Litha Newsletter

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Welcome to what we Celts call the Summer Solstice or the season of Litha, as we celebrate the longest day and shortest night of the year. Yes it's Summertime and we are beginning to gather again! So get up and dance, drink and toast to our home the Earth, our Ancestors and the Old Gods, for this is the most powerful time of the year! For this update we have included a new Sleeping Draft Potion, Mystic and Crystal Meditation for your enjoyment.

Nemetona – Goddess of Sacred Groves, Healing and Protection, was a familiar goddess of the sacred groves and spaces maintained by the tribes in Gaul, the Rhineland in Germany and Britain during the Iron Age and Roman era. The Celtic tribes maintained nemetons, or sacred groves, in the clearings of forests, invoking the divine protection of the goddess Nemetona.

Fae Magic- In this relaxing meditation you are invited to embark upon a transformational journey through the natural world and through a doorway into the Faerie Realm. The Faeries are waiting joyously, to help and heal your soul. With the aid of the Faeries, we begin to remember; we are wild, we are free, we are magical and soulful beings.

Soft Sleep- Designed to empty your mind and lead you into a state of sleepiness. Purposefully minimal, the composition is hypnotic in nature yet comforting and warm, which, along with sleep-inducing delta waves, creates a soft bed of sound that consumes and relaxes your mind. Soft Sleep is the perfect way to put the day to bed and promote deeper, healthier sleep.

Crystal Naming: This is a step by step meditation for naming your Crystal. As with a crystal ball, some people find that their significant crystals have a name. Remember not all Crystals have names that we can pronounce. Use our Naming Your Crystal Meditation to uncover the true identity of your chosen Crystal today.

Litha Blessings: Sun symbols are among the oldest of all representations that people have carved on stones, rocks and bones. The sun is the fire of our universe, the wise and fertile force that gives light to the world. The Sun is one of our most ancient archetypal symbols - the powerful Fire of the Heavens. To the Celts, the flaming gods of light are Lleu, or Lugh, Shining One, and Bel, Bright One.

At the Summer Solstice - the longest day - the sun's powers are at their strongest; and at the Winter Solstice - the longest night - the sun is at its lowest ebb. The great stones of the early people are thought to have been raised to focus the sunrise through their alignments in rituals to ensure the return of the sun. At the solstices, the fertile rays pierce the central chamber of the cairns, or are channeled through the precise arrangements of stones, in honor of the mighty force of light and life.

In ancient pagan societies the Summer Solstice was hugely significant, it was seen as an important time for fertility, when the harvests of the coming year were blessed. When Christianity entered the pagan areas rather than displace the practices of the old religion it simply incorporated many of them into its own observances under a new name. Because of this, many pagan traditions survive up to the present day. The traditions of the ancients live on in the antics of the revellers even if their original significance has been forgotten.

In pre-Christian Ireland the first fire was lit on the hill of Howth, Co Dublin, and the moment the flame appeared through the darkness a great shout went up from the watchers on all the surrounding hilltops, where other fires were quickly kindled until soon the whole country was ablaze. Midsummer fires still blaze from every hilltop in Ireland on the eve of 23 June, now called in Gaelic, Oidche Tein’ Seaghan (Eha or Eel Chin Shawn), or the “Night of John’s Fire.”

Saint John’s eve is also a favourite fairy season, when the “good people” hold their midnight revels in every green fort. On this night especially the fairies are on watch to carry off careless mortals, particularly, women and infants who are not protected by a sprig of lusmor (foxglove), or some other safeguard against fairy influence. This night is a chosen time for visiting many holy places, especially the numerous wells called after Saint John.

Reflection Seeds

✤June 20th - 22nd
✤Major quarter day
✤Time to soak up the sun and play
✤ Time for rituals and magical workings
✤Make the most of the long days
✤Empower yourself, recognise your strength
✤Know that the time of harvest nears

Midsummer Meditation:
The Summer Solstice or Litha is the longest day of the year. The Anglo-Saxon name for June and July is Litha, and the name is now commonly used for midsummer festivities. This beautiful day brings abundance, joy, warmth, and celebrations! We invite you to enjoy this Midsummer meditation as you journey through a magical garden of light and blooming life.

Celtic Inspiration:
Fresh Salad is perfect for the season and eating locally grown vegtables and plants helps us to connect with the energies of the land where we live. Combine lettuce, baby spinach, thinly sliced radishes and sprouted beans of alfalfa, and try adding delicious and attractive edible flowers to really delight in the beauty of summer. Suitable flowers include nasturtiums, violets, carnations, hyssop flowers and marigolds (calendula). Summer berries can also be added , as can a small dash of rasberry vinegar. (Danu Forest)

A Message from the Goddess Litha:

Unlike standard plastic foam sponges, 100% Cellulose sponges by brands such as Memo or Sodasan can be put in your compost bin at the end of their life. You can also get wooden washing-up brushes with replacable heads and plant based bristles that are fully compostable, as are coconut scouring pads by Safix.co.uk

Team Profile: Sergio Strusi

Sergio is our Italian web developer extraordináre. Professionally he is a web designer and front-end developer who loves working with Graphics and animations. Sergio is fluent in Photoshop, Swishmax, Animation, Software Support, HTML 5, CSS, Sketch and Illustrator.

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Recommended App:
Kilma: Making Climate Action simple for everyone. With Klima, a carbon neutral life has never been simpler. Calculate your carbon footprint and neutralize 100% of your CO2 emissions in just three minutes. How? By funding science-based climate projects that capture or prevent the same emissions elsewhere. Then learn how to shrink your own footprint sustainably and watch your positive impact grow.

Recommended Book:
Sacred Actions by Dana O'Driscoll
A challenge that many Earth-based spiritual practitioners face is how to integrate sustainable living with our everyday lives. By offering a vision of "sacred actions," we learn how to combine the three ethics of: people care, earth care, and fair share, to execute comprehensive sustainable living through the lens of paganism. Find a wide variety of accessible sustainable-living activities, rituals, stories, and tools framed through the eightfold Wheel of the Year. Consider this your manual of personal empowerment through sustainability as a spiritual practice.

Recommended Movie:
An Invonvenient Sequel: Truth to Power: This 2017 American documentary film, directed by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, is about former Vice President Albert Gore's continuing mission to battle climate change. The film follows efforts made to persuade governmental leaders to invest in renewable energy, culminating in the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2016, as well as attempting to de-bunk the de-bunkers of Gore, his film and global warming in general. The film grossed over $5 million worldwide and received a nomination for Best Documentary at the 71st British Academy Film Awards.

Celtic Living for the 21st Century:
Drinking Straws are used once and remain in landfill sites for hundreds of years. Don't buy them and use consumer power to ask restaurants and shops to stock more environmentally friendly, biodegradable cardboard straws instead. Every voice matters so make yours heard. After a short consumer campaign in Ireland KFC stopped stocking plastic straws that were individually wrapped in plastic.

Celtic Whispers Shop:

If you like the artwork and style of Celtic Whisper’s we also offer our designs on physical products as well. We invite you to visit our shop and see if any of our Celtic Designs would look good on a t-shirt, mug or sticker.

Beannacht :

Whatever the season of Litha holds; be Calm and Mindful of your duty as a Celt to protect your family and your tribe, to honour the Elders and our home the Earth.

Slán agus Beannacht!

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