In the 21st of june, the day lasts longer in a year. The sun's power is noticable especially when you live in a sunny country, like Hellas. The June was very hot this year. I mean, 40 degrees Celcius. It is normal to sweat all day and take more than 2 baths every day. Monday (20) and Tuesday (21) where very hot days.
Litha is one of the eight sabbats, the celebrations of Witches. Performing special rituals in Sabbats, the Witch attunes himself with the nature's circles. The energy of the magickian is well balanced as he lives according to nature. In the altar I had all of the nine herbs gathered and powered for the candle dressing: basil, chamomile, fennel, lavender, lemon balm, rue, st. John's wort, vervain, thyme. Blue candles, a beeswax candle, the cauldron with spring water and regional flowers.
I started the ceremony as normal and after invoking Hekate and the Gods, especially Helios, Eirini and I did the Sabbat ceremony. Helios in his most powerful day blesses all creatures and we asked him to bless us and enfuse us with joy and inspiration. As time will pass, Helios will lose its power, as everything in nature is moving on circles, and the Lord of the Corn will go to the Underworld. We used the beeswax candle to invoke the energy of Helios and we burn the herbs od the midsummer to invoke the planetary energies in our lives.
The Full Moon esbat was performed the same night, after the sabbat. We invoked Hekate to bless us and guide us. We also took a pledge asking Hekate to help us be creative with the pledge that She wanted us to follow and commit ourselves.
After that we did some energy work. According to the Magick101 in the Summer Solstice many Witches from different traditions would send energy to make people free from all forms of slavery. Eirini and I liked that idea and we joined this energy wave. Here is the website.
The hot night made the rituals very difficult. We also both wear ritual robes. Visualization was difficult even to us who have done these rituals many times. I totally understood the skyclad concept again! Anyway, finishing the rituals we felt empowered and full of energy in our aura.
The next days we started working with our pledge very normally and easilly. Hekate motivated us to build a daily routine and we did it. The planetary energies brought some changes in our lives. We stopped some habbits and we started to organize things in our lives. Moreover, we found more time for ourselves.
Litha sabbat of June 2016 was a special ceremony for both of us. From Hellas, blessed be!
It amazes me how so many traditions follow these ancient protocols and roles,