Minisode 19: Joyous Litha!

In today’s episode of Peach Pie and Lord of the Rings … err, we mean Cliffhangers and Cocktails, Shéa and Amy talk about Litha - the Summer Solstice. Make yourself a Solstice sip (strawberry margaritas anyone?) and settle in for some history, a ritual, and some divination. 

Litha Ritual - 

Sample power statements:

• “I am amazing. I am powerful. The work I have done is real and good. I do not need permission to take up space. I do not apologize for being myself. I will not be smaller. I am seen and I am exactly who I need to be.”

Reflection Science: Tramacere A. Face yourself: The social neuroscience of mirror gazing. Front Psychol. 2022 Nov 10;13:949211. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.949211. PMID: 36438331; PMCID: PMC9691426.

The name Litha, is found in Bede's The Reckoning of Time (De Temporum Ratione, eighth century), which preserves a list of the (then-obsolete) Anglo-Saxon names for the months of the early Germanic calendar. Ærra Liða (first or preceding Liða) roughly corresponds to June in the Gregorian calendar, and Æfterra Liða (following Liða) to July. Bede writes that "Litha means gentle or navigable, because in both these months the calm breezes are gentle and they were wont to sail upon the smooth sea".[34]

Avebury (/ˈeɪvbəri/) is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in south-west England. One of the best-known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in the world. 

The Maryhill Stonehenge is a replica of England's Stonehenge located in Maryhill, Washington, United States. It was commissioned in the early 20th century by the wealthy entrepreneur Sam Hill, and dedicated on July 4, 1918 as a memorial to the people who had died in World War I.

Lavender information: Ramsey JT, Li Y, Arao Y, Naidu A, Coons LA, Diaz A, Korach KS. Lavender Products Associated With Premature Thelarche and Prepubertal Gynecomastia: Case Reports and Endocrine-Disrupting Chemical Activities. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2019 Nov 1;104(11):5393-5405. doi: 10.1210/jc.2018-01880. PMID: 31393563; PMCID: PMC6773459.

St. Johns Wort: Moore LB, Goodwin B, Jones SA, Wisely GB, Serabjit-Singh CJ, Willson TM, Collins JL, Kliewer SA. St. John's wort induces hepatic drug metabolism through activation of the pregnane X receptor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 Jun 20;97(13):7500-2. doi: 10.1073/pnas.130155097. PMID: 10852961; PMCID: PMC16574.

Midsummer Margarita 

Strawberry Thyme Cocktail Energy: Courage, Fire, and Divine Feminine Energy

Strawberry Basil Cocktail Energy: Prosperity, Creativity, Divine Feminine Energy

Ingredients (1 servings)

• 60 mL (2 oz) Strawberry & thyme simple syrup (see below) OR just strawberry simple syrup
• 60 mL (2 oz) fresh lime juice
• 120 mL (4 oz) Tequila (or vodka or gin)

Garnish: Thyme & Strawberries

Directions

1. (Basil Cocktail only) Bruise basil and put into a cocktail shaker with a couple strawberries yoinked from the simple syrup & muddle together.
2. Add simple syrup, lime juice & tequila to shaker. 
3. Add ice
4. Shake until chilled
5. Strain into an ice-filled glass. 
6. Garnish with fresh slices of strawberry and sprigs of thyme or basil

Simple Syrup Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 8 oz Fresh strawberries, hulled & quartered
• 3-4 sprigs of thyme

Directions

1. Combine sugar, water, strawberries and thyme (if using) in a small saucepan 
2. Bring to a simmer over med-low heat and cook 10-15 minutes until sugar has dissolved & strawberries have softened. 
3. Remove from heat and cool for 20-30 minutes
4. Strain

Sources

https://www.witchywellness.app/blog/litha-spells

https://paulomara.com/litha/

https://spells8.com/lessons/litha-symbols-midsummer-magic-celebration/#symbols-of-litha

https://www.sui.org/litha/

https://friendsoftheforestct.org/wheeloftheyear

https://moonfallmetaphysical.com/s/stories/litha/?srsltid=AfmBOoq2qkOw4Kg-9MYrYxvt8YvbEVoe13TwYW8pytI9FkQDAqsgy4DD#google_vignette

Watch us on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@cliffhangersandcocktails

Visit our sponsor, the Paranormal Women's Fiction Bookclub, for a free monthly book at https://pwfbookclub.com/.

Follow the pod on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/cliffhangersandcocktails/, 

Check out our website at https://www.cliffhangersandcocktails.com/ and sign up for our newsletter!

Don't forget to like, rate, review, subscribe, and share!

Thanks - the Caftan Coven

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Welcome to Cliffigners of Cottails Podcast with Amy Sissel. Oh, that's me, and my fantabulous co-host, Tay McLeod. That's me.

SPEAKER_00 0:12

That's you! That's me!

SPEAKER_01 0:14

I'm so excited you're here.

