Summer Solstice

Canada Day, Independence Day and Eclipse Season!

Hello, hello, hello gorgeous one! It feels like yonks since we last connected, but it is only just shy of two weeks. How have you been? Did you take some time to celebrate the Summer Solstice? I most certainly did! It was actually one of the best Summer Solstice celebrations I have ever had. Myself and my kids went to Vancouver island to meet up with my sister/hubbie from the UK and my nieces, my son, the mothership, and a myriad of other relatives. We played, explored and laughed so much that week and I made sure that daily I went to the ocean, which was like balm to my soul.

On Solstice we all went to the beach where the wind was strong, the waves were gorgeously tremendous and we created ritual, sent little boats out to sea with our intentions and desires, lit a fire and had an aaammmmmaaaazzzing time. It was stupendous! What I found interesting was I had thought the ocean would be kind of calm and we could set our little intention boats out to sea with a candle and off they would go, lol, mother nature had a different plan. The waves were huge so you had to toss your boat out (like a baseball pitcher). Some she threw back onto the shore in short order and that person changed their intention and voila, off the boat chugged! So it comes to my turn and I whisper to my lovely little boat my desire and intention and tossed her out into the ocean, she was certainly accepted and the funny thing was, so were two other things. I wear 7 amazing crystal bracelets on my right wrist, one for each chakra and when I tossed my boat in off flew the heart chakra and throat chakra bracelet – gone, swallowed by the waves. Urrrr, hmmm, that was interesting and then within about a minute my throat chakra one was tossed back, but not the heart one and holy hannah did that boat chug out to sea!

Coming home was sweet and sour, it was great to be home and back with the dogs, but it was heart wrenching to leave parts of my family and the ocean, that one is so primal for me and courses through my veins. But hey, for the moment I have lots of glorious memories.

Yesterday was Canada Day (here in Canada, go figure) and soon it will be July 4th in the States, so lots of reasons to celebrate, set off fireworks and connect with people and share food (all good things). Also, with the whooshing in of July we see the energy change again and when I first encountered it I felt a huge “Gulp” burble up. If you remember, the energy for May was Re-Aligning Values, June was Discipline and Follow Through, well July is all about Mature Responsibility in Unpredictable Times. As Lena from The Power Path says “It is time. It is time to take a hard look at where we give our power away, blame others, procrastinate what we know needs to be done, avoid responsibility and hope it will all just go away or that someone will do it for us. It is time to take responsibility for our health and well-being, emotional maturity and what we create. It is time to start believing in our own power to change what we can and to adapt to what we can’t. It is also time to face our own addiction to suffering, our insecurities and flawed belief systems that hold us back, and to do something permanent about them as much as we can. It is an explosive time with an aggressive attitude full of triggers that can either be used for tremendous growth, movement, initiation and progress, or it can spiral down into something nasty.” To read more you can find it here.

On top of that energy we are heading into eclipse season. Normally, we have two that encompass two weeks, this time we have three, two solar eclipses and one lunar which encompass a month, so the energy is ripe with coming face to face with all sorts of stuff, as well as creating massive change. Solar eclipses are about external change and lunar are about inward, so I personally am going to buy a pair of big girl panties and have them ready! I’ve also gone and picked up some Labradorite and some Indigo Gabbro (aka Mystical Merlinite), to have for these eclipses, but more on that next week.

When I asked the cards who wanted to come support and guide this week, it was no surprise that the Isis Oracle deck jumped up and down. With all the solar energy that has been buzzing around, she is the perfect deck for this time. I love how part of the introduction says “You are a powerful Soul and you are awakening. Your thoughts, feelings and inner world is changing, and so too is your outer world. You are an Initiate of the Light.” Yum!! What was also lovely to see was that some of the little shells I gathered whilst at the ocean wanted to come play and bring their delicious energy of sea, tides and fluidity to this reading. So in between rain showers I decided to get my toes in the grass and do the reading there.

So with all that being said, I invite you to take a pause, a moment for yourself. Gently start slowing down your breathing and allow your thoughts to just flow across your mind like gorgeous clouds. Breathe in through your nose and sigh the air out through your open mouth. Keep breathing this way and then when you are ready, ask your wise inner knowing to come forth and pick the card or cards that are best suited for you and the path that you are to walk this week.

Did you remember to pick?

Shall we go have a look?

CARTOUCHE

Lady Isis initiates you now into Her special mysteries – the use of sacred intonations. The words that you speak are rapidly gaining power. To benefit from this power rather than be undermined or held back by it, practice thoughtful speech and clear your heart of old “unforgiveness” which can poison your words unintentionally. As your heart grows in purity, you will be able to speak with spiritual authority and what you speak of will come into being more swiftly and obviously. Isis is initiating you as a master healer in Her sacred tradition of Divine Names of Power.

Divine Names of Power are sacred words of strength, magick and power to create healing from a place of compassion and devotion to Love. She honours that which is worthy of protection and uses endless determination, combined with Her skill of speaking words of power, to cause life to thrive and that which is not worthy of cultivation, which would not serve life, to dissipate and decline.

