Blessed Litha

I had a sudden realisation last week. I've known about the Wheel of the Year for a long time now. It's a representation of the calendar year that incorporates the eight cardinal points, or Sabbats, that were celebrated by our ancestors (for a more detailed explanation see here). Here is a version of it by Porche Gardener and used with permission.

 

What you see here are four Sabbats - Yule, Ostara, Litha and Mabon arranged like a cross. They are known as 'Cross Days' and they mark the two solstices and the two equinoxes.

Then, between them, there are the four 'Quarter Day' Sabbats that mark the changing of the seasons. 

But here's the thing ... 

I suddenly realised that, although the Wheel of the Year is a fairly modern diagram, it maps almost exactly onto a Celtic Cross, such as this fine one at Constantine in my native Cornwall.

I'm sure that's not just a coincidence. And yet, I cannot find any content - either in books or on the internet - that shows that the two can be overlaid. It's not mentioned on the Wheel of the Year's Wikipedia page. In fact, it goes so far as to say that the Celts had no overarching narrative for the passing of the year. So it does appear to be a happy coincidence.

Meanwhile, one of the main Sabbats - Litha - is with us today. It's the Summer Solstice when the Earth is at its closest to the Sun (and recent temperatures attest to that). Midsummer is one of the four solar holidays and is considered the turning point at which summer reaches its height and the sun shines longest. 

The name Litha is taken from Bede's The Reckoning of Time (De Temporum Ratione), written in the 8th century. It preserves a list of the (then-obsolete) Anglo-Saxon names for the months of the early Germanic calendar: Ærra Liða (first or preceding Liða) roughly corresponds to June in the Gregorian calendar, and Æfterra Liða (following Liða) to July. 

Bede writes that, 'Litha means gentle or navigable, because in both these months the calm breezes are gentle and they were wont to sail upon the smooth sea'. 

Modern Druids celebrate this festival as Alban Hefin. The sun in its greatest strength is greeted and celebrated on this holiday. It also marks a turning point, for the sun also begins its time of decline as the wheel of the year turns. Arguably the most important festival of the Druid traditions, due to the great focus on the sun and its light as a symbol of divine inspiration, Druid groups frequently celebrate this event at Stonehenge and other sites of importance.

Litha is also celebrated by great midsummer bonfires, a subject I've already discussed here. Back in my native Cornwall they will be celbrating Tansys Golowan - the Bonfires of the Feast of St John - in a few days time. Beacons will be lit starting at Chapel Carn Brea near Lands End and ending at Kit Hill near the Devon Border. And the Golowan Festival in Penzance will celebrate with music, parades and fireworks (see here).

Sumer is icumen in.

Blessed Litha.