Hi friends! Litha is this week, hooray! This Sabbat is one of my favorites, because it seems like everything is lighthearted and happy and celebratory.

Of course, the Lavender + Lupine School of Magick has come out with a course all about Litha to help you celebrate it right! It’s only $15, so click here to check it out! 

Below is an excerpt of what you’ll find in the course – a little Litha ritual to help prepare you for the darker months ahead.

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Midsummer marks the longest day of sunlight before the slow advance of winter. It’s a great time for many kinds of rituals: love, manifestation, abundance, protection. This ritual will focus on stoking your inner fire and finding your strength for the dark months ahead.

You will need:

• A mirror (preferably one that can stand on its own, if not you’ll have to prop it up or hold it)
• Paper
• A pen
• A match or lighter
• A candle
• A flameproof dish

1. Do any pre-ritual cleansing that appeals to you (or none at all if that’s your thing.) Sit down in a dark, quiet area. It shouldn’t be pitch black, but there should be no lights on except the candle you’re about to light. If you’d like, meditate for a few moments to prepare yourself.
2. Light your candle and place it and your mirror in front of you. Stare deeply into your own eyes. Think about the qualities about yourself you’d like to change – not physical qualities, but things like bad habits or behaviors you know are problematic and you’re ready for them to stop. Some examples: negative self-talk, selfishness in your relationship, distancing yourself from loved ones, biting your nails… the list goes on.
3. Take a moment to write these things down on your paper. Get messy with this – channel all of your feelings about these behaviors into your piece of paper. Scribble, rip, smear, do whatever you need to do in order to let it all out.
4. Tear the paper up and put the pieces into your flameproof bowl.
5. Pick up your match or lighter and light the paper pieces on fire. As you do so, say aloud, “A change begins now and it begins with me.”
6. As the paper burns, stare deeply into your mirror once more. This time, you’re going to make a promise to yourself. Making eye contact with your reflection, think about what you wrote on the paper and tell yourself how it will be different. For example, “Where I have been cruel, I will be kind. Where I have been weak, I will be strong. Where I have been careless, I will be thorough.” Repeat these words over and over again until the flames have burned out.
7. If you’d like, you can close your ritual with a statement like “As I will, so mote it be” or an equivalent. Extinguish your candle and dispose of the ashes as you see fit.

If you like this little ritual, you’ll love our Litha course, where you’ll learn how to make an outdoor offering bowl, a Litha diffuser blend, some delicious summer recipes, and the history behind Midsummer itself! Click here to check it out! <3