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Thank you. I'm excited you're here.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

We are USA Today best-selling authors of paranormal women's fiction, among other things. And this podcast is brought to you as always by the Captain Coving.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Today's episode is another mini show where we discuss a single topic related to the craft, whether it be craft cocktails, witchcraft, or writing craft. These will be great to listen to when you don't have a lot of time to listen to a full podcast. You know, you want specific information on a particular topic. So today's topic is the upcoming Sabbath Letha. And you have an affirmation, I believe.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

I do have an affirmation. And I'm excited about this. Okay. So here we go. I am part of the light that connects us all.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Ooh. I love that. Connection. You know, I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

We've been talking oh yeah. We've been talking so much about community and connections lately. And uh we're all part of it. We're all part of this big community of humans and what have yous.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Humans and what have yous. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

I don't want to be exclusive to anyone who's listening to this podcast that does not that is not human. Maybe we're a big hit in the like other planets.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

Maybe like the Andora and no Andromeda Galaxy. We're like big and the galaxy.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

The Fey. I wouldn't call the Fey human. Maybe the fans. Yeah, they'd probably be very demigods interested. Yeah. You know, I just want to be inclusive of all of our supernatural friends. Excellent. Supernatural, extraterrestrial, whatever. We are all part of the light. Exactly. Universal light.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

I love it. I love it. Because you know, I'm so into the matriarchy, and the matriarchy is all about connection and community. And so I love it.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

Uh you know, I was just gonna say we talk about the matriarchy a lot on this podcast. And I have a few little graphics that go up on the screen when you watch on YouTube that for phrases that we say a lot. Um so like every time we say you do you boo. Everyone who's watching just saw it go across the screen. There's a graphic. And I have Force Science and I love it. Uh Caftan Coven Call-Out. And there's just a few things that we say a lot that I made little graphics for. I love it. I have F the Patriarchy, but do you know what I don't have? I don't have a Yay Matriarchy. So you uh except if you guys, if you're watching this right now, you know that was just a lie because you just saw Yay Matriarchy. I created it.

SPEAKER_00 3:23

I love it. I dig it. Okay, so tell me, Amy, what is Letha? When is it? Oh, Shea. So glad you asked.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

So Letha, which is spelled L-I-T-H-A and pronounced Letha, is the celebration of the summer solstice. In the Northern Hemisphere this year, 2026, it will fall on June 21st. And our friends in the Southern Hemisphere will be celebrating fuel, not Christmas. I don't care what I said last year during our Letha episode. I know the difference. And so, yes, I should do I should do a graphic that just says nothing. Australians don't celebrate Christmas in June. I don't know. That's a lot of words for the graphic. And maybe it could just be I made that mistake two times and now I cannot let go of my own personal mistake.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

Maybe it can just be like a flashing, like, you know, um subtitle at the bottom.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

That's probably a good idea. Yeah. Um I know, I know.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

Our friends down under will be celebrating Letha in is it November or December? December. Yeah. December. December, okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

That's even worse than me not knowing. One time.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

Okay, six. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

And and when we celebrate Yule, the winter solstice.

SPEAKER_00 4:57

Yeah.

unknown 4:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

They will celebrate. But I do know that Christmas is not in June. I know that too. No matter which hemisphere you're in.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Anyway, let me tell you about the word Letha.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

Yes. Tell us where the I'm very curious about this. We call it Letha. Where does that come from?

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Well, Letha, the word, comes from bead. So if you're a medieval historian, call me new best friend Dr. Eleanor Janega, medieval historian.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

Uh if you're just gonna keep historian, you're just gonna keep saying her name until she calls you or emails you one day, aren't you?

SPEAKER_01 5:37

I'm manifesting my best friendship with medieval historian Dr. Eleanor Jenega. Um, my I whenever I talk about her, that's how I refer to her as my best friend, medieval historian, Dr. Eleanor Jenega.

unknown 5:49

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

I say it three times. I'm kind of hoping she'll appear, but so far that has not worked. Anyway, if you're a medieval historian, you know who who specializes in Western European, specifically like uh Celtic, uh Gaelic, that kind of areas, you're gonna know Bede. Bede is a very important figure. And it's spelled B-E-D-E, in case you want to Google. And Bede is the one who recorded this name. And so Midsummer, the two Midsummer months that he recorded in his like reckoning of the year are was before Letha and after Letha. Except he said it in old English, and I didn't write it down in old English. And I'm sorry, y'all. But um I'll put it in, I'll put it in the notes so you know what that looks like. So Letha was midsummer, and the months around it were before Letha and after Letha. So that's how that that came to be. But when he wrote that down, that was also not what it was called at that moment in time, because that was still prehist pre his history. Not pre-history. Um, pre-his history. Right. So it it is it it hasn't been used for a long time, not since pre-old English. Hmm.

unknown 7:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

But the word was re was um revitalized, reclaimed, when the neo-pagan movement kind of gathered some steam in the 20th century, uh, with the specifically with the Wickings.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

Who kind of pulled all of these festivals forward and found the names that worked best and created what we now look at as like the Wheel of the Year, the eight Sabbaths. Right. In the ye olden days, the four s the four Sabbaths that were celebrated were um Himblek, Beltane, Lunasa, and Sawin, and the solstices and equinox were not part of that big festival of celebrations, that big wheel of time. But that being said, midsummer is like a big deal, and it's been celebrated everywhere for always, basically.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

Right, basically, because who doesn't want a big party on the longest day of the year? Right? Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

It's a time of peak energy. Woo! There's so much power and sunshine and happiness and yay!

SPEAKER_00 8:25

Yay! I love it. And this is when the like the crops are starting to ripen and the flowers are in full bloom and the earth is at its most fertile. Like in June, you've got the late strawberries, you've got some of the earth, like the blueberries, you've got well, depending on where you live, you know, obviously blackberries and some well, blackberries are a little bit later, but you know, you've got all of these like stone fruits that are starting to ripen, and like cherries are in season. Our nectarines are so good right now. I'm jelly. Nectarines are like one of my absolute all-time favorite fruits, if not my favorite fruit.

SPEAKER_01 9:08

It's just it's a time of abundance.

SPEAKER_00 9:10

It really is.

