Launch of new healthy living magazine Harvest 20% discount coupon

I have the thrilling news of the launch of a brand new magazine 'Harvest' This wonderful magazine gives you a seasonal guide to healthy living for a happy life. This beautiful print magazine is packed full of in-depth articles with ideas and inspiration for how you can live better through natural solutions.I have my own contribution in the first issue with the story of my personal Pagan path which I am very excited about!

Modern-day life is hectic and often leaves little room to appreciate the important things in life – the happiness and health of ourselves and our family. We often feel that something is missing in our lives. There is a vast range of alternative solutions out there, claiming to be the one that works, but how do you know where to start?

There is no easy answer to that question but Harvest magazine helps you to find your path through the mine field of alternative therapies and natural remedies to find a happier healthier you, more in touch with yourself and more in touch with nature.

For Astarte-Moon friends I have a very special discount code for you which gives you 20% discount plus 5 mags for the price of 4- bargain for this info packed publication! Just enter the code HARVESTMOON20 at the checkout.

Click on the link below to take you straight to the website:



Issue One is packed with loads of fabulous articles. Of course there is my article which talks about what led me down the Pagan path in the first place, what being a Pagan means to me, and how you can celebrate Paganism in the Autumn. Then there are loads of wonderful pieces of which the following are just the tip of the iceberg. 

• Woodland workout 

Fed up with your local gym? Give nature’s gym a go. We join Oliver Selway in the local woods for a full body workout outdoors.

• Flu fighter 

Don’t let that next cold strike you down. Essential oils to the rescue! Alex Martin explains how to use them effectively to fight off your next cold.

• Garlic goodness 

Much-loved by chefs, but much-maligned for its odour, we rough garlic up a bit and find out why it’s so good for us and how to make some kitchen remedies.

• Plus we’ve got articles on natural deodorants, the paleo diet, exercises from our life coach to unlock true happiness and why playing with your food is a great way to deal with fussy eaters. 

So, give it a try, I promise you won't be disappointed and there is a money back guarantee to make sure you are not! Remember just click on the link above to take you to the website and enter the code to get your discount. You can download a preview of the magazine before buying to checkout some of the articles plus there are lots of great competitions in the blog section of the Harvest website.

Harvest blessings to you, Alison 

Free Yule Winter Solstice E-cards.

Yule Blessings to you all! I've had a busy morning creating some free Yule ecards for you. You are welcome to copy these and send to friends and family. Just right click on the image then you can save to your computer and either print out or send as an email to all those you hold dear. You may like to use the e-card design as a basis for your own Yule card, just cut round the image and then you can stick to plain card and decorate with lots of glitter! I'm sure all the family will enjoy this fabulous Winter Solstice activity!

The Gratitude Pumpkin, a fabulous way to celebrate Samhain

OK here is my next attempt at decorating a pumpkin! Just like my pentacle pumpkin this one is really easy too, you just need a permanent marker, preferably in black so that it stands out nicely. And of course a pumpkin!

So, this is the Gratitude Pumpkin. I got the idea from the website http://www.oneartsymama.com Amy there has loads of wonderful ideas for things you can do with children, well worth a visit.

In making my gratitude pumpkin I first lit a candle, orange to honour Samhain; I then sat for a while meditating on all the I have in my life to be grateful for. I then proceeded to put write some of those things onto my Gratitude Pumpkin. I just wrote the words around the pumpkin, trying to follow the curve but it's not that easy to do, your attempts may come out more artistic than mine! You could write the words randomly all over the pumpkin that would look fabulous too I think.  

This is an exercise that all the family can join in. Children could make their own with supervision or can join in with a Family Gratitude Pumpkin. Most of all, have fun and as you do it, really feel in your heart, the gratitude that you feel knowing you have all these things in your life.

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” 
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

My Gratitude Pumpkin in front of my Wendy Andrews Samhain Altar

I do try and practice gratitude every day, thinking of three things to be grateful for before I fall asleep each night. Writing the words down like this really cements that gratitude in your mind, reminding you that however difficult life gets there is always so much to be grateful for.

