Midsummer

We celebrated Midsummer late this year, we are all very busy people with major life events happening in this space-time. We bottled the mead we started last year at Midsummer, had lunch, made herb garlands, had a very simple and short ritual, made s'mores and in general enjoyed the day and each other.

I'm adding to my "It doesn't have to hurt to be meaningful."  It also doesn't have to be dramatic to be meaningful.

Many Midsummer rituals that I have attended were large, staged affairs with lots of drama. And those honor the gods too. But they are not the only path to honor.

What do the gods want most from us? It is a question any practitioner asks themselves, especially when things are going south or sideways or aren't going at all.

Do the gods want big, loud rituals that shout out our love for them into the universe? Or do they just want to be acknowledged, remembered, thanked for all the bounty they enable us to reach for?

I prefer to believe that honoring the gods every day in little ways is just as effective and loving as honoring them on holy days in a big way. 

This Midsummer, I got to catch up with people I don't see nearly enough. I got to hold the new baby in the group, discuss an upcoming wedding, commiserate over a recent car accident. I got to talk about all the things a priestess and a teacher would like to know about their colleagues, their kith, their friends. It was simple. It was serene. It was community building. I love these people.

This Midsummer, I got to honor my deities of choice, the wights of the space, and Sunna, for whom we had gathered. It was simple. It was not dramatic. But the gods were pleased. And that's the important part

Of course, your mileage will most certainly vary.