Happy Solstice

how i went down the rabbit hole in search of the fae

Hello friend! My name is Amy. I am so happy you have stopped by ✨ If you are new here, a warm welcome to you! This space is where I meander through midlife, connecting to my true self through the seasonal shifts and simpler living, and seeking my inner wise woman. If you are also on this path and looking for someone to walk gently beside you, I see you and am here. Let’s color outside the lines together.

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“the Solstice was a time when ancient cultures celebrated the life-giving force of the sun. Bonfires were lit to honour solar deities, rituals were performed to protect crops and communities, and the veil between worlds was thought to thin, making it a potent moment for magic and manifestation. Today, honouring the Summer Solstice helps us reconnect to the cycles of the earth and the timeless symbols woven into the changing of the light.”¹

June 21st is the longest day of the year and the start of astronomical summer. Litha celebrates the abundance of nature and the life-giving power of the sun.

Last year, I discussed simple ways that you can create a ritual and get outside for the Solstice, check it out below✨

This year, I went down the rabbit hole chasing faeries✨

In Celtic lore, the Summer Solstice/Litha is one of the times on the Wheel of the year when the veil between our world and the realm of the faeries is at its thinnest.

So, what is a faerie?

“a mythical being of folklore and romance usually having magic powers and dwelling on earth in close relationship with humans. It can appear as a dwarf creature typically having green clothes and hair, living underground or in stone heaps, and characteristically exercising magic powers to benevolent ends; as a diminutive sprite commonly in the shape of a delicate, beautiful, ageless winged woman dressed in diaphanous white clothing, inhabiting fairyland, but making usually well-intentioned intervention in personal human affairs; or as a tiny, mischievous, and protective creature generally associated with a household hearth.” Britannica

In looking for the magical in literature, I found myself falling into an abyss of wonder for hours.

Alice in Wonderland, though not directly linked to Litha, uses imagery of stepping from the human realm to a world where magic and transformation rule, reflecting the warmth and wonder of the season. You could almost say that Alice’s falling down the rabbit hole was her stepping through the veil between worlds.

Shakespeare had no shortage of references to Fairies. The one most directly related to the Solstice would be A Midsummer Night’s Dream². This short play emphasizes the cunning of Oberon, the king of the faeries, playing a trick on Titania (the queen) with whom he is arguing, at the height of summer in the magical wood.

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As a very abridged summary: Oberon enlists his servant and trickster Puck (Robin Goodfellow) to put a potion in the sleeping eyes of Titania so that when she wakes, she will fall in love with the first thing she sees, no matter how awful it may be. To up the ante, Puck is also instructed to use the same spell on Demetrius (who will be dressed in Grecian robes) so that he may fall in love with Helena instead of his intended Hermia, who is in love with someone else (Lysander). Puck mistakes which man to give the potion to and doses Lysander, creating chaos for all the young lovers; much to Puck’s great enjoyment. The debacle continues until Oberon sees the error and has Puck reverse the enchantment.

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Oberon and Titania's disagreement threatens to disrupt the order of the seasons, so their reconciliation restores order to the world as it does for the young lovers who marvel in the dreams they had.

When I studied Theater Arts at Cal State Long Beach 30 years ago, I had an amazing diction teacher named Jan Gist. I was assigned to do the Queen Mab monologue from Romeo and Juliet and to utilize the whole range of my voice and whimsy while narrating it.

“O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore-finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep;
Her wagon-spokes made of long spiders' legs,
The cover of the wings of grasshoppers,
The traces of the smallest spider's web,
The collars of the moonshine's watery beams,
Her whip of cricket's bone, the lash of film,
Her wagoner a small grey-coated gnat,
Not so big as a round little worm
Prick'd from the lazy finger of a maid;
Her chariot is an empty hazel-nut
Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub,
Time out o' mind the fairies' coachmakers.
And in this state she gallops night by night
Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love;…..”

While researching this post, I looked deeper into who Queen Mab was. In English folklore, Mab predates Titania as the Queen of the Faeries, though other versions say that Mab and Titania are the same. Mab had power over dreams and the subconscious.

“..the Great Goddess: a grand and formidable deity. Perhaps she was a given in their world – a divine feminine manifestation aligned with the earth, the sea, dreams, moonlight, and magic. Like nature itself, she could not be contained or controlled. She could devastate, or she could bless. She inspired fear and awe.” Reference

Wishing you a magical Litha✨

Until next time,

1. Thorn and Claw

2. A Modern Perspective of A Midsummer Nights Dream