So enjoy getting creative and make your gratitude pumpkin today. I would love to see any examples of your work!

Samhain blessings, Alison 

How to make fragrant sparkly faerie dust to attract fairys to your garden.

Sparky Fairy Dust

Do you want to attract the faeries into your garden? The faeries love all things sparkly, they also like anything sweet so this is a perfect combination of sweet and sparkly! This is a very simple recipe that is guaranteed to bring the fairies into your home. The fae folk are always around us but sometimes they just need a little encouragement to draw them a little nearer.

This simple recipe is very easy to follow and children will enjoy making it with adult supervision.

Astarte Moon sparkly faerie dust.

Ingredients.

1 cup granulated sugar

Handful of and flower petals that you may have in your garden.

Hundreds and thousands, or other cake decorations of your choosing. I find those little silver balls are a big hit!

Lavender flowers.

First of all you need to go foraging for the petals that you are going to use. If you have flowers in your garden then that is great. Brightly coloured flowers are good to use but it’s not too important what variety you use. You can use dried petals if you have them. The lavender gives the fairie dust a lovely smell but again it is not essential. If you do not have a garden or do not have any flowers in bloom then take a walk down to your nearest park. Search out some lovely weeds that you can use, daisies and dandelions are good. Hedgerows are a good place to find wild flowers growing.

When you have found the flowers that you are going to use take your sugar and pour it into your mixing bowl. Next add your flower petals and lavender if you have any. Finally, add your hundreds and thousands or any variety of cake decorations that you choose. You may like to use a few different varieties; anything may be used as long as it is biodegradable. The more exciting and more sparkly, the more the fairies will love your faerie dust!

When you have finished making your fairy dust you can store it in a sealed container. Placed in a nice glass jar it will even make a lovely decoration. If you have used fresh flower petals then they will dry out over time but that is fine, the fairies will still think they are wonderful.

If you are ready to use the faerie dust straight away then it’s time to sprinkle some in your garden! Again this is an activity that children will love to do! Take your faerie dust and just take a minute to charge the dust with your intent. Hold your hands over the faerie dust and feel your energy going into the dust, focus on it attracting fairies into your life and the lives of the people around you. Next sprinkle the faerie dust where you would like the faeries to visit. You may already have a space in your garden dedicated to fairies, a faerie house maybe or a particular tree? If you don’t have a garden you could use a window box or sprinkle a little bit around a plant pot.

There are of course other ways that will attract fairies into your garden and thus enhance the power of the faerie dust. They love wind chimes and anything bright and shiny so you could try some brightly coloured plant pots or garden ornaments. Faeries and water sprites not surprisingly also adore water so if you have a pond in your garden that is wonderful. If not you might consider building a small water feature, the sight and sound of running water is very attractive to faeries. It is also and extremely relaxing thing to have in your garden and you will be amazed by how good it makes you feel. Meditating next to running water is extremely beneficial. If a water feature is out of the question then even something as small as a birdbath will suffice.

Flowers to plant in your garden to attract the faeries include: sunflowers, daisies, cosmos, rosemary, thyme, purple coneflower, pansies, and foxglove. Apple cherry and pear trees are firm favourites, as indeed are any tree or bush that bears fruit. Faeries also love wild flowers so if you can leave a patch of garden free for nature you will have a wonderful patch of nature for you and the fairies to enjoy. You will have the added bonus of having friends such as butterflies visit your garden more often too!

Faerie blessings to you, Alison 

Chinese Equinox Celebrations-Mooncake festival.

Chinese Equinox Celebrations-Mooncake festival.

In China, Taiwan and Vietnam the equinox/ Mabon is celebrated with the Moon festival also known as Mooncake festival or Zhongqui Festival. This festival honours Chang’e the lunar Goddess and it commemorates the only day in the year that she can visit her husband Houyi who lives on the sun. Because of this it is seen as a celebration of the balance of yin and yang. Traditions associated with the Mooncake festival include eating mooncakes(not surprisingly!) lighting lanterns, matchmaking, and Fire Dragon Dances. Farmers celebrate the end of the fall harvesting season on this date in the same way as we celebrate the harvest at Mabon.

