Summer Solstice - Alban Hefin

The Light of the Shore....

As the wheel of the year turns once again we find ourselves at the mid-point through the year, where the spiral has expanded to it’s widest point, the light is at its fullest and here we celebrate the longest day, basking in the golden sun rays as it stands still for three days. We then slowly begin the journey back as we begin the descent, returning once again into the darkness. For now though we celebrate life in all its glory, abundance and full vitality.

At Mid-Summer, the sun hangs at its highest point in the sky, casting long golden light across the hills, rivers, and sacred stones of the land. In Celtic cosmology, this is one of the fire festivals, when the veil between worlds shimmers and the spirit of fire is most alive. The Earth herself stands in her ripest fullness, and the green world sings with bees, blossoms, and birdsong.
It is a moment of balance, a pause before we inhale again, the light has reached its peak, and from this point on, the sun (the masculine) will gradually hand over to the the moon and night (the feminine) as we begin the slow descent into the darker half of the year. The Solstice is a threshold, both a celebration of our outward expression and of life’s abundance, but also a whispered invitation to begin turning inward, to honour impermanence and change.
The Oak King, ruler of the waxing year, now meets his peak and surrenders his crown to the Holly King, who will preside over the waning light until Alban Arthan, Yule. These twin brothers or seasonal kings represent the eternal dance of growth and decline, expansion and contraction, the cyclical rhythm at the heart of all life.

Litha and the Summer Solstice: Tracing the Threads of Sun Worship
While many in modern spiritual circles refer to the Summer Solstice as Litha, this name does not arise from ancient Celtic traditions. Instead, it has roots in Anglo-Saxon lore and was later revived by modern Wiccan and neopagan practitioners as part of the Wheel of the Year.
The earliest written reference to “Litha” comes from the 8th-century monk Bede, who described the names of Anglo-Saxon months in his work De Temporum Ratione. He referred to Ærra Liða (Early Litha) and Æfterra Liða (Later Litha), marking the warm months of June and July. However, there is no evidence that "Litha" was ever a solstice festival in early European traditions, it was a seasonal marker, not a ritual celebration.
In contrast, the Celtic peoples marked the height of the sun with deep reverence, though their names and rites were shaped more by earth-honouring and seasonal rhythms than by a codified calendar.
In modern Druidic traditions, this solstice is often called Alban Hefin, the “Light of the Shore”, a poetic name that reflects the liminal space between land, sea, and sky, between light and the coming shadow.
Thus, while Litha may speak to modern expressions of seasonal celebration, it is Alban Hefin and the sun-blessed rites of the ancient Celts that more closely reflect the soul of the Summer Solstice in a Celtic context. This is a time of illumination, when the land brims with life and the sun pours its golden wisdom upon all things.
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At the Summer Solstice we honour the Goddess….

✧ Áine ✧
Goddess of Love, Sovereignty, and the Summer Sun
Áine (pronounced AWN-ya) is perhaps the most radiant goddess associated with the Summer Solstice. A solar deity, fairy queen, and sovereignty goddess of Munster in Irish tradition, she is deeply connected to midsummer, the sun, fertility, and abundance. On Midsummer’s Eve, it was said that Áine would walk among the people, and her sacred hill, Cnoc Áine in County Limerick, would blaze with fire and celebration.
Her energy is golden, sensual, life-giving. She governs love, passion, crops, and the health of the land, reminding us that sovereignty begins within. As a goddess of both light and fierce protection, Áine’s presence at the Solstice is a blessing of fullness and a caution to wield our power with love and integrity.

✧ Brigid ✧
Goddess of Flame, Fertility, and Creative Power
While Brigid is most often associated with Imbolc (early February), her essence, as a goddess of fire, the forge, and the hearth, is very much alive at the Solstice. The solar fire and sacred hearth mirror one another; one outward, one inward. Brigid’s triple gifts of poetry, healing, and smithcraft offer illumination at a time when creativity peaks and the light of inspiration is strong.
In a Solstice context, Brigid may be called to help channel the full light into acts of beauty, art, or healing, ensuring that our gifts bloom into service.

✧ Danu ✧
Great Mother of the Tuatha Dé Danann
As the ancestral mother of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the "People of the Goddess Danu”, she is the fertile source, the flowing river, the nourishing earth. Though her myths are veiled in mystery, Danu is often seen as the primordial goddess from whom all life flows. At Summer Solstice, when the land is at its most abundant, Danu’s essence whispers through the waters, fields, and sky, a reminder of the deep-rooted feminine that sustains all cycles of light and dark.