Invoking the power of speech and word for your strength, protection and spiritual growth will work effectively for you. Sometimes thinking and saying “no” is the most powerful word you can say to honour personal choice and create a safe boundary for yourself. Sometimes affirming in thought and speech, “I choose to see the Divine within this person, place or situation” is another way to cut through drama and use the power of word in though and spoken expression, to create powerful healing. Also discern the effect upon you of the company you are keeping energetically and physically. Sometimes the thoughts and words of others – their vibration – can enhance you or leave you feeling depleted or drained. Remember you can use words of power to cleanse any cords or contracts that would lower your vibration into a fearful place, in order to come back to love, to help you stay true to yourself and perhaps even inspire others to think or speak more positively when they are around you.

INITIATION

When you are being spiritually initiated into the mysteries of light, love and power, there are moments of deep challenge. The key is to find the light within the challenge – the learning, growth or wisdom that can be summoned to turn the challenge into an opportunity for healing. Initiation will occur at various stages. Sometimes your entire life will feel like an initiation, at other times specific areas will be flowing easily whilst others re deeply challenging. Please know you are not needlessly suffering. If you can find the light within the struggles, tests or challenges that face you now, you will experience breakthrough healing.

As an Initiate, honour life as a gift and treat any challenge or pressure as a way for you to grow into a brighter and purer light capable of great spiritual service on this planet. That spiritual service includes growing an ability to be able to love freely and beyond limits, to love with courage and faith.

In fact initiation for you now, dear one, is an opening to new levels of power and peace, self-possession and love. There are such sweet fruits waiting for you at the top of the tree you are currently climbing. It may seem as though you are in barren land at times with little hope, nourishment or encouragement, yet your spiritual oasis is not far away! The Lady Isis and the Power of Ra together are helping you grow. Stay focused on the Lady and Her love for you and you shall pass through the desert of the Initiation unharmed and deeply transformed.

HEALING THE DIVINE MASCULINE

The Divine Masculine within men and women is the energy that allows for protection, discernment, healing and a sense of deep safety and holding, even through the most uncomfortable circumstances of life. When the masculine within us is healthy and strong, we have an inner strength to hold ourselves safe through anything. Your Inner Masculine is going through healing right now, growing stronger in His ability to offer you inner protection and stability so that your Inner Feminine can blossom with creative expression.

The Inner Masculine and Inner Feminine need each other. When they are in a good inner relationship with us, we feel like healthy, whole human beings. We are able to live as ourselves in the world in a relatively peaceful, creative and enjoyable way. When there is damage to the Inner Masculine, there is difficulty in standing up for our truths, in knowing what our truths and values are, and in knowing how to protect them without feeling as though we have to fight constantly just to be allowed to be ourselves. We might also feel that unless others see things as we do, we have no power, and then have to fight to dominate others, manipulating them to our point of view.

The Inner Masculine part of us often needs healing so that He can fulfil his Divine Purpose of inner strength, protection and honouring of the Self in all its uniqueness, so that we can live as free, strong individuals that know who they are and are happy to just love and be that person – and allow others to do the same.

Use your inner feminine courage, trust and determination to avoid castrating the Masculine by considering it weak, useless, or unnecessary. For healing to happen for both Masculine and Feminine, we must be prepared to let go of feelings of victimisation, domination, disappointment and dissatisfaction and do the same times challenging inner work of learning to relate to masculine and feminine energy with a completely different approach!

Wow! These are perfect cards as we move into this energy of Mature Responsibility in Unpredictable Times! Thus, if you feel inclined this week, think of something that you have been putting off, procrastinating on if you will, and take some action to either complete it or release it. (Yes you are allowed to do that). Often it is the “things” and “projects” that we put off for whatever reason that use up most of our energy. So ask yourself if you still want to complete whatever it is, and if you still need to and if you don’t – decommit to it. This brings such a whoosh of release and energy back to you it’s quite delicious. Any how delicious lovely, that’s all for now, have a fantabulous week filled with laughter, little action steps and big joy! See you next week.

It’s almost Summer Solstice, Litha, Midsummer’s Eve! (So excited)

Jenny Heston · 6:00 am ·

Happy, happy glorious day gorgeous one! Solstice is coming, Solstice is coming! (Can you tell that I’m excited?) As I’m sure you know by now, I love celebrating most things – heck I will even celebrate a thunderstorm. However, I love, love, love Solstices and Equinoxes the mostest (and all the other celebrations).

Now you may be thinking – Jen what’s the big deal, what does it matter. Ahhh grasshopper it does matter, it matters very much. It’s one of the biggest celebrations on the Wheel of the Year. As we have been exploring for the last few weeks, we have been moving from Air (ideas) to Fire (Action and Passion) and Summer Solstice is the celebration of the sun, which is masculine and all about Passion, Action etc. Which if you think about it is kind of ironic as it also heralds what we know as the “hazy lazy days of summer”. Now if you have no clue about Summer Solstice or Litha as this celebration is called, as well as Midsummer’s Eve I will give you a quick and dirty and if you want to find out more, I have you totally covered. What is Litha (Summer Solstice) and how to celebrate it? (There are some yummy easy things to do to mark this glorious day).