Chinese people believe a full moon is a symbol of peace, prosperity, and family reunion. The festival is also therefore known as ‘ the day of re-union’. It has been compared to the Chinese equivalent of the American tradition of thanksgiving. At the Mooncake festival the moon is supposed to be the brightest and fullest.

Traditional mooncakes

I searched around for mooncake recipes for you but a lot of them were very complicated using ingredients that I think would be very hard to find like lotus paste so I have gone for these two. The first one is nice and easy and the children will enjoy making. The second is maybe a bit more challenging but will probably be a bit more authentic.

Enjoy making these and sharing with family and friends at Mabon. As you make them think of the energy of the bright Mabon moon being stirred into the mixture. You can then share that wonderful Mabon moon energy with family and friends at your Mabon feast. Blessings, Alison

Easy Mooncakes

Easy mooncakes

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup salted butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

 1 cup strawberry (or your favorite) jam (traditionally red bean paste is used so if you want a more authentic version, you can use a can of red bean paste instead of the jam).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine the butter, sugar and 1 egg yolk and stir.

Mix in the flour.

Form the dough into one large ball and wrap it in plastic wrap.

Refrigerate dough for half an hour.

Unwrap the chilled dough and form small balls in the palms of your hand.

Make a hole with your thumb  in the center of each mooncake and fill with about half a teaspoon of jam.

Brush each cake with the other beaten egg yolk and place on a cookie sheet.  (We didn't have a brush to do this, so skipped the brushing step)

Bake for about 20 minutes or just until the outside edges are slightly brown.

Recipe from http://www.dltk-holidays.com/china/easy_chinese_mooncakes.htm 

Sweet Potato Mooncakes

You will need a special mould to make these look like the ones in the picture but I'm sure you could just fashion them into simple rolls or triangle shapes with the filling in the middle, time to get creative!

ingredients:

filling

5 lbs sweet potatoes
1.5 stick butter, at room temperature
400 grams granulated sugar
1 tbsp freshly ground cinnamon
1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp kosher salt

dough

600 grams brown sugar
2 c water
130 grams oil
1850 grams ap flour
12 egg yolks
3 tbsp freshly grated ginger

directions:

sweet potato filling

1. roast sweet potatoes until they are tender and can be easily pierced
with knife.
2. peel and discard skins and mash potatoes.
3. mix together butter, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. add to
mashed sweet potatoes. let cool.

dough

1. combine brown sugar and water in a pot and cook over medium heat
until sugar dissolves. cool and transfer to standing mixer with whisk
attachment.
2. add oil and ginger, and egg yolks.
3. slowly add flour. At some point, the dough will be too stiff for the whisk
attachment. replace with a paddle attachment and continue to add the
rest of the flour.
4. transfer dough to a worktable, for rolling.

assembly

1. form filling into balls. the size will depend on the size of your
mooncake mold.
2. take a bit of dough and roll out until it forms a sheet about 1/8 inch
thick.
3. Enrobe the filling with the dough. pinch the seams to seal. Place on
silpat-lined baking sheets.

baking

1. pre-heat oven to 350.
2. spray mooncakes with some water, then apply an eggwash for a glossy
sheen afterwards
3. bake for 15 mins.
4. spray mooncakes again. Turn down oven to 300 and bake until crust is
golden.

Diep from Good Girl Dinette http://www.theravenouscouple.com/2012/09/banh-trung-thu-moon-cakes.html

20 Ways to celebrate Mabon/Autumn Equinox for all the family

Hold a Mabon feast. Invite family and friends round and enjoy food and drink that is in season at the moment. Bread made from wheat is traditional now compared to the cornbread at Lammas. Apples are ripening now along with blackberries, cranberries (original name crane-berries - named for the cranes in the marshes where cranberries grow), and fen-berries (the American cranberries English cousin) Apple juice, cider and blackberry wine are ideal drinks to accompany the feast. Squashes and pumpkins are of course ideal vegetables to have at this Mabon feast.

