Woot woot! I have big plans for Midsummer. It’s that time of the year when dragon energy is at its strongest and with the current heat wave, I’m definitely feeling it more!
My ritual will include candles for each of the dragons I have worked with (I’m seriously having qualms about inviting Luqueas after what happened during my chaos magick ritual earlier this year 
), singing (okay, more like humming; my neighbors hate my singing apparently because they bang loudly on the wall several times whenever I do it and it wasn’t late at night 
) and dancing. Offerings of spicy food and wearing my necklace with the dragon salt that I made.
Afterward, I’ll spend some quiet time thinking about all the lessons the dragons have taught me this year (there are a lot).
This is perfect! It is so hot here in Houston that I was planning on doing solar magick to celebrate Litha rather than a fire. I haven’t settled on what I am doing yet but will come back and add it once I do.
Thanks @Kasandra for another great suggestion!
Fun!! The last pic in this post reminded me of this song (for obvious reasons…) it’s one of my favorite songs to meditate and do yoga to. Early solstice blessings to all! 
Seeing as I am backwards here in the Southern Hemisphere 
and it’s our winter solstice, I just had a looky loo in my witchy library and I found this for anyone of my beloved witchy family who are the right way up who may get some use out of it.
This comes from ‘Spells for a Magical Year: 100 Rituals and Enchantments for Prosperity, Power and Fortune’ by Sarah Bartlett.
June 20-22 ‘Midsummer’s Day/Solstice Spell for Happy Changes’
What you will need:
• An altar or table decorated with summer flowers on a white cloth
• Lemon Balm, Lavender and Elderflower essences/oils or perfume
• 5 pink candles
• An athame or wand
• A small bowl containing summer fruits you want to eat
• Silver rings, diamonds or white crystal jewellery
• Patchouli oil or white musk
• A metal goblet or bowl (preferably gold, silver, pewter or copper colured)
• A golden or sliver-colured string
• A golden or silver-coloured ring
• 5 white candles
• Rose petals
• 3 cloves
Midsummer is a time for purification and thanksgiving, as well as looking forward to the future. We can give thanks for the sunshine and fertility of the past few months and welcome the days where different magic harvests the rewards of spells sown earlier in the year. This midsummer spell is made up of a ritual to honour the energy, which is best done in the morning of Midsummer’s Day and another spell to perform in the afternoon.
Lay out all the magical ingredients on the altar.
Sprinkle a little of the herbal oils or essences onto the flowers on your altar, then light the pink candles. Take a few moments to enjoy the fragrances and the flickering flames.
Pick up the athame or wand, hold it firmly in both hands, and visualise all the energy of the sun concentrated along its blade. It may be helpful to imagine a warm, golden light emanating from the blade.
Hold the athame blade directly above the bowl of fruit, pointing downward toward the fruit. Visualise the sun’s energy passing from the blade into the fruit, which in turn becomes charged with golden energy.
Lay down the athame.
Eat the fruit slowly, giving thanks for the fertility of the sun, while visualising the fulfilment of all your desires over the coming months. Finally, extinguish the candles.
In the afternoon, wear sliver rings, diamonds or white crystal jewellery and take a bath or shower using patchouli oil or white musk. All these attribute will imbue you with midsummer magic and augment your success for the next six months.
‘Afternoon Charm Spell for happy Changes - continued’
After your ritual bath, take the metal goblet or bowl and the gold or silver ring. These represent Metal magic, the element needed to boost your charisma. Crate a magic circle of 5 white candles and place the bowl/goblet and ring in the centre. Next sprinkle some rose petals into the bowl, followed by 3 cloves (a magical talisman to represent love, harmony, and peace).
Now light the candles, and as you watch the candles flicker for a few minutes, repeat the spell:
“I am a creature of nature’s soul.
These talismans before me my only goal.
Let this midsummer joy my life unfold
And the days to come be bright as gold.”
Blow out the candles and look forward to the enriching months ahead.
So many choices… I have such trouble narrowing things down in the beginning!