✧ Étaín ✧
Goddess of Transformation, Light, and Beauty
Étaín (Ay-deen), known for her radiant beauty and her mythic tale of love and rebirth, is sometimes associated with solar imagery. As one transformed through many lifetimes and elements, wind, water, butterfly, woman, she carries the energy of metamorphosis. Her presence at the Solstice invites us to fully inhabit our own luminous becoming, knowing that transformation is natural, sacred, and continual.

Which Goddess do you most resonate with at this time?
How can you honour her and thus yourself during this phase?

During the Solstice we are in full reverence to the sun and the energy of fire. Here are some suggestions for ways to celebrate Alban Hefin...

• Fire and Sun: Light a Sacred bonfire to honour the Sun’s power and call in blessings for the crops, the community, and the land.
• Fertility and Vitality: This is a time of passion, union, and the creative spark, both literal and symbolic. How can you light your inner fire?
• Standing Stones and Solar Alignment: Visit a sacred site like Stonehenge and Newgrange which are aligned to solstice light, marking the sun’s path as sacred.
• Herbs of the Solstice: St John’s Wort, mugwort, vervain, elderflower, are traditionally gathered on Solstice morning, believed to hold powerful protective and healing energy.
• Bees and Honey: The solstice coincides with the Celtic Honey Moon, a time to honour the sweetness of life and the sacred work of the bees.

✧ Solstice Blessings and Rituals

• Rise with the Sun: Greet the dawn barefoot on the earth, offering your breath and gratitude to the East.
• Gather Wild Herbs: With reverence and song, gather Solstice herbs for teas, bundles, or dream pillows.
• Light a Fire: Whether a candle or a bonfire, tend to flame as a symbol of your own inner light.
• Speak Your Blooming: Share aloud what is flourishing in your life, and what you are ready to honour as it begins to shift.

✧ Journaling Prompts for Alban Hefin - The Light of the Shore

1. What in me has come to full bloom?
   What aspect of myself is basking in the light of my own becoming?
2. What have I cultivated since the Winter Solstice?
   Trace the growth from seed to blossom, what has surprised you? What has stayed true?
3. What do I wish to celebrate and give thanks for?
   Name your blessings aloud, let them be witnessed by the sun, the land, and your heart.
4. What truth is the light revealing to me now?
   Are there parts of me I’ve kept in shadow? What is ready to be seen, acknowledged, embraced?
5. What do I feel myself preparing to release, even amidst abundance?
   What is quietly fading, no longer aligned, even in its ripeness?
6. What does balance mean to me at this moment in my life?
   Can I honour both the light and the shadow within?
7. What does the “shore” represent in my life right now?
   Where do I stand between what has been and what is to come?
8. If the sun could speak to me as an elder or guide, what might it say?
   Write a letter from the Sun to your present self.

✧ Embodying the Light” – A Solstice Somatic Practice
This practice is best done outside beneath the sun, or beside a window where sunlight can touch your skin. Let it be simple, slow, and sacred.

1. Arrive in the Body
Sit or stand comfortably. Let your spine gently lengthen as if kissed by the sun.
Close your eyes.
Bring your awareness inward.
Feel your breath as it moves through you, no need to change it. Simply notice.
Whisper inwardly:
“I arrive in this body, in this moment, on this Earth.”
Let your breath land like waves on the shore of your awareness.

2. Sun-Warmed Sensing
Now, bring your hands to your heart, then gently down your arms, over your belly, thighs, calves, feet, a loving tracing of your body’s edge.
As you do this, softly say:
“This is me, here, now, in my fullness.”
Feel the warmth of your hands, or the sun, seeping in.
If outside, let the sunlight rest on your skin. Imagine your cells opening to receive its golden wisdom.
Sense:
How does your body respond to being seen and touched by the light?

3. Root and Radiate
Bring your attention to your feet. Press them into the earth.
Breathe into the soles.
Feel your root, your belonging to the land beneath you.
Then, with each inhale, imagine drawing up warmth and energy from the earth.
With each exhale, imagine that energy spiraling up through your spine and radiating out through your chest, arms, and crown.
Let the rhythm continue for a few breaths.
Let yourself feel both grounded and luminous.

4. Circle of Light
Imagine standing in a circle of golden light, woven by the sun, the ancestors, the spirits of land and sea.
Let this light surround and hold you.
Breathe it in.
Whisper softly:

“I honour what is blooming in me.
I honour what is ready to be seen.
I honour the light within and without.”

When you’re ready, gently open your eyes.
Place one hand on your heart, one on your belly.

Ask:
“What does my body remember at the height of the sun’s journey?”

Take a moment to journal or simply rest in the glow.

“I stand in the full light of my becoming. I honour the gifts that are blooming and
​trust the cycle that carries me forward.”