Summer Solstice Greetings Card by Wendy Andrew

£2.65

The text on the back of the card reads "Mother of Water absorbs abd reflects the rays of the sun as it climbs to its zenith in the sky. She offers the chalice of discovery. A time of great power."

Litha, as the festival is also known, is celebrated on the Summer Solstice, 21 June.

The card is 150mm (6 inches) square. It's blank inside for you to write your own message.

Litha celebrates the height of the sun's power and the abundance of summer. Nature is alive, and fields and fruits are growing towards harvest, but the blessing is mixed, for once light reaches its zenith it can only decline.

Appropriate herbs are vervain, chamomile, honeysuckle, oak, lavender, fern, elder, wild thyme, daisies (which are named for the Sun - the "day's eye"). Offerings can be fruits and flowers of all kinds.

In the past, midsummer fires were lit for purification, protection and in the hope that the sun could be kept powerful for long enough to ensure a good harvest. People would leap over these fires in the belief that the crops would grow as high as they could jump. Drumming, dancing and singing were common, making this festival a noisy and social time. The full moon in June is known as the Honey Moon; following the lusty carryings-on at Beltane, June was a popular time for weddings, as you might imagine.

Here's an interesting aside - there's a British folk tradition associated with Litha that is now thought to be the origin of the Catherine Wheel. A wooden wheel, painted with tar, was taken to the top of a hill, set alight, and rolled down, to symbolise the declining sun.