Practise a ‘cup of gratitude’. Fill a wine glass of chalice with a drink of your choosing. The drink is blessed and then passed around all the visitors at your gathering. As each person takes the cup they speak about what they are grateful for and then they take a small mouthful of the liquid or pour an amount into a smaller cup to drink, before passing on to the next person to give their blessing.

Follow the Chinese custom and make a mooncake to honour the lunar Goddess.  I shall be searching for a recipe for you to try!

Make Mabon hot apple cider.  Again recipe to follow! As detailed in my previous post apples are seen as sacred fruit.  Slice an apple in half and you will see the obvious sign of the pentacle, apples bring happiness and love.

Making a shaker from natual seeds and gourds at Mabon is a lovely activity that all the family can join in. Rattles or shakers are great at purifying a space and warding off negativity, they are also brilliant at raising energy. Children will love to help make the shaker and help decorate the outside with colourful ribbons.

Collect milkweed pods that you can use to attract the faeries and also save to use as a lovely Yule decoration.

Decorate your home with wheat sheaves and red and golden ribbons. Place seasonal fruits, squashes and pumpkins to add to your wonderful Mabon harvest display.

Leave an apple on the grave of an ancestor just as our ancestors did before us. Cut an

apple in half to show your children the pentacle inside. This is a reminder that all life is renewed in some way.

Bake cored apples filled with butter and cinnamon. This simple desert is a wonderful use of the sacred apple.

Go blackberry picking, this is a wonderful activity for all the family- just watch out for those thorns!

With the blackberries you have picked you can then have lots of fun making blackberry and apple crumble!

Make some homemade blackberry jam from those left over blackberries!

Make your own corn dolly or corn spirit.

Plant some winter bulbs, sending your hopes and intentions down into the bulbs that they may flower with all your hopes, dreams and happiness.

Spend some time in reflection and meditation. As the earth is slowing down and the fields lying in fallow so should you. Allow yourself a little down time now and then. Perhaps take a little time to look at your life and any changes that you would like to make in the future.

Collect autumn leaves and make a beautiful collage out of their gorgeous different shapes sizes and colours. Children will enjoy taking part in this activity so it can be a lovely family occasion.

Clear the garden and cut back any flowers and shrubs that need it. Give thanks to the nature spirits that are around.

Space clear your home. As this is a season for withdrawing and reflecting it is important that you let go of all that clutter in your home as well as your mind that you no longer need. So have a good clear out, your local charity shop will be very grateful! Cleanse your space with some white sage or frankinsence. You will be spending more time indoors now so it is important that your space feels clear and the energy flows.

Go for a walk in your local park and find some leaves to kick and jump up and down in! Remember how this used to make you feel so happy when you were a child and take yourself back to that happy carefree feeling. Children may like to join in this activity too and encourage you! Keep this joy in your heart whenever you may feel a little down in the shorter darker days of the winter.

Watch the sun going down on the eve of the equinox. Say goodbye to any birds who may soon be migrating and any animals that may soon be entering into hibernation. Wish them well and good luck that they survive the winter to return again in the spring.

Craft Activity for Lammas- Lughnasadh Bread

Lammas Lughnasadh Bread

Making Lammas bread is a very traditional way of marking this festival. I looked through quite a few recipes but liked this one as it seems nice and easy! It is from http://mothermoonsmessage.blogspot.co.uk/ 

 As you are making the bread, weave your intentions into the mixture and decide what you would wish for over the coming months. Imagine the power of the sun pouring down as you stir the mixture, your spoon mixing all your wonderful positive thoughts into the bread.

