Litha Greetings Card by Karen Cater

£1.60

A beautiful Litha card by UK artist Karen Cater. Litha is celebrated on the Summer Solstice, 21 June.

Karen's work is immensely detailed and meticulously researched, and the cards include a wealth of information. Here is the text from the back of the Litha card:

The Summer Solstice is the time of the longest daylight when the Sun reaches the apex of its yearly cycle. This triumph of its power is also the start of its decline, as the year changes from waxing to waning. Characteristic summer flowers in the heat assume a deeper hue, and the migrating birds of Spring who have now had their young will sport and play till they depart before the Autumn Equinox.

Many megalithic monuments, stone circles are aligned to the Midsummer Sunrise.

At Stonehenge, the Sun rises in alignment with the avenue - this is the processional route of the Sun , which from time unknown Druids have celebrated as Alban Heruin - the Light of the Shore.

This card comes cellophane wrapped and has a bright blue envelope.

It measures 6" x 4" (15cm x 10.5cm).

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.