Maybe charge some items in the sun, or do a devotional to Apollo brother to Artemis, but then again I always did love Egyptian mythology so maybe the devotional to Ra? Or the pure light house cleansing spell? Sheesh… I dunno 
Honestly, I’m going to have to go back & seed what I did for the last Solar Challenge so I won’t repeat myself
I’m excited for this one, here’s hoping the Sun hangs around, I need to get outside a little more now that the weather isn’t so moody here 
Now it’s the keep the windows open overnight type of weather. 
Edit: This is what I did for the Solar Magic Challenge & I was actually thinking of doing, just about the same thing for this challenge… so we are going to change it up a bit & maybe involve rejuvenation of my altar
Hmm 
I know the Solstice is coming but I have no clue what I’m even doing for that. I’ll have to think about this one.
@Kasandra Hooray for the powerful energy! 
If Luqueas can’t (or won’t) behave, you could always acknowledge Him but not invite Him to the ritual. Or perhaps the others would be able to keep Him calm, at least until it’s over?
Sorry about your neighbors being party poopers, especially during the day when you should be allowed to make some harmless noise. I’m sure you sing beautifully- it’s their loss!
@Amaris_Bane Enjoy your solar magick for the solstice! 
@BrightBear That’s a really beautiful song, and a perfect one for the season! Thanks so much for sharing it, and wishing the same to you- bright solstice blessings!
@Jessica72 The fun thing about the solstices and equinoxes is that, even if they relate to different seasons, they happen for all of us on the same day all over the world 
We’re all celebrating the light and the sun together!
That’s a lovely Midsummer Spell- you are very kind for sharing it, Jessica! Thanks for taking your “looky loo” in the library, you always find great things!
@Artemisia So many great choices!!! Hahaha I’d share the “why not both” meme, but that’s a lot more than just two- no matter what you pick, I’m sure it will be perfect 
Enjoy your solstice spellwork, Kat! 
@Susurrus It’s been half a year and we’re at the next solstice- it’s totally fine to repeat a beloved spell/ritual/setup that you enjoyed doing in the past! There’s a lot to be said for making fun traditions 
Whatever you choose, I hope you have fun with it- enjoy!
@MeganB There’s still plenty of time until the solstice- no rush, and no worries! I hope you’re able to find something fun that you enjoy. Blessed Solstice, Megan!
Ahh, summer is finally here! I am excited as this is going to be my first Litha celebration! I plan to decorate my altar with lots of sunflowers 
(my favorites) and cook a meal 
to share with some friends at a picnic. 
Let’s see how it will go. 
I just planted all kinds of sunflowers around my garden. They are my daughter’s favorite & were my grandmother’s favorite too! The picnic sounds like a lovely idea too! You’d think that would cross my mind living so close to the water… but no… it doesn’t until it’s too late
That sounds like so much fun @stavroula! This will be my first Litha too! I am so excited! Blessed Litha to you!
@stavroula Congrats on your first Litha celebration, that is so exciting! May the sunflowers help brighten up your sacred space and wishing you a very fun time at the picnic with your friends- hope you all have a blast! Happy Litha!
@Susurrus The sunflowers are going to be amazing in your garden- that is so much fun! 
May they grow well and bring many smiles to everyone who sees them
T-4 days to the solstice! Goodness, it’s coming up fast!
Hope everyone who is preparing/doing prep spellwork has a good time with it this weekend 
Blessed be!
I have a Book of Shadows that I bought about 15 years ago from Ebay. It’s handmade (no copy write) and has some things printed and a lot of blank pages to fill. I splurged on this book. It was $100 at the time, but now I am so happy I bought it because you can’t find it anymore. So, here are some ideas for Litha that I found in my BOS.
Collect morning dew, use in Midsummer ritual and impower for holy water.
Begin your ritual at dawn. Work magick for partnerships and unions.
Build you own circle of stones.
Tie a sprig of rowan, a sprig of rue, and three flowers of St. John’s Wort with red thread and hang it over your door.
Make amulets of protection out of herbs such as rue & rowan. If you make new amulets each year, you can dispose of the old in the midsummer fire.
Make a Solar Wheel as a terrific family project-everyone can make one for their bedroom. Wind palm or grapevine into a circle twisting it as you go. Cut 2 short lengths of stem to be just a bit larger than the diameter of the circle and place one across the back horizontally and the other vertically crossing in back of the horizontal one and coming forward to the front of the circle to secure both, then adorn with symbols of the elementals (stone, feathers, ashes in a pouch or a small candle and a shell) and festoon with green and yellow ribbon. Hang in a tree outside or indoors as a reminder of the God’s protection.