Ingredients:
1 cup cornmeal
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tarter
4 Tablespoons Butter
2 cups Buttermilk

Sift together the dry ingredients. Make a hole in the center of the dry mix and dice in the butter. Pour in the buttermilk. Mix together until a soft dough is achieved. Turn onto a floured board and knead gently until combined. Place on a floured bake sheet and score the top if desired. 

Bake at 425 for 30 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave in the oven for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.
Enjoy and thank Mother Nature for the bountiful food she provides for us.

You can plait the loaf which always looks nice, or make little individual ones with a hole in so you can tie ribbon around it and give to friends. Alternatively you could get really creative and make a loaf in the shape of a Goddess or mark a pentacle on the top of it. Whatever you do, enjoy the process and explore your creativity!

When you have made your bread why not invite friends and relatives round for a Lammas feast. Enjoy celebrating this wonderful time of year with friends and family and give thanks to our mother earth Gaia for this wonderful bounty that she has provided for us

Craft Activity. Making a Lammas wishing ribbon to weave your intentions and hopes.

Make a Lammas Lughnassad blessing ribbon and weave your wishes and intentions under the power of the sun.

A wonderful way to celebrate the day of Lammas is to make a Lammas or lughnassad ribbon. This is a lovely project that can be done on your own or with friends to celebrate Lammas the festival of the first harvest and the God Lugh and Goddess Ceres. If you are making this ribbon with friends you can choose to make one plait each or one between all of you.

First of all you need to find the ribbons that you wish to use. One of the ribbons needs to be something that you can write on. The sort of ribbon that you use for curling and wrapping up presents is ideal for this. Then you need either two other ribbons or pieces of wool or string. You may choose to find something from your garden to really make this Lammas ribbon a part of nature. You can use more than three strands of course in your plait- let your imagination run wild. Choose colours that appeal to you, they may be bright Lammas colours of red gold and yellow for example. I have included blue for my love of the moon and green for my love of nature and our mother earth Gaia.

If you don't have any curling ribbon you can use a long piece of strong paper in your plait, just be very careful when you plait it that the paper doesn't tear.

When you have found all the ribbons that you are going to use in your Lughnsadh ribbon it is time to write down your hopes and wishes. Write down all that you hope for in the year to come for you, your family and your friends. If you are able then sit outside whilst you are doing this under the warm glow and strength of the Lammas sun. Feel the wondrous vitality of the Sun God Lugh pour down into your ribbons along with the nurturing love of the Goddess Ceres. If it is close to midday then so much the better for the extra energy that you will feel. As you write each word, think carefully about what this truly means to you, and believe in the fact that this will be happening for you in the coming year. Trust that the universe will give you your Lammas wishes.

When you have written all your Lammas wishes out it is time to weave your hopes into your Lammas plait. Knot all your ribbons together at one end and then slowly begin to weave the ribbons, wool, cord,   branch stems, ivy, whatever materials you are using, all together to form your Lammas plait. If you are doing this as a joint activity, each hold one of the ribbons or cords and take it in turns to do the plaiting, this can become quite an exercise of co-ordination!

As you are doing so, notice the words you have written down, repeat them slowly in your head and ask the God Lugh and Goddess Ceres that these wishes be granted for you, your family, your friends and all your loved ones. When you come to the end of the plait tie a final knot. Give thanks to all the Gods, Goddess and nature spirits that have been present at your ritual. Be sure to thank our mother earth Gaia for all that she has provided for us this day of Lammas, offer up your gratitude for all that we have upon this earth.

Finally, If you are with friends give each other a big hug to round off this lovely activity. If you are on your own, give yourself a big hug. You are wonderful and blessed and may all your wishes come true.

Lammas blessings of strength, happiness,  and vitality to you, Alison

Lammas Craft Activity- Making your own Lughnasadh Candle

How to Make your own Lammas/Lughnasadh Candle *´¯`•.¸¸.  *

This is a fabulous candle to make and weave your intentions into. Children and adults alike will love this exercise which is a lot of fun although requires a bit of patience!

