June 21, 2008: It's Litha!

It's Litha, and we're celebrating!

It has many names besides Litha.  Summer Solstice is one other such name.  If you want to know the other names, go look. 

There are many ways to look at Litha, but here I'm going to offer one that seems to fit my situation right now.  Litha affords us an opportunity to look back on what we have accomplished, and to look forward to what is yet to be done.  A mid-point to look both ways, if you will.

This is entirely appropriate for me right now, because my Mom passed away this past week.  That means that for the first time in my life, I am without parents.  My real Mom, Deloris, the one who gave birth to me, died when I was 10 years old.  My Dad married Peggy when I was 12 years old, and she finished the job of being the Mom to raise me.  My Dad died three years ago and from that time my roof has also been Peggy's roof.

Two moms and a dad have passed on.  Even if I didn't need them to the degree that I once did, even when Mom (Peggy) may have been more in need of me than I was in need of her, the feeling of permanence, of "roots" means some feeling of stability in an unstable world.  And now, I'm the one everyone looks to for stability.

And so yes, this is the time at which I really need to look back at what has been and look forward to what I need to bring about.

And that makes this a real Litha.  And so we celebrate the Sabbat with a ritual.

Blessed Be!