SPEAKER_01 9:11

And it's a time to honor the abundance, not only the abundance that we get from the earth, the food, and the wonderfulness that sustains us, but a time to honor the abundance that we get from the universe. And the stuff that makes our lives awesome.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

What we've discovered is that, like, literally pretty much every Sabbath, there's fire involved. We we humans love fire. So is there fire involved in in the Letha celebrations at all?

SPEAKER_01 9:47

There is indeed. First of all, fire is purifying.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

Sure, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

And fire is powerful. And so fire is an excellent way to celebrate community. It also draws people in. It's a great way to celebrate community. Absolutely. And for the Celts, it was a it's Midsummer's a time to honor the sun gods and goddesses with fire. It's a time of powerful fee magic for the Celts. The Romans honored Vesta, goddess of the hearth.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:17

Which I don't know if you know about hearts.

SPEAKER_00 10:19

I do.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

But you know what? You can put some fire in it.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

That is what I've heard. I've heard that you could put fire in a hearth.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

Um, the Vikings celebrated with feasts and fire. And they believe that it was a time when the veil between the worlds was thin. Um, divine the future. It's a good time to resolve disputes. Oh. And in ancient China, now this said in ancient China, China is huge. It's huge. And so I'm not sure exactly if this includes all of China, which it probably doesn't. But in ancient China, the summer solstice was associated with the earth element yin and femininity, and was celebrated with ceremonies that included offerings of food and drink to deities and ancestors. Oh, it said nothing about fire in that factoid that I found on the internet, nor do I know what parts of ancient China and what traditions, because there's so much there. Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:17

So you would get absolutely lost. Suss out all that information.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Yeah. Like the United States is vague, and you can't say all indigenous people to the United States have the same summer solstice celebrations. Right. Because that would be silly.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

That would be wrong. And you can't say that silly and wrong, yes. Yeah. And you can't say that all people in the United States know how to make a peach pie. Like that just doesn't no.

SPEAKER_01 11:46

They should.

SPEAKER_00 11:47

They should, but they don't. And I want peach pie now.

unknown 11:51

I know.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

And peach pies aren't always created equal. Like they're different the like there's different styles of making. I mean, we're more it's there's more awareness now with the internet on different styles of making peach pie, but like everybody makes peach pie a different way. Well, not everybody, but you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

Yes. I actually am unaware of the many different varieties of peach pie, but we will save that for our upcoming peach pie episode.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

You just want to eat peach pie and write it off as a business expense. Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 12:35

Okay, so in early times, midsummer was celebrated a lot of times with bonfires. They were quite often writ um written, no, lit, lit, up on top of hills so they could be seen forever. Um because that was just like it just in a time when it's harder to to go from town to town because it takes longer, yeah, this you can still see a bonfire if they're lit all over, and it's very like that's the kind of community that pulls you in, even if you're not in community, like co-located community.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

Right.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

It's like we lighted ourselves out, our cell phone towers ablaze with our bonfires of community.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

Yeah, we kind of metaphor. Did you like it? I like it. I like that metaphor. I mean, because if you think about it back then, like, you know, you didn't have it's not that there weren't big cities, there were, but you didn't have like these towering skyscrapers, you you didn't have all this light pollution. So lighting a bonfire, like it could be seen for miles because it there was nothing to compete with it.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

Um, and that's kind of like Especially if you put it up high. Yeah. Which is why when Gondor called for aid, they weren't putting their fires down in the valleys. Oh no, those were up high. That's how that changed. The beacons were being lit up high. I love it. Because it's also not a Lord of the Rings podcast. But we can do that with the peach pie somehow.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

Peach pie and Lord of the Rings. I don't know how we're gonna work those two things together, but hobby.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Okay, but doesn't that sound like an awesome day, though? It doesn't like peach pie and lord of the rings.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

No, I feel like we have to have this day. I don't know why.

SPEAKER_01 14:22

Okay. We'll make it happen. We'll let you know.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

You can join us for Peach Pie and Lord of the Rings. Oh, so and also I've heard that herbs gathered during the summer solstice are like their most potent, like magically speaking, energetically speaking. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

If you're using them for like potions or then stuff like that, spell work, anything like that, it would be at its most potent magically on midsummer. And it was a big thing to stay awake all very short night with your bonfires lit to watch the solstice sunrise. Yeah, and all you I think probably one of the more famous examples of this now is the way people will gather at various henges, famously Stonehenge, on the solstice to watch the solstice sunrise. And that happens both for the winter and the summer solstice, where that's kind of a big deal. And it but staying up to watch that that solstice sunrise for the longest, the shortest night and the longest day, that's a that was a way that people used to celebrate and that they still do.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

That and I love that connection through history and but through our ancestors that they did that and we still do that to this day. And I always love someday it would be really awesome to go to Stonehenge for or a just a henge. Actually, I really love the Hinge in um I'm having a blank moment. It's the one where the village is built in it, and you can actually walk through the hinge.

SPEAKER_01 16:11

Oh you could go to St. Mary's Henge, isn't that a henge? The I mean the mini Stonehenge in Washington State. Oh yeah, I could go to this. Yeah, go to that one for the solstice.

SPEAKER_00 16:23

It doesn't really have the same spark to it.

SPEAKER_01 16:26

Um but it is at the site of like some really cool packages.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

It is, yeah, that's true. And it is kind of old now, not Stonehenge old, but like some decades. American old.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

American old US old.

SPEAKER_00 16:42

Like West Coast. U.S. old. West Coast white people US old. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

West Coast white colonizer old. Yeah. I was being US, like specifically to the formation of the country and not. Right, yeah. Well, that's true, yes. Because the country is flight colonizer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

The country is 250 years old at this as of this year. And so that's, you know, that's old. To nobody else on the planet just about is this old, but it's old fast.

