How to celebrate Litha in 2024: celebrating the beginning of summer
If you’re lucky—and are in the northern hemisphere—summer has been showing its bright face in your corner of the world. Poppies are blooming, birds are singing in the trees in early morning, and the light is staying just a bit longer each day. Along with this light comes the summer solstice—or Litha—and since this celebration is fast approaching, it’s time to think about how to celebrate Litha this year.
Litha is one of the eight sabbats celebrated during the wheel of the year. It falls on the summer equinox, occurring around June 20-23 each year, and is associated with celebrating the beginning of summer, as well as fertility, the sun, and the crops growing in the fields.
Historically, Litha was observed by a number of cultures as a way to celebrate the summer solstice—the longest day of the year, light-wise. While the Celts celebrated Litha with hilltop bonfires and dancing, other European cultures celebrated in different ways: some lit large wheels on fire and rolling them down into the water, while others portrayed a literal battle between light and dark between the Oak King (who rules from the winter solstice to the summer solstice) and the Holly King (who rules from the summer solstice to the winter solstice).
While Litha is often celebrated by witches, wiccans, and pagans in the present day, it can and is observed by people falling outside of these categories as well.
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Common symbolism of Litha
Some common symbols of Litha include:
- Colors: green, orange, yellow, gold, red
- Crystals: citrine, tiger’s eye, topaz, sunstone, carnelian
- Foods: peppers, lemons, honey, tomatoes, runner beans
- Herbs: yarrow, mugwort, plantain, chamomile, fennel
- Plants: rose, elderflower, calendula, lavender, cedar
How to celebrate Litha in 2024
1. Spend time in the garden
More than any other time of year, Litha is the perfect opportunity to spend some time in your (or someone else’s) garden. The flowers are in full bloom, and any fruits and vegetables are starting to show their faces through the dirt. If you’re lucky, you may even see butterflies, bees, or dragonflies flying through the blooms.
2. Decorate your altar
As with all sabbats, Litha is the perfect time to decorate—or redecorate—your altar. Since Litha is all about celebrating the sun, consider using colors such as yellow, orange, red, or gold, as well as green to signify the growing crops of the season. Some other items you may want to use are symbols of the sun (such as reflective disks), sunflowers, honey bees, or roses.
3. Make suncatchers
If you’re wondering about a crafty way to celebrate Litha, consider trying your hand at a homemade suncatcher. While this can be done using any reflective or translucent materials—including beads, bits of cellophane, or gems, I find this tutorial to be both easy and beautiful.
4. Make floral wreaths
Another fun way to celebrate Litha is to craft floral wreaths. If you have your own garden, you can pull flowers from there, but if not, head to your nearest meadow (or farmer’s market) to gather flowers that catch your eye.
5. Host a feast or bonfire
Another common celebration of sabbats in general is to host a feast or a bonfire. While the bonfire serves as purification and transformation, the feast unites loved ones while providing a delicious meal. Try incorporating some of the foods listed near the top of this post.
6. Practice divination
Since Litha represents the change from one part of the year (growing light) to another (growing darkness), it’s the perfect time to practice divination. This can be done to gain clarity on the rest of the year, or to answer a more specific question. And while you can use any form of divination you wish, I find summer to be the perfect time to try scrying in a pond or stream.
7. Try something new
Litha is all about growth, and so trying something new is the perfect way to celebrate the sabbat. This doesn’t have to be anything huge. It can be as small as testing out a new moon milk recipe or taking a novel you’d normally pass over out of the library, or as big as starting your journey to master tarot. Whatever sparks joy, do it!
8. Gather herbs
As Litha falls right on the summer solstice, it’s the perfect time to gather herbs for your at home apothecary. While which herbs are available will differ depending on your location, plantain, stinging nettle, mint, and lemon balm all grow in my region—the west coast of British Columbia—in June.
Parting thoughts
I hope this gives you some ideas on how to celebrate Litha this year. Let me know in the comments what you’re planning! I’d love to hear about it. I’m celebrating my partner and I’s wedding with a huge reception for family and friends a couple days after the solstice, and so am counting that as my celebration of Litha.
xoxo,
Catherine
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Thank you for reading! If you’d like to learn more about witchcraft, herbalism, and living an intentional life—while getting a glimpse into my own witchy, intentional practice—consider signing up for my patreon. I post a lot of behind the scenes content you won’t find anywhere else, as well as handy herb profile printables, spell sheets, book recommendations, and excerpts of my upcoming novel, Bramble Manor.
Some more posts you may like:
All you need to know about the phases of the moon: a beginner’s guide to lunar cycles
How to Start an Herb Garden at Home: Herb Gardening for Beginners
Tincture Making 101: How to Make an Herbal Tincture for Anxiety
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