Solstice Spells

solar magic in a world on fire

By the light of the Sun, things look:
Bright
Harsh
Pure
Radiant
Honest 
Saturated 
Seen 

On the Summer Solstice the Sun reaches its zenith and the world is also on fire. What is a witch to do on the Solstice in a world that is so full of vitality, death and transformation?

At the Summer Solstice we have reached the summit of a mountain and the flora is in full bloom. From this solar infused perspective we are able to survey both our internal and external landscapes to understand what stage of transformation we find ourselves in. Notice what can be harvested now in order to make medicines for the future. Take stock of what you have accomplished so far this year, since the Winter Solstice initiated the Sun’s slow return. Make space by clearing away the weeds and clutter from your life, so that growth can churn into maturity and sustainability. 

Currently, as I pack my belongings and travel altars yet again, I feel the truly liminal nature of this solar portal. Traditionally, Solstice has been a time for communing with the otherworld, and leaving offerings of gratitude and kinship for land spirits and ancestors alike. When we make offerings to our spirit kin, we are affirming that we too live in the otherworld, that we too shape-shift between being and consciousness. As I find myself in a cycle of travel and uprootedness, I feel more intimately the need for such spiritual affirmations. I will tell the birch trees that I am going to be away awhile. I will leave offerings to the spirit tenders of my wild garden. These offerings are also prayers; I pray that all beings may understand the love and tenderness of caretaking, both the giving and receiving of love. 

Magical Formula
Mix honey with milk.
Drink it before sunrise
so you can have something
holy in your heart. 

Remember — 
many pretend;
few know. 
- R.C. Hogart, The Hymns of Orpheus

Once we celebrate the Solstice, we begin a gradual descent into harvest season, into the darker months. At the Solstice we are tasked with the work of celebrating all that is life-giving and life affirming, even when we are deep in transition, grief, or the process of being a fragile human on this very vulnerable planet. In what small but meaningful ways can you show up in your full humanness on the Summer Solstice, and feel the warmth of the radiating, honest, and bright Sun? I ask this question for your own reflective purposes, and earnestly, quietly, existentially… Where are you finding the Sun in your life and how will you honor its intelligence this Solstice? 

BAY AREA COMMUNITY: 

The Modern Witches community created a portal to joy just for you! We’d love to see you on Saturday June 22nd at The Center SF for our Summer Solstice Ritaul & Mystic Market. The event is free, and the ritual is ticketed - all ticket sales are raising funds for the Modern Witches Confluence scholarship ticketing program which will create low-cost tickets for our marginalized community members. If you can’t make it but care to donate, please follow the link: 

With tenderness ~ 

Casey