Solstice comes from the Latin words sol, meaning Sun and sistere, meaning to come to a stop or stand still. On the day of the June solstice, the Sun reaches its northernmost position, as seen from the Earth. At that moment, its zenith does not move north or south as during most other days of the year, but it stands still at the Tropic of Cancer. It then reverses its direction and starts moving south again. The opposite happens during the December solstice. Then, the Sun reaches its southernmost position in the sky – Tropic of Capricorn – stands still, and then reverses its direction towards the north.

Summer Solstice (also known as Litha) is all about abundance, growth, expansion. It’s the celebration of the Sun! Think about it, the farmer plants the seeds in the cool of the Spring in the wet ground and as the Summer Solstice approaches things have sprouted and are reaching up as if they are doing a glorious sun salutation. It’s a time to watch the ripening and fruiting of the plants around us and our ideas. This is a delicious inner fire/power celebration that acknowledges the abundance that grows from tiny seeds.

It’s also a stupendous time for magick! I mean for goodness sakes even William Shakespeare wrote about it in 1596 in his play Midsummer Nights Dream (so that’s how long the magick has been around.) There is a line in the play that says “If we shadows have offended, think but this; and all is mended: that you have but slumbered here while these visions did appear….” Midsummer’s eve was believed to be a time when the veil between this world and the next is at its thinnest – a time of powerful forces and magical happenings, when fairies were thought to be about and at their most powerful. This otherworldly sense underpins Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, where the fairies use their magic and cause mayhem in the forest. The magic gets mixed and at one point, Titania, queen of the fairies, falls in love with Bottom, who is unwittingly sporting an ass’s head. But don’t fret – you won’t end up wearing an ass’s head (unless you really, really want to!)

So I was positively delighted to see two decks wanting to come play, which then in turn gave me an idea of doing a bit of a different reading, one that really marks this celebration. The decks that wanted to join in and bring their own glorious magick are The Oracle of the Dragonfae and The Faery Forest Oracle. So yes, this reading will probably be loaded with lots of magick, meaning and manifestation. Then it was time for the crystals and wow, wow, wow, so very cool to see who wanted to come. My large chunk of Citrine wanted to become a nest for moonstone, sunstone, chrysocolla and clear quartz (the crystals I am using in ritual on the morning of Summer Solstice) and then all the gorgeous smaller pieces of citrine and the clear quartz points wanted to come as well as the collection of rose petals that I had been drying for Thursday. So needless to say, this reading is going to be a tad longer than normal, which I think is totally appropriate.

I pondered a little more and received a glorious download for an amazing Summer Solstice guided visualisation. I do highly encourage you trying it out and if you feel inclined you might want to use it again on the morning of Solstice (Thursday).

If that doesn’t fit for you, that’s all good – just relax and start paying attention to your breathe and let your mind empty itself and be filled with glorious golden sunlight. Then when you are ready pick the card or cards that call to you, and of course you can pick more than one!

Did you remember to pick?

Ready to go have a look?

WU-WANG

In times of olde, they said that only those who were pure could connect with those like myself. That the virgin could connect with Unicorn. That the child could see the meaning of God. That the fae would truly see into your heart, and finding it corrupt, would never appear to you.

I am here to tell you that your heart is pure and wild and innocent. It is that you have forgotten how to see us, that you have been told that in order to see us, you must be perfect. That in order to see us, you must be mad, unclean, broken, and if you say you have seen us, you face being shunned.

I am here to say to you that we appear to those who have looked into their hearts and have seen beyond the woundings….because within you there is a wild and untrammelled heart space which is free of any taint. In that space we can enter and therefore, we can and we will be seen again. You were not born into this world wrong or sinful. There may be karmic markings, but you are no sinner, nor are you corrupt or unworthy. Foster that which is wild and pure and good with you, and we will begin to appear and come forth. You will feel us on the wind, in the water, see us in the fire and hear our voices emanating from the heart of our mother, the Earth.

You are a child of the Mother, call her what you will, and at your core you are one of the wild ones. That is my message for you.

AWEN

“Awen” translates to “divine inspiration” or “flowing breath”. It is a mystical force that offers us a moment where there is a sudden surge in newfound knowledge, inspired thought, the ability to awaken our dormant talents and a sense that before we were given the gift of Awen , we were like sleepwalkers.

Awen is a moment where life is forever changed, and once we drink of Awen, or feel it as a beam of divine light entering us and changing us, we can never return to who we were, and the world is never the same again. So having experienced what has taken place, you cannot pretend life can ever be the same. You have lifted the veil and you have seen the face of the Divine. You have drunk the elixir of the gods, and the faeries have offered you their greatest gift.