SPEAKER_01 17:19

Um there's newer countries.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

I mean, that's true, but they're usually part of older countries that like or they're reading. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

We'll do an episode on the age of countries someday. We'll have we'll have guest expert my daughter.

SPEAKER_00 17:37

Oh, okay. Excellent. I would love that. She can educate us on the age of countries.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

And flags, probably. We talked about the old ancient celebrations, early celebrations, but modern celebrations. So early celebrations, fire, gathering herbs, staying awake all night to watch the sunrise. Modern celebrations, fire.

unknown 17:59

Fire.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

We need it, we need a fire like thing to like yes.

SPEAKER_01 18:07

Okay, listen, I have got I I've got some graphics to be creating. Excellent. Excellent. Fire is like like we said earlier, it's such an important part of festival and ritual. Because it is cleansing, because it gathers community. Also, it's a great way to cook your food if that happens to be how you prefer to cook, um, or if you just want s'mores. But fire is this wild, untamed energy. And so this is a great time to light your fires, whether you have room for a bonfire, or you're hanging out with friends, or you have room for a candle. And uh just be safe with your fire. So, like, dance, dance for the sun, dance for the collapse of the patriarchy. Yes. Which I actually wrote in my notes.

SPEAKER_00 18:54

Oh, you did. I love it. I was like, yes. And uh feasts, feasting food, food, food. I mean, this is a thing. All celebrations need food, right? Yeah. We humans celebration. I know humans love food and they love sharing food.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

I was gonna say, well, there's a lot of celebrations that involve fasting, but I believe the main celebration is when you break the fast.

SPEAKER_00 19:18

And I am not aware, and this is just me, so if you're aware of this, let me know. But I am not aware of any fasting involved with witchcraft. I there may be something in Wicca or some other pagan practices, but in witchcraft, yes, Amy.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

Well, I don't I was gonna I raised my hand before you said other pagan practices, but I know that um there are probably if you're planning on doing some like dream journey stuff or astral travel kind of things, um, things like that, which wouldn't necessarily be in our branch of witchcraft, but would be in other branches of witchcraft, a lot of times you would fast before beginning those kind of spiritual journeys. Yeah, but it wouldn't be part of a celebration, right?

SPEAKER_00 20:09

Right, right, right. And and witchcraft in and of itself is particularly like kitchen witchery, hearth witchery, green witchery. These are about nourishing the body, not depriving the body. Really, at the you know, uh and the soul and so on. And um, some people actually can't fast. Um I am one of those people I actually cannot fast. Um, it's actually dangerous for me. I don't think that uh a person needs to fast for spiritual reasons. I just really don't, but that's my opinion. You do you, boo.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

If you And if it's part of your tradition, yep, go for it. That's basically just be careful if you're pregnant or breastfeeding, or have some kind of other condition that may preclude that, and I know that in most traditions, there are reasons to not fast, even if it is part of your overall tradition. There are exclusions available, and we're not telling you to fast, we're telling you to feast. We want peach pie for everybody. All right, so anyway, pie is not um traditionally part of the midsummer celebration, unless you want it to be. Um, but we sh should feast, and it's a time of community, as are all the Sabbaths. It's a it's also a really good time just for spell casting, for setting intentions, particularly those that are about growth, abundance, and fertility. And this is where I get to do Shay as usual line, not just about babies in this case.

SPEAKER_00 21:52

Beltane was, but Letha's not.

SPEAKER_01 21:56

Right. Although there's a lot of um mid. Summer babies that you read about in some of the older books where people are born uh in early, early, like what's nine months from now, February. Oh no, wait. Shoot, are we midsummer babies? Where you don't necessarily know where the father who the father is.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

Well, pretty sure, pretty sure I know who my father is because I look like the man.

SPEAKER_01 22:25

Okay, I look like a so-saul.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

There's no getting away from it.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

Is that nine months from now, though?

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Well, yeah, so we're June.

SPEAKER_01 22:37

Uh so more me than you, probably.

SPEAKER_00 22:40

I mean, that's eight months.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

My partner. Chris is a midsummer baby.

SPEAKER_00 22:45

Yeah. So nine months would be March. Yeah. Chris is mom. And I was late. So I was probably more like a beltane baby. I was late as well. Um so we're probably more beltane babies than we are midsummer babies. So we're before Letha.

SPEAKER_01 23:09

Good. Now we know we know everything's fine. Beltane is a great time for hand fasting.

SPEAKER_00 23:15

So yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 23:17

Not a time for running off into the woods during the few hours of darkness.

SPEAKER_00 23:25

Okay. To get the berries, for instance.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Herbs are at their most potent.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

Not the ones that prevent consumption, baby. So colors for the Letha. So we're gonna talk about Letha altar, because I know you tend to do altars. I don't I know.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

I don't usually do one for Letha. And my space at my new place right now is very limited, so I don't have like a dedicated space for it at this point. But I still like the idea of I have a mental altar now. Maybe I'll do a digital one. That could be a thing, right?

SPEAKER_00 24:00

I don't see why not. It's a modern area.

SPEAKER_01 24:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 24:04

And if we can have communities, right?

SPEAKER_01 24:08

I'm gonna put up my digital altar and I will I'll tag every single one of you. No, I'll just tag this podcast and um put it up on the Instagram.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

I do swap out my candles, I will say that. I do swap out my candles, but other than that, I don't really have an altar.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

My space is now like in my closet, so I can't have stuff like sitting up high like candles, because otherwise my clothes will whack into it. Yeah, that won't be good.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

But if you have the space, how how are we gonna what colors are we gonna use for our altar?

