year's Longest Light, I'm up earlier and earlier every day.

This, of course, is no inherent bad. Early morning is a good time to get things done: I'm fresh from sleep, it's still relatively cool, there are fewer distractions. Still, as the Sunstead (that's "solstice" in Witch) approaches, it does mean that I get less and less sleep every night.

(It doesn't help that I've been paring away at my caffeine consumption lately, either. A tea-drinker, son of tea-drinkers, I'm now down to two cups of green tea a day. Pathetic. Still, I find that what sleep I do get is qualitatively better than it used to be back in my pot-o'-black-a-day days.)

Then there's the matter of twilight, the “two lights.” At Midwinter, we lose our twilights: the Sun goes down, and it gets dark.  But come Midsummer, there's light in the sky long after the Sun goes down, and long before he comes up again. In Shetland, they call this the Simmerdim: the “Summerdim,” we non-Shetlanders might say, the extended twilight of the Lithedays, the Midsummer season.

Children of the Light, Children of the Seasons are we. As the Light waxes, together we enter a collective state of chronic sleep-deprivation.

For our Midsummer ritual, gythia Amanda, first of my lineage, surprised me by planning her first blot and bringing her mermaid tail, and so we did mermaid blessings in my swimming pool in the name of the Nine Mothers. We had been talking about doing a mermaid ritual for a couple of years but hadn't made specific plans to do one for Midsummer, so it was a delightful surprise for me. She and her husband also brought a Swedish Midsummer Cake and it was delicious.

The Nine Mothers of Heimdall are the waves of the sea, the daughters of Aegir. In my kindred we honor them as mermaids. My late companion Tom was a devotee of Heimdall. Amanda was already performing as a mermaid at Renfaire and Pirate Fest and so on before she joined our little kindred. So a mermaid blessing ritual was right in line with the powers our kindred honors.