Awen does not stay – but the knowledge of what we have experienced in that moment changes us forever. So, now that you have had this life-changing experience and been given this incredible moment of inspiration, you can either pretend to yourself that life is without magick, or you can continue to embrace the magick in the enchantment of every moment. Now if you choose, you can become more fully alive – and while this is no easy path, it is one that is full of deep, joyful moments, true connections, and poetic, blindingly beautiful experiences.

Awen will come, from time to time, and you are so blessed for having had this most sublime and life-changing of all mystical experiences.

THE TIME GUARDIAN

The feelings you have, of time contracting and expanding, are real insights, not simply your imagination. Time is a living dimensional being, whose powers include the ability to devote more time to those of us who require it, and for time to speed up or slow down then it may be necessary, too. It is in this way that we are able to divine and travel through the threads and weavings of time, and move forward into seeing our future…in truth, we are already there. And much of who we truly are remains an echo. The time beings of the Dragonfae, of whom I am one, know this, and guard and protect you from confusion. Similarly, they can assist you when you require time to be created. If you feel you are short of time, send a thought message to me, the Guardian of Time, and I will send you all the help you need to meet your goals within the time you feel you have. Know that time is available to work for and with you; you need only tune into it as a dimensional reality, and connect with the time beings. Know that you are a timeless being. Know that you are dimensionally vast, that you are protected, cherished and loved.

If you work with time rather than trying to compartmentalise, control and define it, if we return to the lunar and solar and astronomical ways, if we celebrate the time changes apparent in nature all around us with the Wheel of the Year, then the time span we have will be richer and more joyful, our vocations will be discovered and we will no longer struggle to cram so much into our days. Because changing our perceptions is such a mammoth task, the Time Guardian is sometimes very tired, as the prevailing human mindset now is of time needing to be constrained and watched. He encourages us all to experience the natural flow of the energy we call time, and experience its multi-dimensionality. There is one simple way to work with him. Be in the present moment, more often.

THE TRICKSTER

Let me be a reminder to be true to yourself, to your own personal truths, to the code within your soul. Truly, at this time it is essential for you to let your conscience be your guide, and to live according to your own creed, with open eyes. Do not fool yourself into believing another person’s vision and ideas are more important than your own – question agendas, and be aware of people’s history. For at this time, there is one about you who is attempting to persuade you to their cause, to join them in what they see is a great task, but which in truth is simply a harnessing of your power to their agenda, which is not for your highest good.

All tricksters are charming and know exactly what to say to persuade you – but this is mere language. Their deeds will not match their words, and what you are agreeing to by joining with them will be a loss of your own personal dreams for the furthering of theirs. If you allow yourself to be coerced, cajoled, and manipulated at this time, it will weigh heavily on your very soul.

Be more wary than is natural for you at this time. Do not betray yourself, or ignore the warning signs, which are all about you. Do not foolishly give away your power, but exercise it, and weave a future that is truly the one you wish to create – one, which will provide you with honour, plenty, and the satisfaction of having been true to yourself.

DRAGONFAE OF REBIRTH

We are the ones who have seen you in those moments you humans describe as dark – the ones you so often wish to run and hide from, the ones you fear because you misunderstand their purpose, the ones you shun. Your loathing of your shadow has sometimes driven you to seek and ending. But a literal ending is not necessary. In every culture on this planet, old and new, there has been a ritual that lets you die to your old self, one in which the wise man or woman is guided through a journey to their own underworld. We too know of this underworld, as we dwell there from time to time, and here we are now, in this underworld, waiting for you to descend in order to be reborn.

Fear not your “dark” moments. For in the dark are the shadows, easeful rest and the deep knowledge of the heart and the soul. In this place the seeds you need to plant can flourish and what you feel are dark and “bad” thoughts are in fact manifestations of the desire to die to the self that no longer feels its true self to be captured in its outside form.

You are remaking your own soulself, and in this magick and ritual endarkenment lie the seeds of your reawakening and your own rebirth. We are with you, circling you and clearing and cleansing your energy. There is no beginning and no end, just the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Now, it feels like death…but it is a death to the old self…not a literal death. Do not fear. You are about to be reborn. Take heart and know that soon you will feel whole again.

SHE WHO LAUGHS

There is within your life now a great heaviness, an earnestness, and a sense of great gravity to nearly every situation unfolding. Yes, this is of great importance, and yes, there are consequences to consider. But it is time for you to receive the healing power of laughter, the power that lifts the darkness and releases energy that is stagnant, cold, and heavy from our energy field, indeed from our limbs and cells and hearts.

For you, this laughter is as necessary as surgery at this moment, as it will shake loose the cords strapping you tightly to burdens you no longer need to carry.

Let the light break through, and laugh – as without laughter, there can be no perspective, without laughter, there can be no movement forward, without laughter, there can be a sense of deep abiding resentment. Life this!! Let She Who Laughs begin to help you seek out moments, people, and situations that stir the sense of the ridiculousness within you, and let the healing and the release of laughter roll through you and lift away the pain at the centre of your being. Its time is passing. It will melt away with tears of laughter that fall and cleanse and free you from the past….For now, the sun breaks through, and your eyes shine once again with mirth and joy.

