A bright frosty morning at the famous stones in England (Credits: Getty Images)
With more and more people joining unconventional methods of worship, celebrating the summer solstice has become popular in places like Stonehenge, but here is how you can celebrate anywhere with Pagan prayers, rituals and blessings.
The summer solstice (or midsummer) is when Pagans celebrate the bounty of the earth and the power of the sun.
This is to do with the fact that harvests are good, the ground is fertile, and everything is in bloom at this time of year.
With the sun being at the highest point in the sky, it covers and warms the earth with its rays, the soil is heated up so that, come autumn, there will be a bountiful harvest.
Pagans have always believed in the power of the summer solstice, as it marks the midpoint of the growing season.
The festival celebrating midsummer and the summer solstice includes bonfires, picnics and Maypole dancing, with the celebrations still going on across Britain today.
People gather for sunrise at Stonehenge during the 2022 summer solstice (which arrived at 5:14am) (Picture: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)
Our pagan ancestors felt that the summer solstice was the beginning of the end of summer.
Litha is the season of the summer solstice and the longest day of the year.
After the sunsets on the summer solstice, every day gets shorter by a small amount and we arrive at Yule, the winter solstice.
When is the summer solstice?
The eve of the summer solstice, or midsummer’s eve, was thought to be the night when the fairies are at their most powerful as the veil between this world and the next is at its thinnest on the night of June 20.
This year’s summer solstice is due to occur tomorrow, Wednesday, June 21, 2023, at 3:57pm.
What are Pagan solstice blessings?
These are some pagan prayers and blessings that are appropriate around Litha to encourage your garden to soak up the bountiful nature of the earth and to flourish and to show your appreciation for a sun that is in retreat after today’s sunset.
This is a garden prayer for Litha, which can be offered to help your garden flourish.
(For this prayer to be truly effective, you should go out to your garden on a sunny day, stand barefoot in the soil, and feel the energy of the earth (no, not the worms tickling your feet).
If you can’t stand in your garden, then place your hands around each pot and say this prayer.
Small plants, leaves and buds,
growing in the soil.
O fiery sun, may your rays of
light and warmth
bless us with abundance,
and allow these plants to blossom
with life.
Stonehenge has long been associated with the Summer Solstice. (Picture: Getty Images)
Here is a Pagan prayer to the sun, so you can appreciate it while there is still time.
The sun is high above us
shining down upon the land and sea,
making things grow and bloom.
Great and powerful sun,
we honor you this day
and thank you for your gifts.
Ra, Helios, Sol Invictus, Aten, Svarog,
you are known by many names.
You are the light over the crops,
the heat that warms the earth,
the hope that springs eternal,
the bringer of life.
We welcome you, and we honour you this day,
celebrating your light,
as we begin our journey once more
into the darkness.
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The best way to celebrate the summer solstice is to appreciate the energy of the sun and the earth with these pagan blessings.