Take a long taper candle in a colour that you feel represents you, this might be your favourite colour for example. You may wish for the central candle to be a contrasting colour to the surrounding ones and thus choose a pure white candle.  With a bit of melted wax, stick the candle upright in the middle of an aluminum pie dish. Then, surround the candle with a tight circle of 4-6 more upright tapers. These candles should be in colours you think of when you think of the sun and summer – perhaps white, yellow, orange, red or green. You need quite thin taper candles for this to work easily.

Around noon when the sun is at it’s most powerful, take your candles outside. See the strength of the sun’s rays entering and warming the candles. As the wax warms and softens under the sun’s heat, gently and patiently, bend the candles, wrapping and weaving them around each other and the centre candle representing you and your hopes and dreams. If it’s really hot out and some of the wax is melting too fast, use a little water to cool it down a little bit.

Keep wrapping and bending and visualizing until, instead of 5-7 individual taper candles, you have something that looks like one big, twisty candle. Imagine this candle glowing all over with the sun’s energy, maintaining that wonderful strength within your candle. Visualise the power of the Sun God Lugh directing his strength into your candle.  You can be quite creative in how you wish to bend your candles. This is your Lammas candle creation, you can make it as twisted and funky looking as you like!

How to use your Lughnasadh Candle:
We all have days when we don’t feel as strong as other days. Maybe we’re coming down with a cold or maybe we have to stand up to someone who is intimidating. When you are having a day like this, it’s a good time to take out your Lughnasadh Candle and let it burn a bit. Sit with the candle and, as it burns, imagine the solar star power in it pouring into you until you are filled with the energy your candles. You can then gently blow out the candle until the next time you need it. Know that whenever you need a boost of that wonderful Sun God energy it is there when you need it.

Blessings of Lammas and the Sun God Lugh to you, Alison

Twenty Ways to Celebrate Lammas Lughnasadh on the Wheel of the Year

20 Ways to Celebrate Lammas Lughnasadh

Make Jams, Sauces or Wines from the local fruits that are available in your area at this time on the wheel of the year.

Make a corn dolly or grain mother.

Build a Lammas fire if you are able to in a safe place and invite friends and family around to enjoy spending time together around it’s warmth. Think about the waning sun as you watch the flames dance.

Let go of any bad habits and unwanted things from your life by writing them down and throwing the paper into the Lammas fire.

Visit a local Craft Faire or simply have an afternoon of crafting, by yourself or with friends just as medieval craftspeople celebrated the festival of Lammas.

Go to a Wine Tasting or host your own, remembering to thank our wonderful Mother Earth for providing us with the fruits to make the wine with.

Lammas is a perfect time to finish off projects began in the summer, particularly outdoor projects, for example clearing the weeds in your garden.

Hold your own “Tailltean Games” (the Irish contests in honor of Lugh or His foster-mother Tailte), by competing in athletic games, poetry reading, and any other contest that would be fun. This would be a fabulous family event or a wonderful way to get friends together at the time of Lammas.

Learn a little about some of the Gods and Goddesses that are honored this time of year and how you can emulate their strengths.

Make a Lammas loaf. You can shape it into any shape that you feel is significant to you for this time of year. You may like to try a Goddess shape or a wheat sheaf for example.  You could decorate it with red or orange ribbon when it is cooked.  When you have made your Lammas loaf invite friends or family round to share your creation.

Go for a long country walk and see what crops are growing and what fruits are ripening. In this day and age when food is mass produced and imported it is easy to loose touch of the seasonality of our food. If you are able to then go and visit a local farmer’s market where there will be locally produced crops.

Play a game such as rhibo (a Welsh game) which is traditionally played at Lammas. Three pairs of people face each other and hold hands. A person is then laid across the hands and tossed into the air much like how grain is winnowed

Make a bean necklace to celebrate the harvest.

Make a Lughnasadh candle. Or find a red or orange candle and light it every day for a week beginning on 31^st July. As you light it think of any negativity that you wish to release into the flame.

