Litha 2026 - The Children of the Sun

Throughout the ages

Of Iron, Bronze, and Stone

We marveled at the night sky

And what may lie beyond.

We burned offerings

To the Elemental Ones,

Made sacrifices

For beauty, peace, and love.

We are the children of the sun.

Children Of The Sun

Dead Can Dance, 2012

From the mountains of South America, to the steppes of central Asia, to the islands of the Pacific, to the forests of Africa, to the plains of North America. In every place in the world where humans have ever settled or dwelled, one of the few commonalities in our cultural history is reverence of the Sun.

This worship, perhaps predictably, largely arose in line with one distinctive early-civilization invention:

Agriculture.

Ten thousand years before the discovery of photosynthesis, early groups of humans looking for ways to live in (relative) peace and abundance realized that the crops they depend on, themselves depend on the light of the Sun in order to grow. Thus the Sun became the symbol or even the visible divine entity who endowed us with life itself. Your ancestors worshipped the Sun.

Litha is the festival of the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, when the Sun holds its longest court. It is therefore fitting to wonder - how shall we engage with this ancient force of inspiration and life?

The "Pride" part of our name isn't just there to honor our leonine High Priestess... but it's part of it. And it's no coincidence that lions and the sun are often associated together. That goes to say... we feel qualified to answer the question.

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The Sun has never, not once, not ever, told anybody to be ashamed.

Maybe let that sink in. Think of a child's joy on a summer day. Try to imagine any human being less encumbered by shame, less aware of even its possibility. See, in your mind's eye, the vision of pure delight in one's own existence. If you are capable, imagine feeling that delight in your own existence. And if you are not, if you carry a burden of shame inside yourself for any reason, perhaps ask yourself - when was the last time the sun refused to shine on you?

Pride is not vanity. We do not celebrate vanity. Vanity is nothing more than shame in pretty clothes. We celebrate Pride. We celebrate the inherent Knowing that we, like everything else, are living manifestations of the Divine. That our right to be and express who we are is equally inherent. And our commitment is to honor that right for all.

Therefore this is a very good way to be in the world during this time of year: Be visible. Be seen. Be bright as the Sun itself with every part of your light. Lift your chin ever so slightly. Straighten your back and walk a little taller. No need to be unkind - but take up a little more space, if you want it. Risk an argument. Sing. See your birthright, your life and time, inherited from ten thousand years of those doing that very thing. With all your being, shine forth the light that is you. After all...

You are a child of the Sun.