Create a pouch for psychic dreams (mug wort and bay leaves in a cloth of lavender, blue or yellow and sewn with red thread) and place it under your pillow.
Make a rue protection pouch out of white cotton. Add two or three sprigs of rue, bits of whole wheat bread, a pinch of salt, and two star anise seeds and hang indoors.
Burn the old Yule wreath in the Litha fire.
Tie vervain, rosemary, and hyssop with white thread and dip the tips into a bowl of spring water and sprinkle the water around the house to chase out negativity, or sprinkle your tools to cleanse and purify.
Soak thyme in olive oil, then lightly anoint your eyelids to see faery folk at night.
Tie a bunch of fennel with red ribbons and hang over the door for long life and protection of the home.
Look for the fairy folk under an elder tree, but don’t eat their food or you’ll have to remain with them for 7 years.
Something else from my BOS
Midsummer Invocation
Gemini to Cancer
The Moon becomes the Queen
Mighty Herne pursues her
In the forests dark and green
Summer’s bright enchantment
Workings of my will
“I know” begins the power
That turns the magick mill
Oceans glitter in the heat
As passions raise the tide
The Oak and Holly navigate
For the favors of the bride
Summer’s bright enchantment
Working’s of my will
“I know” begins the power
That turns the magick mill
Faeries dance upon the air
Making circles round
Luring humans to the earth
Beneath the sacred mound
Summer’s bright enchantment
Workings of my will
“I know” begins the power
That turns the magick mill
Roman Faunus plays the flute
The notes a binding spell
Of love and healing conjured
From the waters of the well
Summer’s bright enchantment
Workings of my will
“I know” begins the power
That turns the magick mill
Shakespeare’s night of potions
Bright world of in between
Where gnomes hide buried treasure
And devas dance unseen
Summer’s bright enchantment
Workings of my will
“I know” begins the power
That turns the magick mill
Crossroads vibrate open
The dead no longer rest
I am a Witch and I know how
To conjure up the best!
Summer’s bright enchantment
Workings of my will
“I know” begins the power
That turns the magick mill
I love this so much! Going to add it to my own BOS!
I love it too! It’s a beautiful way to start the summer.
I wasn’t originally planning on doing anything for this challenge but I had a dream of a deity in the form of a young man requesting that I finish a painting of a sunrise that I started several months ago after having a similar dream where a young boy asked my to paint the sunrise.
I’m planning on working on it in chucks over the weekend and I’m mostly done with the sky itself. I’m going to add mountains, then trees in front of those, then a person and a fire.
I’ll add a picture of what I have so far when its dry and I’ll add another after every session so y’all can follow my progress.
I’m looking forward to seeing your painting @Torista! I’m not exactly sure what I am going to do because of a weather change outlook for this weekend where I am… but that’s okay, I have another idea though. I just have to put it together now
Challenge Entry - Saturday, June 18, 2022
Festivities of Light
- Some festivities include using Solar Magic
, for those who haven’t practiced Solar Magic regularly or are new to it, I found some interesting information.
Magic & Rituals involving the Sun , much like involving the Moon 
, has phases that correspond to different things.
- Sunrise: new beginnings, changes, health, employment, renewal, resurrection, and finding the right direction. It can also be very cleansing.
- Morning: magical power for growth, positive energy, resolutions, courage, harmony, happiness, strength, activity, building projects and plans, prosperity, and expansion of ideas.
- High Noon: magic for health, physical energy, wisdom, and knowledge. It is also a good time to pop your tools or crystals out that need charging.
- Afternoon: energy now is good for working on business matters, communication, clarity, travel, exploring and anything professional.
- Sunset: magic for removing depression, stress and confusion, letting go, releasing or finding out the truth of a situation.
Unfortunately, we don’t have much sun in the forecast this weekend, so I had to change what I was doing for the challenge. I may look into this further for my own practice, the sun has a very cleansing & calming & centering effect on me. I love to sit in the sun with my eyes closed & feel the breeze go through my hair & around my skin while listening to the sounds in my neighborhood from the local wildlife. Ie: birds, squirrels, chipmunks, bunnies, dogs, and cats either their vocal sounds or the sounds of them moving through or over leaves, grass, brush, and fences.