Welcome back to the world of delight, friend. It’s time.

THE PENDRAGON

I am He who is the hunter, the sage, the father, the provider, the protector. I am he who watches over his people and does his best for his family. I am He: your brother, your father, your husband, your son. I am sheer powerful masculine energy and I am the lover of the Goddess of the Dragonfae. Together we create wholeness, apart we wander alone and are more easily wounded, even destroyed. I have a role: to care for others, to use my physical strength and to use my attributes to fight for those I love. And I will do that. I am King and Emperor and God…and I care for you. Do not fear me: i would not hesitate to sweep you into my arms and hold you.

I love you, but know that my role here takes me away many times from all the love and playfulness that still lives inside of me. Trust in my actions. See the truth and choose a partner who is in action a strong and caring manly man. Think of some of your positive experiences with men this lifetime: from moments with your father, to times when a man has acted honourably. Now, from those examples, begin to allow more of that version of masculine energy into your life.

Gradually, let’s change your ingrained and sometimes negative beliefs about men…and when Pendragon walks in, he demands that you treat the men he sends your way with respect and honour….just as he will treat you in return. You will notice that ignoble men no longer have a place in your life and that you are no longer attracting them. Indeed, Pendragon wonders why you would waste your time with people who do not behave in a noble fashion, and he does not want you to be involved with men who behave deceitfully, who are fearful of their own power, or who take advantage of members of their own family or their partners.

THE FAERY NORN

It is time to be careful, precise, and considered about what you do and what you say. It is time to share wisely, to look around, very carefully, and to consider what patterns of your life will be going forward. It is time to do small and very precise things each day that will increase the stability in your world. It is time for the small, the everyday to be cared for, observed, and known, and for all the loose ends of life to be tied up, neatly, one by one.

There is clutter and some chaos about you. There is no blame in that, the Faery Norn knows, for all lives when well lived hold such things. But your job now is to begin to tidy up your life – to shape it and make it into a form that is more contained, more organised, and somehow for all of this control, more free.

For when you introduce the order, the chaos can no longer eat away at precious reserves of time, emotions are not squandered in the petty dramas that humans love to dally with, and you know what must be done, carefully, precisely, and with clear intent, to bring the next shape into your life.

Do this, and watch your fate simultaneously reveal and transform itself.

Wow! The cards really knew they were showing up for Litha in a big way! So gorgeous lovely, I hope you enjoyed and remember to take some time on Thursday to celebrate, it doesn’t have to be big, but mark the day and watch how your soul soars and your inner wise self giggles when you do. I personally will be by a wild ocean with glorious big waves and some of my most favourite people in the world. After this reading was done I had a little spark and so I packed up little bags of crystals and rose petals to give to the lovelies I will be spending the day with and they are free to do with them what they will. Offer them to the ocean, bless them in the sun or whatever works for them. So remember to laugh, enjoy and to get outside. Oh yes, someone asked me if it was okay for them to share the reading – of course. So again, thank you for all your lovely comments and stories, I truly treasure them. There will not be a reading next Monday as I will be driving for 14 hours! So see you in two weeks! Huge hugs and squeezes!

Summer Solstice, Litha, Midsummer’s Eve – What it is and how to celebrate.

Jenny Heston · 2:59 pm ·

What is Summer Solstice you ask and why the heck should I give it any attention? Mighty fine questions, so let’s go for a little explore. Solstice comes from the Latin words sol, meaning Sun and sistere, meaning to come to a stop or stand still. On the day of the June solstice, the Sun reaches its northernmost position, as seen from the Earth. At that moment, its zenith does not move north or south as during most other days of the year, but it stands still at the Tropic of Cancer. It then reverses its direction and starts moving south again. The opposite happens during the December solstice. Then, the Sun reaches its southernmost position in the sky – Tropic of Capricorn – stands still, and then reverses its direction towards the north.

On a purely factual basis Summer Solstice (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere) marks the longest day of the year and the shortest night, it’s the start of the the lazy hazy days of summer. Kids are normally on summer break, families scramble to go on a holiday or camp, and a lot of time is spent soaking up the sun whilst hanging at the beach, playing in the water or hosting a summer bar-b-que. Summer Solstice both ushers in the warmest season and also a gentle reminder that the days are going to get a bit shorter. Even though the days feel longer, more languid and relaxed there is an underlying freneticism of getting outside, celebrating the sun as much as possible, as it will soon be gone. This year Summer Solstice occurs on Thursday June 21st.

Okay, so we have the facts, but what does it all mean? Summer Solstice (also known as Litha, or Midsummer Eve) is all about abundance, growth, expansion. It’s the celebration of the Sun! Think about it, the farmer plants the seeds in the cool of the Spring in the wet ground and as the Summer Solstice approaches things have sprouted and are reaching up as if they are doing a glorious sun salutation. It’s a time to watch the ripening and fruiting of the plants around us and our ideas. This is a delicious inner fire/power celebration that acknowledges the abundance that grows from tiny seeds.

