June 2021: The Word!

When we think of Litha- the time of Summer Solstice, our thoughts tend towards travel, vacations, and freedom to enjoy the longer days spent outside that the Summer season affords us. It's the time of year when school is suspended, we shed our layers, and are encouraged to relax and unwind by doing...more! But like, doing more whilst doing less. So, make the most of the long days by being more active but at the same time, take your time & go easy because hey, its summer! A particular dichotomy that's never sat well with me.

Surreptitiously so, however; Blake Octavian Blair in Llewellyn's Sabbats Almanac for Litha offers up a different perspective on the Solstice that feels like it hits the mark. Blair writes, " The more I tap into the day beyond its literal celebration of heat and light, and more into its mystical and energetic qualities of light and illumination, the more I connect to the celebration of this sabbat. Litha is not often highlighted as a time of introspection, with other sabbats in the dark half of the year getting more press in that department, despite the Summer Solstice being the perfect time. We can take this time to utilize the extra daylight for doing ritual work in the glowing solar energy and also to harness the qualities of energetic illumination to look within ourselves and see with increased clarity where we have grown and what our strengths are, and to get an honest assessment of where we have improved personally as well as where we have room for improvement. ...The time of solar energy is good to break out of any passivity that may have prevented you from taking action in the past and develop an action plan to move forward! Whenever we are in our own element, utilizing and having our strengths highlighted, or are acting from a place of truly being comfortable with ourselves, people often say we are "shining."...We shine best when we are living authentically as ourselves, and the first step to that is being honest with ourselves about who we are- the good and the bad."

So, I love this, especially when I think about Summer's opposite energy of Yule, as it is in the Southern Hemisphere, which is all about introspection and seeking the answers that lie in stillness. So why wouldn't Litha afford us the same opportunity, albeit through a different lens? We can think of Yule as a time for introspection in moonlight, and Litha as time for introspection in sunlight. Given the collective energies as they are, and the planetary influence of the Moon in Aries, waning after the Sagittarius Full Moon on June 14, we are perfectly primed this month to gain greater clarity and in doing so, access the full spectrum of possibility regarding new beginnings & potentials. In theater terms, this month is the equivalent of getting notes from our cosmic stage manager during Preview week about which lines we missed, which cues to pick up more quickly, and how our quick costume change in the second act was perfection and can we do it like that again come showtime? And to that I say, you can catch me lounging lakeside with a cold brew taking personal inventory & mentally vision boarding what just might lie ahead, in my wildest waking dreams. Pull up a chair & join me?

“The Sun” from Boadicea’s Tarot of Earthly Delights by Paula Millet