Litha, or the summer solstice, is a holiday celebrated around June 21st to honor the peak of the sun’s power and the fullness of summer’s abundance. Occurring in the northern hemisphere, this powerful festival marks the longest day of the year and is a celebration of growth and vitality. Litha invites us to connect with the natural world, honor the solar deities, and reflect on the balance between light and dark. Whether you’re observing this festival alone or with a community, Litha is a moment to renew your spirit, set powerful intentions, and celebrate the beauty of the world around you.

From lighting bonfires to creating summer rituals, there are many ways to honor Litha and tap into the abundance of the summer solstice. Here are various rituals, practices, and traditions that you can incorporate into your Litha celebrations. Let’s explore how to celebrate Litha!

Understanding Midsummer

Midsummer, also known as Litha, is a vibrant celebration, marking the turning point of the summer solstice and the longest day of the year. This magical time symbolizes the peak of the sun’s power at the longest day of the year. We are invited to bask in its abundant energy and rejoice in the fullness of the summer season. The summer solstice represents a time of growth, vitality, and the flourishing of life. By celebrating Litha, we honor the sun’s warmth and power, connecting deeply with the cycles of nature.

Folklore and Mythology of Midsummer

Midsummer is steeped in folklore and mythology, with many stories and legends from ancient times. In European folklore, midsummer is said to be a time when the veil between the worlds is thin, allowing for communication with spirits. The faerie realm is particularly active during this time, with tales of faeries and other mystical creatures being seen dancing in the moonlight or hiding among fresh greens like the green man. These enchanting stories add a sense of wonder and magic to the celebration of Litha, inviting us to open our hearts and minds to the mysteries of nature.

Watch the Sunrise or Sunset (or Both) on the Summer Solstice

Watching the sunrise at Litha is a profound way for many pagans to honor the sun's power as it begins its journey across the sky. You can witness the first rays of light spilling over the horizon. This moment of renewal is ideal for reflection, intention-setting, and gratitude, as the sunrise represents a fresh start and the promise of growth and vitality.

The sunset at Litha is equally powerful, offering a moment of reflection and closure as the day comes to an end. Watching the sun dip below the horizon on the longest day of the year marks a time of balance and introspection, as the energy of the solstice begins to shift. The golden hues of the setting sun symbolize abundance, completion, and the culmination of growth that has occurred throughout the season. This is a perfect time to express gratitude for the day's blessings, acknowledge the hard work you've put in, and consider what has come to fruition in your life.

Have a Bonfire

A bonfire at Midsummer is a tradition that celebrates the power and warmth of the sun. Litha marks the sun’s peak, and a bonfire allows us to harness and honor that radiant force. Lighting a bonfire is a ritual of transformation, as the flames represent the sun’s vitality and its ability to bring both illumination and purification. Gather your friends or community around the fire for a special meal, and let its light symbolize growth, new beginnings, and renewal. The fire serves as a focal point for celebrating the peak of the solar year, offering both physical warmth and a deep connection to nature.

Make Sun-Blessed Water

Making sun-blessed water is a simple way to capture the sun's power. It is created by leaving a container of fresh water in direct sunlight, allowing it to absorb the vibrant, healing energy of the sun. The longer the water sits in the sunlight, the more it is infused. This water can be used to enhance your rituals, as a cleansing or purifying agent, or even as a daily offering to honor the sun’s influence. You can use a glass jar, crystal bottle, or bowl, ensuring that the container is clear to allow the sunlight to penetrate the water fully.

As you place your container outside, take time to set your intentions for the water. Speak your desires or gratitude aloud, asking the sun to imbue the water with your intentions, whether it be for healing, clarity, creativity, or protection. Feel free to add herbs, flowers, or crystals to the water, such as lavender, rosemary, or clear quartz. Once the water has been blessed, you can sprinkle it around your home for cleansing, or use it during meditation.

Sunbathe

Sunbathing at Litha is a natural way to connect with the summertime. Litha offers the perfect opportunity to bask in the sunlight, which holds powerful healing and revitalizing properties. Sunbathing not only provides a physical recharge, boosting vitamin D levels and improving mood, but it also symbolizes an act of spiritual renewal and alignment with nature. While sunbathing, take time to reflect on your intentions for the season, feeling the warmth of the sun envelop you and imagining its light infusing your being with vitality, creativity, and confidence. It's a wonderful practice to recharge yourself by consciously drawing in the light, allowing it to fill you with life force and positivity.

Harvest Herbs

Litha is a time to harvest herbs and gather fresh flowers for both practical and spiritual purposes. The solar energy imbues herbs and flowers with potent healing, magical, and culinary properties. Carefully select herbs and flowers that are in their prime—such as lavender, sage, rosemary, thyme, and lemon balm—as these are often associated with strength, protection, healing properties, and vitality. It’s best to harvest them in the morning, after the dew has dried but before it's too hot, when their oils and essence are most concentrated. As you gather, express gratitude to the plants and flowers, acknowledging their role in your life and their gifts of healing, nourishment, or magic.