At Stonehenge, (which was built over 5,000 years ago) the heelstone marks the midsummer sunrise as seen from the centre of the stone circle. In ancient times, the Summer Solstice was a fire-festival of great importance when the burning of balefires ritually strengthened the sun. It was often marked with torchlight processions, by flaming tar barrels or by wheels bound with straw, which were set alight and rolled down steep hillsides. The Norse especially loved lengthy processions and would gather together their animals, families and lighted torches and parade through the countryside to the celebration site.

The use of fires, as well as providing magical aid to the sun, were also used to drive out evil and to bring fertility and prosperity to men, crops and herds. Blazing gorse or furze was carried around cattle to prevent disease and misfortune; while people would dance around the balefires or leap through the flames as a purifying or strengthening rite. The Celts would light balefires all over their lands from sunset the night before Midsummer until sunset the next day. Around these flames the festivities would take place.

In Cornwall up to the mid 18th century the number and appearance of fires seen from any given point was used as a form of divination and used to read the future. So as we can see, this celebration has been around for years, upon years and has an intensity and a deliciousness about it.

So now we have facts, the meaning – how does one celebrate it? There is no right or wrong way by any stretch. However, here are a few simple ideas that aren’t overly complex.

Great the rising sun with some crystals. Energy Muse has a nice ritual for this.

Take a moment to offer up a prayer. If you have no clue what to say, here are a few ideas for celebrating Litha.

Move your body. Welcome the sun on this longest day with a couple of sun salutations. This is a simple Yoga flow that requires you just to be present and go as far as your body will allow you to go. If you are unclear as to what it looks like there are some great beginner versions on line and this will give you a glorious full body stretch (in a gentle way).

Make an altar. Pop some seashells, flowers, fruit and dried herbs on it and voila, you have created an altar. It doesn’t have to be big, or front and centre in your living room if that makes people around you uncomfie. Your altar could be those cool rocks you picked up over the last year all gorgeously stacked on your kitchen counter.

Eat outdoors. Whether it is your packed lunch at a park, or a family dinner at the picnic table. Eat outside and breathe in the green, the sun, the connection. Look at the plants that are near you whether they are wild rampant buttercups, or a gorgeous rose whose scent wafts to you on the breeze. Realise everything is connected, people, planets, sun and most certainly you.

Take off your shoes. I’m not saying you have to go barefoot for the whole day, but at some point, take off your shoes, let your toes wiggle in the grass or the dirt and just BE for a few moments.

Get your hands dirty. Plant something and if you try to tell me that it is too late I will call bollocks. It’s a great time to pop in more spinach, Brussel sprouts and a myriad of other things. So take a moment, grab a pack of seeds and as you pop them into a pot or the ground, set an intention.

Fire time. Have a bonfire, or a little fire, and if not a fire, light a candle.

Welcome the water. Get near water, whether it is sitting by a creek, a lake or having a dip in the pool. However, if you are living in a desert this could be a tad tricky, so in that case just pour some water into a little bowl and have it near your fire/candle.

Reset. This is a gorgeous time to use the energy of the Summer Solstice to burn away anything (and I mean anything) that no longer is who you are, or is serving your highest good. One year I had a photo of someone who had been incredibly toxic in my life, but still pulled the strings. So I took the photo, said a blessing, dug a hole and popped the photo in. Lit a fire and felt tons better!

Community. Invite a friend or 15 to celebrate with you. This is a fun celebration and festival and a pivotal time in the year. Invite friends over and have a potluck, a fire, a delightful natter, play music and celebrate your connection with each other.

There you go. You have now celebrated the Summer Solstice.

Wishing you glorious fires, connection, abundance and most of all fun!

Prayers and Offerings for Litha

Jenny Heston · 2:48 pm ·

Here are a few simple prayers to offer up on this gorgeous day of Litha.

Litha Prayer to the Sun

The sun is high above us

shining down upon the land and sea,

making things grow and bloom.

Great and powerful sun,

we honor you this day

and thank you for your gifts.

Ra, Helios, Sol Invictus, Aten, Svarog,

you are known by many names.

You are the light over the crops,

the heat that warms the earth,

the hope that springs eternal,

the bringer of life.

We welcome you, and we honor you this day,

celebrating your light,

as we begin our journey once more

into the darkness.

Litha Prayer for the Beach

O mother ocean, welcome me in your arms,

bathe me in your waves,

and keep me safe

so that I may return to land once more.

Your tides move with the pull of the moon,

as do my own cycles.

I am drawn to you,

and honor you under the sun’s fiery gaze.

A Garden Prayer for Litha

If you’re planting a garden this year, you may already have plants in the ground by the time Litha rolls around. Don’t worry, you can still offer up this prayer to help them flourish! Go out to your garden on a sunny day, stand barefoot in the soil, and feel the magical energy of the earth. If you’re a container gardener, that’s okay, place your hands around each pot as you say this prayer to bless your flowers, fruit, and vegetables!