SPEAKER_01 24:44

Well, gold, orange, yellow for candles or decorations are really great because that's warmth, sunshine, create the fires of creativity. Green is that fertility, that nature, that prosperity that we want to bring into our lives, and then red for love and courage and life force. And then there's like animals that are associated with Letha as well. Um, the rooster, because you know, they cockadoodle-doo in the mornings, and they bring on the sun and the dawn. These are not for your altar, by the way. Don't put these, you can put like pictures of or like or like little mini little rooster.

SPEAKER_00 25:25

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

I could put that on my altar.

SPEAKER_00 25:27

I could just see somebody trying to put a rooster on their altar, and this thing's just like extraordinary.

SPEAKER_01 25:35

Butterflies, yeah, symbols of transformation, bees, of course. Bees, community, productivity, sweetness. I love bees are such ah, I love bees. Anyway. And then stags. Yeah, don't put a stag on your altar.

SPEAKER_02 25:51

Don't put a stag on your altar.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Also, don't even try to catch one, because that's they're probably not gonna end well for anyone. Um but they're symbols of fertility, virility, and nature. So in the Wheel of the Year, when you're looking at this, this is the there's the two Celtic, there's the oak king and the holly king. And so oh the butterfly. Yeah, a little butterfly.

SPEAKER_00 26:17

It's a little butterfly, it's a little enamel pin of a little butterfly. It's got the little half crescent moons and the little star on there. Foods! Oak oak, no, wait, wait, I was saying a thing. Oh, about the stags. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 26:30

No, after the stags, before the food. Oh. I was talking about the oak king and the holly king. Oh, the oak king and the holly king, yeah. Yeah, this isn't in the notes. So that's this is just something I didn't write down. But um there in the in the Celtic traditions, there's the two kings, and the oak king reigns from winter solstice to summer solstice, at which point he is overthrown by the Holly King, whose power grows until the winter solstice. So this is also when that happens where there's like the symbolic battle between the oak and the holly, and the holly king has to win at this point so that the seasons continue. And then the same thing happens in the winter solstice, so that the oak king can bring the bring the new life back to the earth and growth and everything.

SPEAKER_00 27:23

That's really cool. I always forget about that part.

SPEAKER_01 27:25

Not really that sorry, that's like way more on on topic than pie.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

So I mean, I don't know though, because food is important to Letha, and pie is food.

SPEAKER_01 27:37

Okay, good point. Both were equally relevant. Speaking of food, some foods that you can put on your altar if you're doing a temporary one just for midsummer, include the fruits that are ripe right now. So there's a lot of berries, strawberries, blueberries. Like we said earlier, I have nectarines that are coming into season. Um, I guess I heard that pomegranates are starting to look good on the shelves again. We have a very fun pomegranate season here.

SPEAKER_00 28:12

Mmm. And I know cherries are in season. I'm starting to see them in the stores and they're like really tasty.

SPEAKER_01 28:18

Yeah, we've had cherries. Yum. And also, of course, and always honey. Honey. Honey is kind of it's so it just kind of binds community together. Bees are such social community animals. They're so important to fertility of the fields for the new plant growth. And spring and summer are great times for new new honey to be harvested. Absolutely. So mead is if you want to drink, mead is a great drink to have with your altar celebrations.

SPEAKER_00 28:51

And then plants. Now you are the green witch, so tell us which plants we should be altering or using at this time.

SPEAKER_01 29:01

Okay, I will do that. Um St. John's Wart is one that is kind of blooming right now. It's great for protection and potency. It has it has um uses for antidepressants if you're looking at using homeopathic methods to treat mild depression, but you have to be very, very careful with stuff like that. It is not FDA approved in any way, and a lot of times what you're buying at stores is not real. So if you are going to go with herbal stuff or mental health issues, please see a licensed naturopath. And make sure you disclose what other medications you're on. Um we're doing a lot of like we're not doctors today, even though I am a fake doctor, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_00 29:53

A totally fake doctor. Well, I mean, it's really important because St. John's Wort in particular can have some really nasty side effects um when you're on certain medications or you have certain uh like um health issues or whatnot. Not not everyone, St. John's Wort is just not something that everyone it can actually cause anxiety in some people.

SPEAKER_01 30:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

So um that's why uh you know you shouldn't just start popping St. John's Wort.

SPEAKER_01 30:22

Uh it's you it's the flowers are pretty. Put some flowers on your altar.

SPEAKER_00 30:27

Put some flowers on your altar. It's absolutely fine. Uh just be really cautious when taking St. John's Wort. Um and we just want we don't want anyone to be harmed.

SPEAKER_01 30:38

Um I see here you have other great flowers, lavender, now lavender purification and peace. But also, again, with everything moderation, don't get carried away because um lavender can have weird effects on some stuff too. If you're taking a lot of it, it can it it can increase estrogen production in young people, I think. Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 31:02

Hmm, I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_01 31:03

Is yeah, so you want to be very just be careful with everything. A little bit of lavender is in your non-ingested lavender is gonna be fine, totally.

SPEAKER_00 31:14

Generally speaking. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

But if you're ingesting lavender, a little bit's not gonna.

SPEAKER_00 31:20

I have a really good tea that has lavender in it, and it helps when I have headaches or have stress. It just comes.

