The summer solstice is coming and this is a time where the sun is at their fullest and standing still in their shining before they slowly start to descend.
In Ireland this time is called Litha and in Gaelic, it is called Grianstad which means ‘sun stop’
This time is a time to honour and celebrate the life force, the wild energy, the fire and passions that enable growth, blooming and becoming.
I adore looking into our old celebrations and bringing them fully into my life, for it is a way to come closer to my Irish and Scottish ancestry and roots, to my father, my grandmothers and grandfathers, weaving their roots into my children’s roots so they may support them, just as they have supported me. But what I really love, is how these old festivals bring me closer to the earths cycles and processes, as well as to my own cycles and processes.
Each festival of old, is based around gratitude for what the earth brings, it is an honouring of each phase that is a necessary part of the process for a rich and good life. When we listen to the stories that each festival teaches, they help us to see the earth in beauty, helping bring us into intimacy with the earths heart.