Small plants, leaves and buds,

growing in the soil.

O fiery sun, may your rays of

light and warmth

bless us with abundance,

and allow these plants to blossom

with life.

Enjoy!

New Moon In Gemini, Ancestors and Summer Solstice is almost here!

Jenny Heston · 2:00 pm ·

Happy, happy magnificent, magickal, mesmerising Monday! How are you delicious lovely? Have you had a glorious week? If you remember from our reading last week, the energy of this month is one of moving from Air to Fire (ideas to manifestation) and also Discipline and Action. Thus, have you played with either of those energies in the past week? With the New Moon in Gemini on the 13th (Wednesday), this is a glorious time to really take the ideas (Air) and set wishes/intentions towards the passion and intentional action (Fire) you want to take. If you have forgotten how to make New Moon wishes, don’t worry, we have you covered!

The last few days here have been far cooler and rainier, which in a way has been quite lovely as it has saved me watering the garden, the plants are growing in leaps and bounds and it’s also meant that I have to be indoors more. Thus, those lovely housekeeping tasks that I had been putting off due to the weather being so stupendous, got done! But what I found really interesting was the whole concept of Ancestors that came up as I was doing things like polishing the furniture and taking down the cobwebs. (And no, no hallucinogens were being used whilst cleaning the house!)

How it all came about was as I finished polishing the 70 year old dining room table, I was gently smoothing a gorgeous hand tatted tablecloth over it and I realised that that particular table cloth was 99 years old! What??? My great aunt had made it as part of her wedding trousseau, and as my hand ran along the intricate hand tatted lace I could imagine her as a young woman sitting by a coal fire, with a lamp lit, gently putting together all the pieces that she would take with her when she got married and started her own home. Wow! Ancestors. Then a little while later I was sorting through papers and getting things ready to pop into the post today. I am renewing my British passport and so I had asked my mother if she happened to have a copy of my father’s long form birth certificate. She most certainly did and when it arrived in the mail there was also another long form certificate written all in Gaelic. Hmmm, what is this? It was was my father’s fathers long form birth certificate from 1883 where he was born in County Mayo Ireland and there were the names of my great grandfather and my great grandmother and the profession of the male. Holy Hannah, that was cool. I know back to three generations on the maternal side, but only 1.5 generations on the paternal side. Ancestors. So this got me to perking even more, how often do we acknowledge, invite or even explore our heritage, ancestry? I know quite a few people who have done the DNA Ancestry Testing and have been quite surprised by the results, and as cool as that is I guess I am thinking more about the faces and the energy aspect of Ancestry than the DNA piece. Does that make sense?

When I used to Karma Krew at Enlightened Warrior, one of the sayings that we used a lot was “AHO” as an acknowledgement and in various of the “processes” that would occur in this format of camp often you would hear “aho mitakuye oyasin”, which is a phrase from the Lakota language meaning “I welcome all my relations”, it acknowledges the connection to lineage and to nature. Ancestors. This in turn got me to thinking about when I meditate or when I am out in the woods, what if I were to invite the wisdom, teachings and supportive energy of my Ancestors to be with me, would it make a difference? Well I tried it yesterday out in the woods, and all I can say was it was pretty stupendous. I felt like I had my own special entourage with me, guiding me, whispering words of encouragement and holding me in an energy of love and safety. I highly encourage you to give it a try!

Phew, so with all that being said let’s crack on with the reading. I was delighted to see The Oracle of the Sacred Rebels come out to play, as I was highly curious to see which deck would pick up on the energy of Ancestors and New Moon Intentions. Then I asked the crystals who would like to come and they literally pointed me to the rocks. The rocks that are part of the biggest crystal we know of – Mother Earth. This made me giggle in delight as often when I think of Ancestors I think of “The trees and the stones, the plants and the bones.” Therefore, the reading was done outside on a bed of glorious rocks.

So are you ready? I invite you to ask your ancestors for guidance as you breathe and look at the cards. See if they are willing to come show you what you need to know for this week. If you need a bit of support with really tapping into this type of energy, I have created a pretty interesting visualisation for you. There is a little cosmic travelling, but it won’t take long and you will be totally safe. So just breathe and let’s go on a little explore.

Did you pick the cards or cards that whispered to you?

Shall we go have a little look see?

FOLLOW YOUR OWN RHYTHM

Deep within you are moved by an ancient, powerful force that cannot be tamed. It is the rising pulse of your connection to the life force. You feel it in your bones, in your blood, in your heart and in your belly. When there is something dying within, you sense it falling away, no longer needed. You sense when it is time to rest and be patiently in transition. You feel the stirring of agitation and restlessness when new life calls you to create, to act, to step forward and to take a risk. You know that you march to your own bet, that no-one else can tell you what your inner rhythms are and that you must trust in your own timing. You cannot be rushed or forced, nor can you be held back when it is time to burst forth. Life celebrates and supports the natural rise and fall of your inner rhythms.

