Summer Solstice Magic

Summer Solstice (also known as Litha or Midsummer) is the official start of summer and the longest day of the year. We’re especially grateful for this in Chicago! Because it’s an astronomical event, the day varies from year to year but it generally falls between June 20th and June 22nd in the Northern Hemisphere. This year, the Summer Solstice takes place on June 21st, 2026. 

The Summer Solstice has been celebrated for thousands of years with festivals, bonfires, rituals, and activities like crafting wildflower crowns, feasting on fresh, seasonal produce, and decorating seasonal altars. It’s a celebration of life, growth, transformation, fertility, and fire. 

The lighting of bonfires was believed to amplify the sun’s strength for the remainder of the crop season and ensure a healthy harvest. Bonfires were also closely associated with mystical beliefs and magic. Jumping over the flames on Midsummer’s Eve was thought to dispel demons and malevolent spirits.

Many Neolithic stone circles appear to have been built around the movement of the sun at solstices. The most famous, Stonehenge, aligns precisely with the rising sun on the Summer Solstice. As the sun’s first light hits directly in the center, each pillar lights up like a sunlit horseshoe. Can’t make it to Stonehenge this year? Us either unfortunately, but we can experience this magical event from afar! English Heritage’s YouTube channel will be livestreaming the Summer Solstice at sunrise and sunset for free.

Magic was thought to be very potent during the Summer Solstice, which makes it a perfect time for manifestation. It’s also a lovely time to do glamour and visibility magic because there’s more daylight than any other day of the year. Myths were told of the world turning upside down or the sun standing still at midsummer. It’s seen as a liminal time, or a thinning of the veil, allowing humans to commune with fairies and spirits.

Ideas for Celebrating the Summer Solstice

Craft a flower crown using wildflowers and fresh herbs to invite in the energy of the season

Have a sunrise picnic to greet the rising sun or a sunset picnic to thank it at dusk

Create a suncatcher to enjoy the sun’s rays throughout the season

Create a seasonal altar using yellow, gold, green or orange candles. Add seasonal fresh flowers and herbs like mugwort, chamomile or St. John’s wort for protection and to invoke the magic of the sun

Set summer intentions around themes of patience, nourishment, and trust

Light a bonfire (or even just a candle) to honor and reflect on the abundance of light and warmth of the sun

Connect to the land by taking a stroll in nature, bathe in the light and warmth of the sun, or take a barefoot walk in the morning dew

Make sun tea - use herbs associated with solar magic, visibility and glamour magic, abundance, or any other intentions you want to infuse into your tea

Symbols and associations for the Summer Solstice

Fiery colors: gold and yellow for the sun’s strength, joy and illumination. Red and orange for fire’s transformative energy.

Green: for fertility and growth

Sunflowers, daisies, and marigolds: solar symbols of joy, radiance and strength

St. John’s Wort: historically gathered at Midsummer for protection

Butterflies: symbols of transformation and ephemeral beauty

Bees: symbols of the sun, fertility and abundance

Fresh berries and stone fruits: symbols of summer’s sweetness

Honey and bread: symbols of nourishment and sacred sharing

Grilled seasonal vegetables: reminders of fire and feast

Damiana, catnip, angelica root, rose, licorice root: herbs for glamour and visibility magic

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However you choose to celebrate, may your summer solstice be filled with warmth and joy!