Litha Sabbat Declaration…Are you ready?

“The Wheel turns……Summer’s strength reaches its peak, blistering, blazing, raising passions. Fruits now ripen, and our precious crops turn to gold….the old country is abundant once again, exhausted, depleted and thirsty, its bush fire dawn too, bush fire is now imminent.”

The Sun Lord Uri the Wattle King is now at his very peak of his reign. He and His Queen are equally powerful the land is strong under their rulership. This is the summit of their creative powers, and all is lush, full and ripe. Amidst this dazzling light and purity the Goddess gives birth to the dark Lord the Christmas Bush and the seeds of change have been sown. As power has peaked, now it must also recede.

At Earthwise we believe in greeting the Sun God (Uri) at dawn on the Summer Solstice as a mark of respect, it’s his longest day and we wish to share his rising with him. We also embrace this time as the day when the (Acacia) Wattle King loses his strength and loses his battle with the (Ceratoprtalum gummiferum) Christmas Bush King who now flowers and reigns till Winter Solstice.

The Goddess shows her Death-in-Life aspect, the Earth is fertile and all is in bloom, the Goddess reaches out to the fertilising Wattle King at the height of His powers. At the same time She presides over the death of the Sun God. Here the Goddess dances Her dance of Life and Death, The Wattle King Loves Her and dies of His Love. The Summer Solstice is a time of Fulfilment of Love.

Flowers bloom everywhere, i.e. in sexual maturity, ready for pollination, fertilisation, yet once fertilised they die, that the seeds and the fruit may develop. The Lord of Light and Wattle has fought the powers of darkness, and is triumphant, ensuring fertility in the old country. But in doing so, He sows the seeds of his own death. The wheel turns and the Dark God of the Christmas Bush begins to wax in power as the Wattle King wanes.

We see the Rainbow Serpent as the Totem for the North (Fire) , and it is at the solstice he sheds his skin, and transforms himself, as does the Magickal Child within us, we like to greet the Sun before this process begins at its height (noon) and at its pinnacle (the solstice).

Here uniquely in Australia the days have grown stronger and hotter. The Northern Heat is relentless. The wilting atmosphere of summer has begun. The Cyclone season is here. In the tropics and subtropics mangoes are harvested. Bushfires remain a threat along the east coast of our land. In the south especially Tasmania, many wonderful stone fruits are now being picked, the grapes are reaching fullness in our wine regions of Victoria and South Australia. Most of our crops have been harvested in the Barossa Valley. Young Kangaroos, Wallabies and Emus are venturing further from their mothers, and starting to explore, with the exuberance of youth, whilst those that birthed them prepare to let go.

Today I’d like you to think of the waning and waxing forces of Nature, depicted as the 2 headed Rainbow Serpent, compassion equalling Water and anger equalling Fire. This Siamese Headed Serpent was the first born in the Dreaming and started life struggling against each other just as in the Northern Hemisphere the Oak and Holly King Struggle and compete. Here in Australia we can see the struggle between the Wattle tree and the Christmas bush, as one weakens and the other flourishes.

Here the waxing and waning forces of Nature are portrayed in the natural order that maintains balance. At the time of the Summer Solstice we evaluate our lives and acknowledge our participation or lack therein, which addresses the core issue of responsibility. Are we living life according to balance, and if not, then what forces have we allowed to direct things? Have we lost our centre, Sun God Uri teaches us before he departs how we must find a place of balance within to fertilise the new fruits within and make place for their growth.

As Litha approaches there is a move from the season and element of AIR into the season and element of FIRE, so this is a time of change, of transformation, where we, with the Great Rainbow Serpent shed our skin of the past and stake our claim to the future. Here once again on the round we come face to face with our Will, Freedom, Passion, Sexuality, Love, Action, Transformation, Learning, Illumination, Sight & Vision.

Summer Solstice is where you shed your old skin, and let go of what is not valid, step out of the past and live in the Radiance of the Now.

This is where the Earthwise Tribal Members realise that as we shed our old skin we look forward to the challenges and dedication to our new path, the Rainbow Serpent helps us make the our transformation from Neophyte to the preparations for our 1st initiation at Imbolc.

With the Gods we have swirled across this sunburnt country, and it is here at this ritual in the December Heat that they decide if we have done the work, to dance with them and join in the incessant pounding of their feet as it cracks the parched earth beneath us, and what was once solid an stable is now moving us to new ground, here we stand alone on the edge of a cliff as the fool tarot card, will we take that first step in perfect love and perfect trust or should we wait another year?

Only the Gods can deicide our fate.

Litha Blessings
Wise & Blessed Be
Astarte