SUMMER SOLSTICE

This cross-quarter festival celebrates the time of year when the sun is at the peak of its power and the longest day of the year occurs. While the civil calendar usually considers this event as marking the beginning of summer, Pagans often refer to this festival as "Midsummer," a term derived from the Norse cultures. We celebrate the growth of the crops that feed the people and the fertility that has followed a joyous Beltane. In some locales this is the time to sacrifice and ask the Kindreds for life-giving weather — good rains that nourish the earth instead of torrents that flood it and destroy property and lives, or drought that allows the soil to dry up and lets the crops wither. With this sort of beneficial weather, we can look forward to the bountiful harvests that we will begin celebrating at the next feast.

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