Summer Solstice 2014: High Priestess in Training Explains How Pagans Celebrate Litha

Litha is the official Pagan name for the Summer Solstice celebrated on 21June and is one of the eight festivals Pagans celebrate throughout the year.

However, different Pagans mark the event in different ways. "First you have Wiccans, who are the modern witches. They started practising after 1950, when the ban on witchcraft was officially lifted," Aleemah Yasmin, an Alexandrian Wiccan who is currently training to become a High Priestess in the Gardnerian tradition, told IBTimes UK.

"Wiccans celebrate Litha together with high priests and priestesses in someone's house. They meet in the evening and they perform a ritual. They have cauldrons filled with water and flowers on the floor.

"There is no particular food prepared to celebrate Litha. Pagans usually have cakes and wine for every festival."

While witches have house parties, Druids tend to take the party outdoors.

"Druids – who originate from the Celtic culture - belong to an order of over 17000 members around the world," Yasmin continued.

"Druids celebrate Litha outdoor. They usually meet together in a park or someone's garden. Here in England the main place is Stonehenge, where Druids perform a ceremony when the sun rises. In London there is a ceremony in Primrose Hill at about lunchtime on Sunday.

"There is also a Pagan Pride Parade which will take place in Red Lion Square in London on Sunday: It is like a street festival where people dress up as witches, gods and goddesses, fairies and angels.

"The parade is celebrated by the Pagan community regardless of the group they belong to."

A few Pagans like celebrating Litha alone, according to Yasmin.

She added that only members of the Pagan community can attend such celebrations. One of the reasons is that Pagans use particular words during ceremonies which people alien to the community would not understand.

"If we had visitors, we would have to change the words we use," Yasmin said. "You have to actually officially join up and be initiated [to attend the ceremonies]," she adds.

"Before initiation, people go to the places were Pagans meet, have classes about history of witchcraft, magic and about the eight festivals and ceremonies.

"The training prior to the initiation lasts one year and one day."