You cannot miss what you are destined for nor will you gain anything by trying to push yourself. Trust in the life cycles within, and you will feel the perfect balance between effort and surrender, discipline and letting go.

When it is time for the rhythm of rest, you will feel a natural slowing within and be drawn into contemplation and environments are more gentle, spacious or nourishing and perhaps more peaceful. When the rhythm of play beats in your heart, you will reach out to others to connect, dance, converse, sing, make music, make love and share your wildness. You will be drawn to uplifting groups and places where you can experience a positive energetic exchange.

Your needs will be met in harmony with your rhythms. All that you will miss out on by trusting this, is anxiety. What you will gain is peace.

WHAT DO YOU FEEL?

There are many opinions around you. Some are helpful but others are distracting you from your truth. Although it can be helpful to hear the thoughts of others, when it all comes down to it, you will have to come to your own decision. Do you know how unique you are? How your path is your path to be chosen, lived and created – only by you? Someone else cannot become the source of your decision-making power without negative repercussions for both of you in the long run.

You have become swept up in thinking things through. You have been thinking about which way to go with a matter of importance and you have got a bit stuck in the logic of the decision making process. Sometimes we have to accept that any path is a path forward and if it is not the best path, we can change our approach later on if needed. If we are slightly off base with a decision, life will often shift and move to guide us back on track. We don’t have to be perfect. In fact, there is rarely ever a perfect choice to be made – just some choices that feel more heart-honouring than others. Sometimes we can only really know in hindsight if we made the best choice possible in that moment. At the time of decision-making, we only really have our internal wisdom to rely upon. And that is all that we need.

Don’t punish or traumatise yourself with possible choices. Just making a choice will set things in motion. The best way to catalyse the situation you are in and bring about healing change, stimulate your creative juices and find a more inspired, energised and enjoyable approach to your life, is to just make a choice based on what you feel right now. Not based on anyone else’s feelings. Just yours. So ask yourself – what do I feel right now? And go from there.

GOING BEYOND NORMAL

On the path of life there are deciding moments where we can choose to go with the mainstream or we can dare to take a bolder, more authentic and trusting way – even if it seems riskier or less safe. To rely solely on logic and science, without incorporating the mysterious and magical is a recipe for an existence that is far too dry! The sacred rebel within our hearts will always choose a juicer approach to life. You are currently approaching such a choice point. You could say that the choice is about balance. It is less about choosing to honour either art or science, gardening or architecture, and more about integrating all approaches so that you enhance rather than hinder your life journey.

There is a time and a place for logic, strategy, planning and measurable outcomes. These are not bad tools to have but we must be vigilant not to worship them or allow them to quash or less rational, but equally valuable decision-making tools: intuition, feelings and those things you know, without knowing how you know them! The flowing, inspirational energy of the heart may have no conceivable basis in logic or reason and still be uncannily accurate. To remain rebellious we must not sacrifice the art of emotion, instinct, passion and intuition, for the science of logic and strict planning!

You are being asked to stay open to the intuitive approach in your life, your work, your creativity as well as in your spiritual journey. The intuitive approach can be likened to the method of a gardener or an artist. There is a sense of what might work where and a loose or even a detailed plan, but how the plan is carried out will depend on and respond to the flow off its surroundings. There is no need to control the situation but rather a desire to nurture an idea to fruition.

You are moving outside of the plan! You are living on the border of what is socially accepted. This is good. This is fringe-dwelling freedom. Others might not see this about you straight away as you seem pretty normal but that secret eccentric streak is just waiting to show itself. And, maybe you are an out and proud fringe dweller, completely comfortable with this way of being. Either way, you have a chance to live from the heart more deeply and expressively than ever before. You need to realise that this is a legitimate, empowered and creative way to live that honours all of who you are. You can give up forcing or squashing yourself down into a very limited set of so called desirable qualities like intellect and control. It’s time to get a bit wild and let nature take its course.

What a glorious reading! How did it feel for you? There is lots to perk at this time with both of the different energies of June, tapping into your ancestral line for support, New Moon and Summer Solstice next week. Holy Hannah! Don’t get overwhelmed, don’t avoid either. Just relax and ask for guidance and support. Two things, firstly, thank you all so much for your lovely emails and comments, I really appreciate them all and the sharing of stories. Secondly, the reading will be coming out on Tuesday of next week, as I am driving for 12 hours on Monday. This will be a lovely Summer Solstice reading and there will be an idea for ritual to help you really hook into this wonderful energy. So do make sure you are signed up for this as you won’t want to miss it. Have a fabulous week and remember to lean back into the guidance that is always there for you. Huge hugs and squeezes! (Oh yes and yummy choccie biccies with hot tea). See you on Tuesday next week.

Summer Solstice

Here are a few simple prayers to offer up on this gorgeous day of Litha.

Litha Prayer to the Sun

Litha Prayer for the Beach

A Garden Prayer for Litha

jennyheston

Release Anxiety And Claim Your Power