Midsummer is coming. This year the summer solstice occurs on June 21, 2026 at 4:24 am EDT. Where will you be on the summer solstice this year, and what will you do? It is a time of celebration of the sun which has been praised for thousands of years. Stonehenge is one famous site where the rising Midsummer sun is observed. What can you do to celebrate Midsummer? You can do arts and crafts, light a fire, watch the sunrise, dance, sing, feast, and/or perform a ritual. Making representations of the sun is one way we celebrate it. Examples are circular decorations shaped like the sun made out of cut tin cans and painted yellow, sugar cookies shaped like sun with yellow lemony centers and sun wheels. The moon will be a waxing crescent on that day. Magic can be done that day, and you can do magick celebrating and encouraging abundance and growth. To learn more about Midsummer click HERE and HERE.
In this post I will teach you how to make your own sun wheel which you can hang or lean against something. You will need:
Four sticks which can be sticks gathered in nature or dowel rods about 10 – 15 inches long
Twine
Yarn
Raffia and/or ribbon
A pair of scissors.
Also you will need an herb used to burn to cleanse materials and purify space. If you gather sticks in nature find sticks that are as straight as possible. Putting the sticks in an oven set to 350 degrees for about 10 or 15 minutes will kill the bugs under the bark. If needed clip some of the sticks so that they are equal in length. I used thick yarn in the example. It fills in the space well in the weaving. Note that I used warm colors for my yarn, ribbon and raffia: yellow, orange and red to represent the sun. Use what you have. The sticks in my example are gathered from nature and are pine. The keywords describing the meanings of the pine as found in the Ogham are initiation, creation, cry and awe which are great considering this is in celebration of the sun. Consider identification of sticks and meanings behind them.
The first thing to do is to put two sticks together in the form of an equal armed cross and secure them with twine. Do the same with the other two sticks. Put both sets of sticks together to form an eight spoked wheel and secure with twine. Try to make the ends of the spokes equidistant from each other.
Now comes the fun part: weaving. You may want to weave to some solstice music. May I suggest an hour long musical piece or a compilation of 2 – 5 minute pieces. These are on YouTube and the compilation is most enjoyed with the ads turned off. For the hour long piece click HERE and for the compilation click HERE. The weaving took me about a couple of hours to complete. Start by tying a piece of yarn, ribbon or raffia to one of the spokes as close to the center of the wheel as you get and pass it over one spoke, under the next spoke, over, under and so on. There are an even number of spokes so you go over or under the same spoke each time you go around to it. So every now and then it is a good idea to switch things up and go under two spokes and keep weaving. After you have come to the end of your piece of yarn, ribbon or raffia, or when you feel it is time for change, tie off your your yarn, ribbon or raffia on to a spoke and make the switch. I have done only a pass or two with the raffia and ribbon, whereas I have done a number of passes with the yarn. As you weave, pay attention to the front and not the back of your sun wheel. The back is where you tie yarn, ribbon and raffia to spokes. If you want to hang your sun wheel, let a loop of yarn, ribbon or raffia hang from the back as you weave. As you get to the last few passes, wind the yarn around each spoke as you go from spoke to spoke. Then your sun wheel is finished. To learn more about creating a sun wheel click HERE.
To those of you in the Northern Hemisphere have a festive and sacred Midsummer! To Those of you in the Southern Hemisphere have a joyful and blessed Yule!
Auburn Greene
Suggested Investigation:
Chetallica. Litha/Midsummer Music Ritual Playlist, https://youtu.be/9X8VVoOYrBU?si=ia55TJTaq6ACyeXG. A compilation of songs for Midsummer.
Crow Women. “Suncycle.” Crow Magic, 10 years ago, https://youtu.be/f4THvLHvKhk?si=5tTQhKZus6pFZ9RU. A song for Midsummer.
Harmonies of the Wheel. Music for the Summer Solstice, https://youtu.be/TsCYihGsQZo?si=6jb0GDQvIeKonueZ. A musical piece for Midsummer.
Lightningstorm, Ariana. “High Summer.” KIVA, YouTube, 4years ago, https://youtu.be/a9JPmHAIINc?si=746ub-gQMNOjnyeC. Another song for Midsummer.
Wigington, Patti. “Celebrating Litha, the Summer Solstice.” Learn Religions, June 20, 2019, https://www.learnreligions.com/guide-to-celebrating-litha-2562231.
Willow. “DIY Summer Solstice Sun Wheel.” Flying the Hedge, June 7, 2018, https://www.flyingthehedge.com/2018/06/diy-summer-solstice-sun-wheel.html.
My Inner Wiccan 