Do a Gratitude Ritual

The Litha celebration is the perfect occasion for a gratitude ritual. This is a powerful moment to reflect on your blessings and express appreciation for the abundance around you. To begin, find a quiet outdoor space, such as a garden, park, or by a bonfire, where you can fully embrace the energy of the sun. Bring a notebook or special piece of paper and write down the things you are grateful for—whether big or small. As you write, focus on the air on your skin, what you hear, and the sense of fulfillment that gratitude brings. If you prefer a more active ritual, you can speak your gratitude aloud, offering thanks to the universe, the sun, or any deities you honor.

Connect with a Solar Deity

The summer season is a powerful time to honor and connect with solar deities, whose energy aligns with the radiance, strength, and vitality of the sun at its peak. Many cultures across history have revered sun gods and goddesses, seeing them as givers of life, sources of wisdom, and symbols of divine power. Deities such as Apollo (Greek), Ra (Egyptian), Lugh (Celtic), Amaterasu (Japanese), and Helios (Roman) embody the fiery energy of leadership, creativity, and illumination. During Litha, the Holly King triumphs over the Oak King, symbolizing the height of summer and the transition into the shorter days of winter. To forge a connection with these deities, one can study their myths, create an altar in their honor, or call upon them through meditation and prayer.

A simple yet profound way to connect with solar deities at Litha is through rituals that involve fire and light. Begin by lighting a gold, yellow, or orange candle as an offering to the deity you wish to honor. You might also leave offerings of honey, sunflowers, oranges, or cinnamon—all sacred to solar energies. Meditating under the sun’s rays while visualizing yourself absorbing divine wisdom and strength can deepen your connection. Chanting, drumming, or dancing under the open sky can serve as a form of devotion, mirroring the joyful, life-giving power of the sun. If you have access to a bonfire, you can write a petition or intention for growth, creativity, or protection and burn it in the flames as a symbolic act of transformation.

Beyond ritual, embracing the lessons of solar deities in daily life can strengthen your bond with them. These deities encourage boldness, authenticity, and personal illumination, inspiring you to step into your own light and embrace your true power. Practicing self-expression, leadership, and acts of generosity reflect the solar virtues of warmth, guidance, and strength. Whether through art, music, or acts of kindness, embodying solar deities allows you to walk your path with confidence and purpose.

Have an Outdoor Party for Midsummer Celebrations

Hosting friends as part of midsummer celebrations can be as simple or elaborate as you like, whether it’s a sunset picnic, a bonfire party, or a feast under the stars. Decorate your space with sunflowers, bright summer fruits, and golden candles to honor the energy of the sun. Encourage guests to wear flower crowns and vibrant colors like gold, yellow, orange, or red, reflecting the warmth and energy of the season. Outdoor games, dancing, and storytelling add to the festive, free-spirited vibes, making it a time to celebrate abundance, joy, and personal strength.

As Litha is a fire festival, incorporating candles, lanterns, or a bonfire into your celebration can be a beautiful way to honor Midsummer. Your friends can write down intentions or wishes for the coming months and toss them into the flames as an act of manifestation and release. A feast of fresh fruits, grilled fresh vegetables, honey cakes, and summer herbs is a wonderful way to revel in the earth’s bounty at its peak. If near a natural water source like a river or lake, you can also incorporate water blessings or floating flower offerings, symbolizing balance between fire and water.

Set Intentions

Litha is a powerful time for setting intentions, as the sun reaches its peak, illuminating our lives with clarity, power, and abundance. This is the perfect moment to reflect on personal growth, celebrate achievements, and harness the sun’s strength to fuel future goals. Because Litha symbolizes the height of power, it is ideal for focusing on confidence, success, creativity, and transformation. Begin by meditating on what you wish to cultivate, whether it’s new opportunities, personal empowerment, or deeper spiritual connections. Writing down your intentions on paper, bay leaves, or sun-colored candles and charging them in the sunlight can infuse them with solar energy, making them even more potent.

Rituals can involve fire, water, or other elements. A common practice is to write your goals on paper and burn them in a fire as an offering to the sun, symbolizing release and manifestation. If working with water, you can place your intentions in a bowl of sun-charged water and later pour it into the earth, trusting the universe to nurture your dreams. Creating a solar charm or anointing candles with summer herbs like chamomile or St. John’s Wort can also help solidify your desires.

Set Up a Litha Altar

Creating sacred spaces like Litha altars is a beautiful way to honor the sun at its peak power and connect with the vibrant energy of the summer solstice, a time when Litha stands as a pivotal moment in the solar calendar. Start by choosing a space that feels bright and welcoming, preferably near a window, outdoors, or in direct sunlight to fully embrace the warmth of the season. Use a yellow, gold, or orange cloth as a base. Add candles in fiery colors, such as red, orange, or gold, to represent the strength and vitality of the solar energy. Crystals like citrine, sunstone, carnelian, and tiger’s eye can amplify your altar’s energy, enhancing confidence, joy, and personal power. Incorporating fresh summer flowers, such as sunflowers, marigolds, or daisies, can further connect you to the earth’s abundant growth during this time.