SPEAKER_01 31:28

I love the scent of lavender. I used to have a uh pillow spray that I would just spritz a little bit on my pillow before bed. Lavender. I love this lavender is one of my favorite smells, it's one of my favorite flowers, it's beautiful. Um, so chamomile, great tea, uh, comfort and tranquility. It can really soothe your anxiety. Um, calendula, calendula, calendula, calendula, joy and prosperity. And then any fresh flowers that you find that's just perfect to put on your altar. It's it's a very floral time of year. So celebrate with flowers and these are just a few things that you could do, but obviously anything that brings you joy and sparks that summer joy is perfect for this. If you're looking for crystals that are specific to the summer, citrine. Citrine. Look at you.

SPEAKER_00 32:28

I'm just holding up my little citrine here that I picked up somewhere. It's just I always keep it keep it near my writing area.

SPEAKER_01 32:38

Do you have any sunstone? That's next on my list.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

Um, I don't think I have any sunstone. I think this is citrine also.

SPEAKER_01 32:48

That's really pretty.

SPEAKER_00 32:49

Yeah, that's pretty.

SPEAKER_01 32:50

You can pretend that's amber. Hold it up when I say amber.

SPEAKER_00 32:53

Okay. Um, tiger's eye? I do have tiger's eye around here somewhere, but I'm not sure where it is.

SPEAKER_01 33:01

Um amber. Oh, look.

SPEAKER_00 33:05

This is totally not amber, but it looks like it's not amber. Yeah. Amber has a different feel because amber isn't actually a stone.

SPEAKER_01 33:14

No, it's not. But it is a stone-ish like crystal thing.

SPEAKER_00 33:19

Right. It does go along with crystal with its properties. Um, so now you have a Letha ritual for us.

SPEAKER_01 33:27

Well, you know me. I love a Sabbath ritual. I do too.

SPEAKER_00 33:32

I do too. So tell us about it, what's it for, and all that good stuff.

SPEAKER_01 33:37

This one is wicked simple. Okay. The simplest, like, I'm not setting giving you all very complex rituals anyway. Yeah. But this one is probably the simplest one that I have ever suggested. And this is for confidence and full power. It's great for stepping into the version of yourself that you've been hesitating to to claim, to claim the authority in your own life to live your most authentic self, and or get over any imposter syndrome. Like this is a ritual for confidence and power. Nice. And this is for all y'all. I love it. You need a mirror. Okay. We'll have one. Uh gold, yellow, or orange candle. And again, as Shay usually reminds me, white is fine. But um, if you have gold, yellow, or orange, those are those are great colors for confidence and creativity and self-possession. Um, but white would be fine as well. You can have rosemary, you can have oil or a dried rosemary. Rosemary is associated with clarity, memory, and self-possession. And then a paper or pen.

unknown 34:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

So what you do? Okay. Take a little time to meditate on this statement of power for your situation. Um, my sample that I put in the notes is I am amazing. I am powerful. The work I have done is real and good. Yes. I do not need permission to take up space. Oh, yeah. I do not apologize for being myself. Preach. I will not be smaller. I am seen, and I am exactly who I need to be.

SPEAKER_00 35:23

Well, that gave me shivers.

SPEAKER_01 35:25

So I'll have all of those written down in the show notes or on the Insta. You can take one of those. Oh, I gave her goosebumps. I got goosebumps. You can take one, some, all of that. You can make up your own. It needs to fit you.

SPEAKER_02 35:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:42

My words might not fit you, and that's fine. Yeah. So you find words that fit you, and you write them down and make sure they're authentic and they represent what you want. And then you can anoint the candle in rosemary oil. That's like just a little rosemary oil on your candle. Not on the wick, though. Oh no. Um. Well, maybe that'd be fine, but maybe don't do that actually. Or you can roll it in the dried rosemary. So it kind of will have that rosemary scent, that rosemary essence. And then you light the candle, and then you stand or sit in front of your mirror and you look at yourself. Don't look past you, don't look over your shoulder. Look at yourself in your eyes. You're not looking for flaws. You are not looking with a critical eye. You are looking at yourself to see your authentic, true being. So you're locking eyes with you. It's really hard to lock eyes with yourself when you're on camera because I'm trying to lock eyes with myself, but then like the camera is weird. It just looks like I'm looking all over. So in a mirror, it's easier. So you meet your meet your own eyes, and then you say aloud the words that you composed. And you repeat it until it sinks in. All the while look at yourself. And you'll see the expression on your face when it sinks in. When it becomes part of you. Your expression will shift. And then you let that candle burn while you're meditating on what you've seen and how you've changed. And then you extinguish the candle and carry the rosemary with you for the rest of the solstice day.

SPEAKER_00 37:21

Nice. And you know, I recently um heard a bit of uh science-y stuff. I have I have nothing to back this up with that your brain doesn't know the difference. When you're looking in a mirror talking to yourself, your brain doesn't really know the difference between whether you're talking to yourself or someone else is talking to you. Like because you're really yeah, it's like like the subconscious, like, and so you're more willing to believe what someone else says about you than what you say about yourself, typically. Like, I mean, if in a positive way, not in uh a negative way so much, but like in a positive way that too, which is the problem though. Well, I mean, yeah, that is, but like if someone else says, you know, you're amazing, Amy, you're amazing, and you're like, you might kind of go, haha, no, I'm not, but you kind of get that little flutter of, oh, someone said I'm amazing. But if you try to say, Oh, I'm amazing, it's just like whatever. But when you look in the mirror and say, I'm amazing, or Shaya, you're amazing, or Amy, you're amazing, um, your brain doesn't really differentiate that from someone else telling you that because you're seeing another person.

SPEAKER_01 38:48

And so This is so cool.

