Midsummer Magick - Summer Solstice (Litha) 2021
Rowan Foxx – Priestess of Avalon
“I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine.”
– William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Opening the Gateway to Summer
On Midsummer’s eve, the ancient druids of Avalon would ascend the Tor in a torchlight procession. They would gather at dusk and light the midsummer fires to open the gateway to the other worlds.They walked the ancient trodden spiral path upward as they chanted invocations to commune with the old pagan gods and goddesses. They called upon the dragons of earth, air, fire and water to protect and assist their passage into the other realms. They requested prophecy regarding the times to come. They conducted magickal rites to bring health and an abundant harvest to the community. They honored the light and pledged themselves as guardians of this sacred portal, an entrance into the other worlds, the ones that lay just beyond mortal sight.
Midsummer was a time of greeting beings from other realms, as well as a time of celebration. The place of the ancestors would open first, followed by the sidhe and the great Goddess herself would emerge to bless all of her creation.
It was more than just a turning of the wheel of the year, it was a reopening of a sacred portal through which magick would flow out and touch all the realms. In the human world, it was a rededication as guardians of the land. As long as this connection existed, the sacred wells would flow, the gateway between the realms would remain open, the earth would be abundant and her people would flourish.
Sadly…the connection was broken.
In this new era, we are poised to recapture what has been lost through the annuals of time. As the world welcomes the return of the divine feminine, humankind has the opportunity to open and restore the portals of ancient wisdom and reclaim guardianship of the land.
Let’s welcome in the blessings of midsummer magick.
Midsummer is a feast for the senses!
The sun rises to its full potency and the earth celebrates her bounty as wild flowers, herbs and vines begin to ripen. It is the majesty of the natural world that captivates us during the summer solstice. The Goddess moves through us, she moves past us, she moves with us, but mostly she moves us. She ushers us through the gateway of Midsummer and encourages us to celebrate life. It is a lighter time of the year.
The summer solstice falls on June 20th or 21st in the northern hemisphere, however, this was not always the case. In olden times, before the change of the calendar, Midsummer was celebrated in early July.
Midsummer’s eve would be a night of torchlight processions, lighting the balefire, dancing around the fire and overall revelry.
In parts of rural England, they celebrated with Sunwheels. A bale of wheat would be lit on fire and rolled down a hill into a body of water.
The Midsummer is a celebration of both fire and water. This is an excellent time to do any magickal workings that honor both of those elements.
Midsummer is also a time when the realm of the fey is open to the mortal world. It was said that if you stayed up all night, you would see the fey.
Midsummer lends itself to beauty, romance, magick, poetry and the finer elements of life. It is this richness of life that the fey enjoy celebrating with us.
This year I will be consecrating and honoring the fey with their own faery garden and faery altar at Midsummer.
It will begin on solstice eve with the dedication of the apple tree and culminate in early July ( traditional midsummer) with the consecration of the faery altar.
The apple tree is not only sacred to my tradition and the Isle of Avalon, it is also very special to me.
In some Celtic traditions it is customary to gift a tree to a child. I was gifted an apple tree by my grandfather when I was 7 years old. The apple tree still stands in the backyard of my childhood home and the tree that I planted to honor the fey contains the seeds from my original apple tree.
On the eve of the solstice, I will link this tree through the world wood web to both the tree gifted to me as a child and the apple trees of Avallach, better known as Avalon. The Isle of Avalon is physically located in Glastonbury, England and represents the heart chakra of the world. Sacred to both Pagans and Christians, Glastonbury is a powerful gateway through which the energy of the Goddess emanates. Once you step onto the Tor, you know that you that you are between the worlds. As Avalon and Glastonbury intertwine, weaving the magick of old with the present times, you begin to see beyond the veil and into the mists that hold the deeper lore and tradition of the druids.
This Midsummer the portal of Avalon opens to invoke the new earth energies along with the return of the Goddess and sacred magick.
Celebrating Midsummer
There are so many different ways to celebrate the summer solstice. Cast a magick spell for love, luck or money. Leave an offering for the fey. Prophecy and divination is heightened during the midsummer energy. You can simply celebrate with some friends around an outdoor fire pit. Just remember that this is a sacred season and magickal beings abound, some granting wishes and some acting as tricksters. Be careful and be curious as to whose path you may cross this midsummer!
