The Summer Solstice, Litha and a Yummy Recipe Too.

When I wrote A Midsummer Night’s Demon, I knew I wanted the story to center around the Pagan festival of Litha.  Litha generally falls in the third week of June, during the Summer Solstice, as the midsummer heat creates a fiery passion that leaves people breathless. The more I learned about the festival, the more the holiday intrigued me.
Litha celebrates not only the Summer Solstice, but abundance, fertility, virility, and nature. During the celebration it is customary to wear garland and crowns of flowers made from the yellow blossoms of St. John’s Wort. Litha rites include dancing, singing, storytelling and feasting centered around a bonfire. Often courting couples will join hands and jump over the Litha fire three times to ensure a happy marriage, many children, and financial prosperity. 

Those who celebrate Litha believe it is a time when the Sun God reaches the peak of His power, bringing the heat of summer. Just as the power of the sun at Midsummer is at its most potent so too is the Sun God. He takes His Goddess as His wife and, like the earth in June, she becomes fertile with the bounty of growing life. His marriage with the Goddess makes Him not only Her lover, but her protector as well.

In some traditions, Litha is a time light battles with dark. The Sun God’s potency ensures the continuity of life during the oncoming darkness of winter. For contemporary Wiccans and Pagans, it is a time to meditate on both the light and darkness in not only the world, but in their personal lives as well.

This concept intrigued me, for I knew the characters in my story had a similar dichotomy. Ky is a vampire—the night his domain. He is a dark warrior, a protector of his kind. And Daelyn is a demon. The day belongs to her. She is sweet and slightly naïve about things that go bump in the night. She is the goodness to his devilish impulses. The light to his darkness.
Faeries are said to abound in great numbers on Midsummer’s Eve. As part of the Litha celebration people will commune with the faeries and leave them sweet offerings outdoors. Upon discovering part of the Litha rituals involved sprinkling an offering to faeries, I had to find out what might be given. It is widely believed that faeries enjoy milk, cheese, bread, and sweets and therefore those items are generally scattered in offering.  While doing research for my story, I came across a yummy recipe I’d like to share.

Faery Fruit Compote
Blend together
 ½ cup water
2 tablespoons of Marigold petals
½ cup of sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

Boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Let cool.

In a bowl combine
1 ½ cups each of orange, lime, and tangerine slices
2 cups blueberries.

Pour water mixture over fruit and chill overnight. Serve over lemon angel food cake.

So make yourself some Faery Fruit Compote and if you get a chance please check out my book, A Midsummer Night’s Demon. Thank you for reading!
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