Consider adding solar representations, such as solar symbols, solar wheels, or even a small dish of water to reflect the light. Include offerings of honey, fresh fruit, or herbs like chamomile, rosemary, or St. John’s Wort, which are sacred to the season and can be used in rituals for protection, healing, and abundance. If you work with deities, you may choose to dedicate your altar to gods and goddesses, such as Áine, Lugh, Helios, or Apollo, by placing images or statues of them among your decorations. Once your altar is complete, spend time meditating near it, setting intentions for growth, transformation, and success.

Make a Solar Wheel

Creating a solar wheel is a beautiful and symbolic way to honor Midsummer. As part of Litha rituals, the solar wheel, often represented as a circle with spokes, mirrors the cyclical nature of the day and the Wheel of the Year. Traditionally, solar wheels were crafted from woven branches, flowers, and herbs, forming a sun-like shape to invoke blessings of warmth, strength, and abundance. Some were even set aflame and rolled down hills as a dramatic tribute to the sun’s journey across the sky. Although fire wheels may not always be practical today (don’t let us stop you from finding a way), you can still make your own solar symbol using natural materials such as willow branches, straw, or grapevines, decorating them with yellow, orange, and gold ribbons, sunflowers, and solar motifs.

Hang your solar wheel in your home or garden as a symbol of protection and vitality, or place it on your altar to call in blessings. You may also wish to charge it with your intentions, meditating on what you wish to manifest as the solstice fills you with confidence and determination. Some people incorporate their solar wheels into fire rituals, offering them to the flames as a way to release intentions and express gratitude for the sun’s vitality.

Feel Your Power

Litha is a time to embrace your inner strength, find ways to celebrate your achievements, and step into your personal power. Recognize and honor the power within yourself. Journaling, meditation, or tarot readings can help you identify areas where you feel strong and where you need to build confidence. Spend time outdoors and visualize yourself radiating with warmth and vitality. Fire rituals, such as lighting a candle and focusing on your personal power, can help amplify your confidence and motivation.

To celebrate your power, engage in activities that make you feel strong, joyful, and free. Dance under the sky, sing loudly, or engage in a creative project that reflects your passions. Because the solstice is also a time of manifestation, set goals for your personal growth and future success. Write your goals on paper and place them in the sunlight to charge them. You can also perform a solar blessing ritual by holding a piece of citrine, sunstone, or carnelian to absorb the warmth of the sun, filling yourself with courage, clarity, and vitality. Litha reminds you that you are powerful, capable, and worthy of celebration.

Honoring the Season and Community

Honoring the season and community is an important part of celebrating Litha. This can be done through various activities and rituals that connect us with the world and the people around us. By engaging in these practices, we can cultivate a deeper sense of respect and appreciation for the earth’s bounty and the warmth of human connection.

Summer Offerings

Summer offerings and outdoor time are wonderful ways to celebrate Litha and honor the season. Spend time outdoors, whether it’s walking in nature, gardening, or simply sitting in a park or garden, to fully embrace the warmth and the beauty of summertime. Making offerings to nature, such as leaving food or drink for the faeries or other supernatural beings, is a meaningful way to show gratitude for the earth’s abundance.

In addition to these activities, there are many other ways to celebrate Litha and honor the summer season. Some ideas include:

Creating floral wreaths, flower crowns, or other decorations to adorn your home or altar.
Engaging in rituals or ceremonies to honor the solstice sun and the natural settings around you, such as lighting candles, making sun-blessed water, or performing sun salutations.
Spending time with loved ones and building community, fostering connections that reflect the warmth of summer.
Reflecting on the past year and setting intentions for the future, using the solstice to fuel your dreams and aspirations.

By incorporating these activities into your celebration of Litha, you can deepen your connection with the natural world and cultivate a sense of wonder and magic.

More on Litha

The Wheel of the Year holiday Litha, also known as Midsummer or the Summer Solstice, is a pagan holiday celebrated around June 21st in the northern hemisphere (December 21 in the southern hemisphere). Here are some more summer solstice ideas and resources.

About Litha: An introduction to the Wheel of the Year holiday

Litha, also known as the Summer Solstice, marks the shortest night of the year and the full bloom of summer, highlighting rituals and celebrations that honor the warmth and the abundance of nature.

**Litha Associations**

Litha Associations: For modern pagans, Litha is deeply connected with various associations that honor the dawn, connect with nature, and celebrate personal growth.

**Aine and Litha Celebrations**

Aine and Litha: A full post on the Celtic goddess Aine.

The Holly King and the Oak King

Another myth for the summer solstice involves the Holly King and the Oak King.

**Litha Journal Prompts**

Litha Journal Prompts: Journaling during Litha helps you to connect with nature and your personal growth.

**Litha Meditation**

Litha Meditation: As part of Litha rituals, a guided meditation to reflect with

The Litha Companion

Get your copy of our new book, a comprehensive guide to the Litha celebration!

How to Celebrate Litha (also known as Midsummer)