Lithia is one of the "power days" of the year. It is also known as the Summer Solstice or Midsummer's Night. The solstice occurred on Sunday, June 21 at 1:45 a.m., eastern daylight time (June 21, 05:45 UT*). Those of us in the Western Hemisphere, are celebrating the Summer Solstice while our friends living in the Eastern Hemisphere, are marking the Winter Solstice. Which ever cycle we are observing, it is always worth a look across the year to see where we are going and from where we've come. Until this point, the year has been waxing. We have reached a point of maximum light. From now on, the dark time of the year grows as we enter the waning cycle.
In the Eastern Hemisphere, the year is born anew, full of promise but needing care. In the west, the year has grown into a fully mature woman. Fulfillment is the focused power of this time. The Divine Mother is wielding her strength, sexuality and fertility with mighty strokes. The crops are planted, they are blooming or have bloomed, and the buds give way to ripening fruit. The promise of harvest sits in the balance at this midpoint of the growing season. The harvest, not yet taken, is dependent on the Divine Mother to provide the right amount of rain and ideal conditions so the plants can mature.
Passion. Passion is the hallmark of this time. The merging of all the right aspects will produce the highest yield. The Divine Mother and Mother Earth are most abundant right now. They are ready to give maximum payoffs fed by the highest life force. It is time to turn the wheel of the year, the wheel of life, again. During the rites, celebrants are keenly aware that this fullness comes at the expense of descent into the darkness of the year. A bittersweet duality.
Some say the time of power lasts for three days, some say four, others believe a week from the time the solstice occurred. Regardless, it is a time to dance with great exuberance and abandon, no holding back. This is not a quiet, introspective time. Drum, dance, chant, move with abandon and willingness. Wield the power of the days and of the Mother Divine with confidence. Be sure to ask for what you wish to bring into reality until the next time of power. Be thoughtful in what you ask for as Mother Earth is at her most giving. Be one with all levels of nature. Be joy. Be sunshine. Be laughter. But most of all, be your true self. To both of the Mothers and all the the Devas, nature spirits, who are acting together to bring all things in this season into form, I humbly give great, great gratitude. Namaste.
*Universal Time
