Happy Solstice to all! Summer is the season of fire; healing fire; a time to work on Fire Magick; to purify and burn away the old, so that like the phoenix we can return stronger than ever. Solstice means "standstill" and refers to the way that the sun appears to rise and set in the same place for a few days around June 20 and 21. People in Europe traditionally lit bonfires to celebrate the sun at its height of power and to beg that it not withdraw into winter's darkness. Fires ritually strengthened the sun to help ripen fruits and grain and it protected humans and livestock from insect-borne disease.

  The Lords of Shadow

Where the water whispers mid the shadowy rowan-trees I have heard the Hidden People like the hum of swarming bees: And when the moon has risen and the brown burn glisters grey I have seen the Green Host marching in laughing disarray.

Fiona MacLeod

Summer Solstice Ingredients to make a Tasty Tipple

• Rose, marigolds, geranium, hyacinth, nasturtium, violets and other summer blossoms (for decoration)
• Fire herbs: allspice, basil, bay, clove, dill, fennel, ginger, nutmeg, peppermint
• Flavourings: cashew nut, lime, orange, pomegranate, pineapple, walnut
• Any beverage which is bright red or golden yellow in colour
• Prepare beverage at noon, when the sun is most powerful

Resource Guide A Witches Brew by Patricia Telesco Kindling the Celtic Spirit by Mara Freeman

Kathy Crabbe, Kattern is grace under pressure, 2003, mixed media on paper, 8x10”. 

Creative Soul Suggestion: You have a choice; to be truly alive in each and every second or to die a bit with each breath. You choose.