Hail Litha 2010 !

The Festival of Litha celebrates the Summer Solstice - the point at which the sun reaches its furthest south before returning north, thereby shortening the days and lengthening the nights. At the latitude of Cumbria, it scarcely gets dark on the night of the Solstice. This year I decided to observe the night's vigil at the ancient stone circle at Birkrigg Common, overlooking Morecambe Bay.

As I arrived at the stone circle at about 10.00pm on the eve of Litha, some pilgrims had already arrived. Placing our offerings in the centre of the circle (mine, wholemeal bread rolls and my Flask of Ferment) we beat our drums until midnight, when it became scarcely dark

Within a couple of hours, the sky became pink a few points to the east of north,
heralding the dawn of Litha

As the sun climbs above the range of hills to the east,
the ghostly stones of the circle become apparent in the foreground

The rising sun illuminates the circle. Who knows what ceremonies might have taken place here when it was built some 4000 years ago?


Daybreak on Litha - some stones of the Druids' Circle at Birkrigg Common

You can see more pictures of Birkrigg Common and the stone circle here

A Happy Litha to all my readers!

See how I celebrated Litha in 2006 and 2007