Litha 2005
by Adrianne and Circle Of The Hearth

Props
Faery costume
Water balloons
Tokens
Needles to pierce water balloons
Cups to collect faery water
Altar
Jug for librations
Mirror
Spear
Cloth to cover mirror

Ritual
Faery to lead everyone into the faery realm to collect water

Faery
Come follow me, away from the heat, away from the steam
Come follow me, into the deep, into the cool
Where the water is deep
Where the water is freezing
Where the water is cleansing

Come follow me
Come collect our dew
To make your season turn anew

Faery moves along the path singing 'Stolen Child'. People follow the faery along the path, into the faery realm and collect the water that is hung in water balloons in the trees. People collect the tokens attached to the balloons as they go.

Once the water is collected, the faery farewells those travelers and fades back into faery land. The water is poured from the cups into the jug on the altar.

HPS
From the depths of faery wells, we thank thee
From the waves beyond the shore, we thank thee
Water of life
We thank thee
Cast circle

Calling in the elements

HP: Invokation - Queen of Summer
By unfurled buds and laden trees
By the maturing fields and the ocean seas
Queen of the Summer 
We invoke thee

We that we see as the earth is warmed
By the turning wheel and the growing grain
We that we feel in our feet below
Through the warming earth and the working plough

Queen of the Sun
We invoke thee

HPS: Invokation - King of Summer
By the rays of the sun spreading over the seas
By the heat of the earth and the fruit bearing trees
King of the Summer
We invoke thee

We that we see soaring high in the sky
By the turning wheel spreading daylight wide
We that we feel shining down above
On the fertile fields and the new born dove

King of the Sun
We invoke thee

HPS
In Winter the sun sat in the womb
At Imbolc the sun rose in the east
At Beltane the sun rests on the morn
At Litha the sun reaches its Zenith in the sky

We gather together to celebrate the peak of the season and the turning of the wheel. At the midsummer solstice the day is long, the light is bright and the heat burns our very bones.

Midsummer season
Heats warm embrace
Rules over the land
Mature in the face

Midsummer wonder
A season of time
Of length and reflection
Before his decline

The HPS pours the water from the jug onto the mirror while saying:

In the peaking of the season
Sits the sun in the pool of dreaming
Reflecting our selves
Reflecting our season

In the scrying of our past
We find the centre of the season at last
Reflected before us
Centred inside

(after some time reflecting)

In the casting of the shadow
Lies the piercing of the arrow
And the turning of the wheel
And the fading of the sun

HP to bring spear to mirror and pace tip through water 
Spear to cauldron, lance to grail, seed to womb, spirit to flesh, God to Goddess, Sun to Earth and Moon to Sun. So mote it be!

Withdraw spear

HPS to throw cloth across pool as the shadow enters the land

Withdraw cloth

HP
The sun is still with us for now the shadows have burned away
The sun reflects as we still shine

Cord dance around mirror

Midsummer song

Cakes and ale

close