Litha is midsummer (the summer solstice) , the fullness of the year. This is the triumph of the light, the longest day of the year, but as with Yule, its opposite on the Wheel of the Year, this is also the night of its defeat, the night the light begins to fade. The dark begins to rise. The Oak King (the summer tree) battles the Holly King again and the Holly King wins. Litha is the festival of fullness and completion. The fields have been sown, the crops are growing well. It is not yet time for harvest, but all is ready for it. The Mother is pregnant with life. The celebration of Beltaine has borne fruit. This is also one of the nights when the faeries are about. Traditionally the faerie, the sidhe, leave their mounds and walk their paths. It is not good to encounter the fey, for they are not kind to mortals. A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Tam Lin, changeling stories all attest to the power of Midsummer and the power of the fey.
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