SPEAKER_00 38:50

And so yeah, so it seem it goes deeper into your subconscious than if you just say it like with your eyes closed or just you know, whatever. It actually will go into your subconscious more. That is amazing. Like, I mean, obviously you know consciously that you're talking to yourself in the mirror, but on a subconscious level, your brain doesn't really register the difference as far as like who's talking to you. And you're more willing to believe what you say about another person as well. Like, I absolutely believe you're amazing. It is much easier to say that about you than it is to say about myself. But well, except it isn't for me.

SPEAKER_01 39:31

But Well, because we're both amazing.

SPEAKER_00 39:34

Because we're both amazing, and I've done a lot of hard work, so I've done a lot of the work, so I truly believe I'm amazing. So doing that in the mirror kind of shortcut, basically. Science!

SPEAKER_01 39:47

Science! So go do it, go do the solstice morning. Start your solstice telling yourself so that you can fill up as much space. Absolutely. And you are awesome. And amazing as amazing. Absolutely more so.

SPEAKER_00 40:04

Maybe more so. Uh that's hard, that's difficult, but you can do it. And the thing is, even if you already f know and feel amazing and powerful, do it anyway because who doesn't need more more of that? Yeah. Especially women people. Women people are so like we're constantly it's a constant battle to be seen, to be heard, to take up space. We're so so social.

SPEAKER_01 40:32

People who identify as women or who are socialized as women, yes, or who are perceived as women. Um even if you're mask or non-binary or trans or don't identify as a woman now. Anyone who has been socialized as a woman is perceived as a woman or identifies as a woman.

SPEAKER_00 40:55

Taking up space is is the exact opposite of what we've been taught. We're we're not supposed to take up space, we're supposed to make ourselves small. And we're supposed to make ourselves yes. And fuck that noise. Pardon my French. Exactly. That's not French. Isn't it? It probably sounds way fancier in French.

SPEAKER_01 41:17

You should you should learn how to say that in French. I really should. And then when you swear in French, then you can just say pardon my French, and we'll be like, okay.

SPEAKER_00 41:27

Okay. So if anyone, any French person is out there and wants to teach me how to swear like a sailor in French, please let me know.

SPEAKER_01 41:37

I can just say faux-ish. I will be swearing at you in Portuguese. I don't know very much Portuguese yet, but I learned that one. We have to be if we're gonna swear, we have to swear in not English. That's the new rule for the pot. Alright.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

Would you like to have a cocktail? I would absolutely frickin' love a cocktail. Please, please, shall we have a cocktail now that I've already mine is way pinker than yours.

SPEAKER_01 42:07

This is a midsummer margarita. And uh when I first put the margarita or the recipe into the show notes, I titled it Solstice Sips, Strawberry and Tyme because it felt like, you know, parsley sage, rosemary, and thyme. It felt like it had that same rhythm. But then it turns out that there wasn't any thyme at my grocery store. So I'm not doing a strawberry thyme margarita. I'm doing a strawberry basil margarita.

SPEAKER_00 42:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 42:37

If you're doing a strawberry thyme, you want to do the strawberries and the thyme and make a simple syrup. So you simmer the sugar, the water, the strawberries and the thyme all together in the simple syrup, and you let it hang out and be happy. And then eventually you strain it and chill it, and it's perfect. If you're doing the basil, you don't necessarily want to do that because basil doesn't do well with the cooking. So if you're doing basil, well, the way I did it was I just um I broke the basil, I bruised it, and then I put it in my shaker with some of the strawberries. I'd pulled out of my strawberry simple syrup and muddled it. And then I had my strawberry simple syrup and my tequila and my lime juice. Excellent. So I'll put all of that in the show notes. Um but did you did time, right?

SPEAKER_00 43:26

I did time. I did not have there was no fresh time, let's just say. I wasn't able to get fresh time, but I had um dry time, and I have some uh tea bags that are like that you can fill yourself and then um create your own little teabags. So I put some fresh time I fresh time, dry time in the teabag and tied it off and put it in there. And of course, I do lazy witchcraft, like even my kitchen witchery is is is like like like I don't have time. sit there and I don't have the spoons to like stir you know whatever so what I did is I just you know use my electric kettle I poured poured the water in added the sugar you know diluted it then I put in the strawberries and then I put them and of course the strawberries were like room temp so it like it like co cooled the syrup down so I put it in the microwave and I microwaved it for like a minute and then smashed the berries so they would be like kind of you know a little bit so it kind of get it some of the stuff out and then I put it in for like another minute. And so I basically microwaved it for two total minutes. But because the thyme was in its little pouch it wasn't all over the place and dried dried thyme can absolutely handle the cooking. And then I just let it sit on the counter until right before I was ready to use it and then strained it. And so the time is very light.

SPEAKER_01 45:01

Um so depending on how you made it you're gonna time is used for courage emotional healing purification so you have that courage that's that goes out there with what we're talking about. Basil is wealth and prosperity so that's part of that fertility and abundance as well strawberry of course is love fertility and divine feminine energy and tequila is fire. Fire and then lime is uh cleansing and purification as well so this is a great cocktail if you uh for creativity for abundance um for celebrating the divine feminine energy and if you do um the basil it's wealth and prosperity do time you've got a little bit more purification you've got some emotional feeling and some courage to take up that space and it's yeah for sure and it's delicious and you're gonna be basil I wasn't sure how it was gonna turn out oh but strawberry and basil go so well together I bet it's delicious.

SPEAKER_00 46:08

I wouldn't necessarily use dried basil in a crush either no I think you didn't have a little basil plant be a little too pizza I think pizza adjacent but maybe you like that I don't know um I don't want I don't think I want a pizza taquilla but I definitely like you have some you have a recipe in here and I know you altered it a little bit like the amount I altered mine as well. I have much less tequila than this recipe calls for.

