I hadn’t really planned on doing anything big for the Summer Solstice (Litha). It’s one of my favorite Sabbats, but I just didn’t haven’t had time or motivation to plan an elaborate like I usually do. There was a public ritual in Orlando with the Pagan group I usually meet with, but with recent events i didn’t feel comfortable going.
The day before the Solstice though, my mom asked what we were doing to celebrate. She’s not Pagan, but shows interest when I tell her a Sabbat is coming up. Since she showed interest I decided to plan something. I decided to cook a nice Solstice dinner and then we wanted to have a bonfire. But before I made dinner I cleaned house and paid some bills. Something I’ve been meaning to do for a while. Thought Litha would be an appropriate time to do so.
In addition to my mom, my nephew and my sister and her boyfriend attended. Half way through dinner my brother and his girlfriend stopped by to pick up my nephew. They stayed for a bit to eat dinner too.
For dinner we had diet complaint food. Chicken salad with various fruit and veggie toppings: Strawberries, apples, avocado, carrots, cucumbers, and sweet peppers. I even made compliant ranch dressing (not pictured). We also had a cooked veggie mix (zucchini, squash, and green beans), garlic roasted potatoes, and mixed berry water. For dessert I made baked sweet sweet potatoes, apples and strawberries diced up and sprinkled with cinnamon. Pictures of dinner:
My brother, his girlfriend , and my nephew didn’t stay long. After dinner we had a bonfire and read aloud our favorite Edward Gorey stories: The Hapless child, Gashly Crumb Tinies, and The Doubtful Guest. Not very :Litha related, but we had a good time.
After we read some stories and had s’mores, we decided to go in since the mosquitoes were eating us alive. Everyone started to do their own thing so I decided to take this time to do a private ritual. I just did it in my room where I’d be undisturbed. I didn’t take any pictures because it was a private one and I didn’t want to bring my phone into the circle. I will tell you I decided to do something for the 49 victims, as well as the other deaths in Orlando (the Voice singer Christina Grimmie and the two year old taken by the alligator; Lane Graves. I also did something for the actor Anton Yelchin, who had been one of my favorites). During the ritual I also wrote down some goals I wanted to accomplish in the next 6 weeks (until the next Sabbat).
After the ritual, I set out my crystals and water I wanted to make into moon water under the full moon to charge.
Well that was my Summer Solstice. I turned out to be a rather nice one. I’m glad my family wanted to join me. How was yours?
Mad Healthy Ginger 