I had never thought to look into doing magic according to the phases but it makes sense that there would be the same idea for the sun phases as the moon phases although the sun phases are a lot quicker
I will add the picture of my altar once everyone in the house is awake
I thought of something that any of us can do. All you need is water, a jar and the sun. I got this from Wikihow.
Sun water is water that’s charged in the sun for spiritual healing and spells. The sun’s cosmic energy is infused in the water, making it the perfect channel for spells, cleansing, and healing rituals. Once charged, sun water holds positive, encouraging, and uplifting properties that can be used to douse negative energy and strengthen self-confidence.
- The sun’s spirit is thought to be a physical force in witchcraft.
- Sun water can aid in physical well-being, rebirth, and anything ego-related.
- Moon water is the polar opposite of sun water, as it’s charged under the moon and represents emotional well-being.
1
Fill a clear glass jar with water. Opt for a container with a resealable lid, such as a mason jar. This will help keep outside elements out of your freshwater.
- The container must be glass and clear for the water to take in all the sun’s energy. The sun’s rays are full-spectrum, and a colored container or glass would block the light from charging the water.
Hold the jar of water in your hands and set an intention. Ask yourself what you want from the universe and turn that want into a mantra. Take the jar of water in your hands and close your eyes, visualizing what you want as you speak your mantra into existence.
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For example, your intention might be “I am courageous,” “I make peace with change,” or “I have a happy and healthy life.”
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Stay away from “I want,” “I need,” and “I hope” statements. Although you want something from the universe, you have to imagine it like it’s already happened.
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Setting an intention on sun water is very similar to the practice of charging crystals with intentions.
Set the jar of water in a sunny area. This could be on a sun-filled windowsill or outside on the ground. All in all, the perfect spot is one in direct sunlight. -
If you choose to place your water outside, consider resting it on sand, gravel, dirt, or rock. These materials conduct the Earth’s natural energy, so your water will be charged with sun and earth elements!
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Sun water will take on the properties of the astrological sun it’s under. For example, if you charge water under a Capricorn sun, it’ll have driven and ambitious characteristics on top of its sun characteristics.
Leave the water to charge for at least 3 hours. You’ve filled your glass, set your intention, and know all that’s left to do is wait for it to charge. The water will be charged in 3 hours, but it’s recommended to leave it out for longer. Try leaving it out from dawn till dusk on one or multiple days. -
If you want to leave your water outside in the sun for more than one day, remember to bring it inside when the sun starts to set. You don’t want the moon’s energy affecting your sun water.
Drink sun water. Sun water is a rejuvenating source of energy that’ll have you feeling good in no time! Try taking a few sips of sun water when you’re feeling low or need a quick pick me up. Its positive energy will help balance any negative energies. -
Remember, sun water takes on characteristics of the astrological season. If you take a sip of sun water charged under a Virgo sun, you may feel more productive and organized.
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If you’re planning to drink your sun water, make sure the water you originally filled your glass container with is clean and safe to drink.
Cleanse crystals with sun water. Rather than infusing energy like moon water, sun water releases energy. When a crystal is put in sun-charged water, the energy within the crystal is released, cleansing it. Consider dropping a crystal in a jar of sun water to cleanse it before its next charge. -
The energy that’s released from the crystal will be transferred to your sun water, changing the energetic properties of the water.
Add sun water to a bath. A cup or so of sun water to a soothing bubble bath can help your body and spirit heal. The sun water’s energy will add a splash of positivity and vitality, so hop right in and see how you feel! -
Think of it like cleansing crystals, but you’re the crystal.
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Sun water baths are great for when you’re doubting yourself or feeling under the weather.
Perform spells and rituals using sun water. Sun water is often used to heal, protect, encourage, cleanse, and create. The positive, warm energy of sun water is a great base for spells or charms that need water, such as a protection spell or enchanted protection charm. -
Infused sun water that was used to cleanse crystals can also work when casting spells or performing rituals. Just remember that the water’s energy is now whatever the crystal’s energy was before it was cleansed.