Gather meadowsweet, this herb is good for inner strength. It is also a mild sedative and pain killer. Traditionally garlands of meadowsweet were worn at Lammas celebrations.

The tree sacred to Lammas is the Hazel, ninth tree of the Celtic Ogham and linked to inner wisdom. Hazel will help you develop your intuition and assist in making your dreams become reality. Lammas is a perfect time to make a Hazel wand; choose the branch you are drawn to, remembering to ask the tree to give freely of it’s branch to you and thanking it for it’s generous gift. You can choose to leave the bark on or sand it down when the branch has dried out.

Bake fruit pies or crumbles from the fruit that is in season where you are locally. If you are able to then bake a few extra to distribute to friends and neighbours. Perhaps you know someone who is not able to bake themselves who would really appreciate such a wonderful Lammas/Lughnassad pie treat!

Use dried grasses, corn, flowers that are in bloom to make beautiful displays in your house.

Find your own local Lammas hill to climb and see what you can see from the  top of it.

Go for a picnic with some of the wonderful food that you have made and enjoy spending time in nature with the last few weeks of summer.

25 Ways to Celebrate Litha! How will you celebrate the summer solstice?

25 Ways to Celebrate the turning of the wheel to the Summer Solstice.

Watch the sun rise and set on this longest midsummer day.

Keep a candle burning all day as a lovely homage to the power of the sun.

Celebrate solar energy at Litha by decorating your home with yellow, gold, orange, and red.

Cherry Quartz Sun Catcher

Go outside into the countryside or your local park and enjoy being at one with our mother earth.

Make or buy pretty Sun-Catchers to hang in your windows to welcome the sun into your home at Litha.

Leave out milk and honey as an offering to the Fae folk

Make a list of everything you wish to manifest during the next six months

Practice candle or fire divination.

Make a sunny Litha decoration from dried oranges.

Deck your house with Birch, Fennel, St. John’s Wort, Orpin and White Lilies, traditionally popular at Litha.

Tie Vervain, Rosemary, and Hyssop with white thread and dip the tips into a bowl of spring water and sprinkle the water around the house to chase out negativity.

Have an outdoor breakfast picnic to welcome the summer Solstice.

Make a pledge to our Mother Earth, Gaia, for something that you will do to improve the environment and then begin carrying it out

Go bird watching. Take a guidebook, so you will know what you are looking at. The birds may bless you with a feather.

Paint images of the sun or make sun models from discarded packaging and hang them up around your home.

Wear gemstones in green or warm colours such as tigers eye or malachite.

Tigers Eye Pentacle Protection Earrings

Make solar water by leaving a bowl of springwater under the midday sun for a few hours and then use to drink or cleanse your crystals.

Lavender is abundant at this time of year, collect some, hang it upside down and then make into herb pillows for restful sleep.

Leave any crystals or items of jewellery you would like to imbue with the sun’s energy out in the sun for a few hours during the day of Litha.

When you get the opportunity at some point during the day of the summer solstice, stand with your feet firmly grounded and raise your arm and palms upwards towards the sun. Imagine the sun’s vital energy coursing through your body filling you with love and light.

Burn sun oils and incense such as Orange Essential Oil and Frankincense to welcome warmth and light into your home.

Build a fairy house with your children to welcome the fae folk into your garden.

Bring roses into your home, as this is the Goddess flower for this time of the year.

Make a garland out of garden flowers, or a daisy chain.

Tie a bunch of Fennel with red ribbons and hang over the door for long life and protection of the home.

However you spend this long midsummers day of Litha, alone or with friends or family, enjoy it and try and spend some time in Mother Nature. Sing and dance if you feel like it, do whatever comes naturally to you to celebrate summer and enjoy the day.

Litha blessings to you, Alison xx

Sources: 

Cassandra Eason:Pagan in the City: How to Live and Work by Natural Cycles in the Everyday World Glennie Kindred:Sacred Celebrations : A Sourcebook
http://www.astarte-moon.co.uk