[morguana]

At Midsummer, the Holly King, God of the Waning Year, vanquishes the Oak King, God of the Waxing Year. Celebrate passion and success. This is a night of powerful magick. Laurie Cabot, in Celebrate the Earth, calls midsummer the sun's sea change, when the sun reaches its peak, and "in one magical instant begins to wane." A midsummer fire was traditionally fueled by the friction between two sacred woods -- fir and oak. The element of fire is an important component of Midsummer, possibly because the sun is blazing in the sky and the heat generates thunder and lightning.

Says Cabot: "The tradition of hurling fire wheels into the air or down from atop a sacred hill was a common practice throughout Europe up until the 19th century or even later." As at Beltane, herds were driven through the embers of Midsummer fires to purge them of disease. Rubbing the ashes from the Beltane fire on our foreheads at Midsummer heightens our magickal powers. (they roll rounds of cheese in the uk, fire was a little unsafe!!!)

bou x