SPEAKER_01 46:40

Sorry this is a very and I I don't I used about half the lime juice and I almost doubled the strawberry time simple syrup and part of that was I like I said my strawberries were not very sweet and so um and also I like very s I like sweet drinks so so I used I used the amount of syrup that mine called for and a little less lime juice because my lime didn't have the full amount and the amount of tequila well I knew you would use the full amount of tequila but I was looking at it was it's delicious.

SPEAKER_00 47:24

It is really tasty. So just play with the amounts if you like if you like it sweeter use a little bit more syrup a little less lime if you don't want your alcohol if you don't want it as strong reduce the amount of tequila if you like it strong use all the tequila and when you're making your simple syrup a simple syrup recipe is typically a one to one ratio of sugar and water.

SPEAKER_01 47:51

Yeah you can make a like there's some recipes that will call for I don't what do you call it when it's double sugar?

SPEAKER_00 47:58

Um I can't remember if they I think they call it a rich syrup or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 48:03

Something like that. I usually use less sugar because again I don't like things as sweet and I think there's enough natural sweetness in some of the fruit when I'm making a flavored simple syrup.

SPEAKER_00 48:14

Right. Whereas like with mine I actually probably could have I did do the simple syrup the one to one ratio I probably could have used like one and a half because of how not sweet the strawberries were they were on the sour side in fact. Depending on how you like your drinks it's very easy to alter. So Amy Yes ma'am I understand you have a Letha Oracle deck that you're going to pull a card for us today.

SPEAKER_01 48:44

Indeed I do and we are almost all the way through the seasons of the witch I think that we have record this is the second to last Sabbath episode that we've taped and so this is the second to last time I will pull out a seasons of the witch card so I have this is such a pretty duck too this is the Seasons of the Witch series uh by Juliet Diaz this one is illustrated by Tejana Lukovic and is co-authored by Lorraine Lorianne Anderson the back of the cards is the moon moonjoy and then four moths I love it and it's purple in the back purple foil side oh I love that that's so pretty okay so I have drawn sunset dinner sunset dinner an invitation awaits you yell to the stars that you are ready to go and so oh how cute it's a little table with four chairs around it and there's like um rose bushes and flowering trees in the background and like poppies there's twinkle lights hung in the trees in the background there's hills and the sun's going down there's flowers all around the table and chairs and an on I just tried to like zoom in on the card with my two fingers. A zooming thing that's hilarious there's butterflies there's a bird sitting on the back of one of the chairs and on the table there's a bouquet and there's a little pie. Looks like a strawberry pie. Yay pie some candles and a picture of what could be lemonade or something like that. And it's just this riotous explosion of flowers and color and how perfect. Like I just want to go sit there and have the strawberry pie and a bottle of wine to watch the sun go down in the longest day. And then stay all night to watch it come up again.

SPEAKER_00 51:00

We're gonna make that happen in 2027.

SPEAKER_01 51:03

So let it be written so let it be done y'all are invited to our sunset dinner okay it's an invitation it's a seat at the table it's leveling up which didn't we just talk about this we did your hard work is paying off yeah people who matter are noticing it's time to shoot your shots a new opportunity can come at any moment and you don't want to miss your chance do what you can to feel more confident and secure in the goals that you're chasing. Yes it also can mean that it's time to spend time with people who can lift you up. They say you are the same as the six people you spend the most time with oh no as a teenager which is perfectly fine if those people represent where you want your life to go. So that's something to think about and I've heard that before look at the people you spend the most time with and are those the kind of people that you want to be because if they're not then you need to reevaluate either where you want to be or who you're spending time with. I used to have this friend group that nobody ever had anything good to say about anything about each other when the other people weren't around it was a lot of gossip I mean I was much younger it was a lot of gossip and backstabbing and but they were my besties right and looking back why was I hanging out with people who were so negative about themselves about the people they profess to love so if there's people around you who never have a good thing to say about themselves about anyone else maybe it's time to reevaluate where you're at because if your partnerships your friendships do not reflect who you are who you want to be then it might be time to expand your social circles or evaluate yourself.

SPEAKER_00 53:12

And I have to point this out because matriarchy in matriarchy you know in patriarchy there's always the people at the top table and then everybody else is scrambling for crumbs right but in matriarchy there's room at the table for everyone yeah share horror what's will make it happen. Absolutely sorry I love I love that part of it I do too and it's like and it's like but the table how you can't make the table bigger sure we just add another table onto the end just keep making the table everyone will squeeze in. Yeah everyone squeezes in bring another chair don't worry about the food we'll bake another pie. It's no big thing that's right we there's always room there's always room there's room for everybody and everybody gets all that they need to eat nobody goes hungry.

SPEAKER_01 54:10

And if you're not feeling like you're getting that kind of community and support with where you're at right now and you know what that is a-okay you don't have to be like ah and like implod your life but you know what you have there's room at our table.

SPEAKER_00 54:24

Absolutely there's room with the caftan coven we will open up our table to you and you can share part of our community now.

SPEAKER_01 54:35

You're part of our community yes we love that for you love that yes so thank you so much for joining us today for our exploration of Letha please let us know how you're celebrating uh are you doing an altar share picks share picks of your altar tag us on Instagram yes we would love to be tagged in all of your Letha celebrations that's and speaking of Instagram you can follow us at like subscribe follow review share and don't forget we'll have all of our uh links and sources and things in the show notes along with the recipe for the Letha cocktail and the Letha ritual yes so again thanks for being here thanks for going on the journey with us as always as always until next time bye bye