Solstice

For Midsummer Day, I started hunting around for plants and rituals associated with the solstice, and found a lot of information about chamomile, an herb which I’ve been looking into lately anyway (since it appears I will have a LOT).

From herbalremedies.com “Chamomile is one of the ‘Nine Sacred Herbs’ of the Lacnunga, an ancient Anglo-Saxon manuscript. The strong association Chamomile has with the Sun is an underlying indication of its modern usage. Through incense or ritual drink it is used to assist a priest’s call to the Sun God (those working with any of the solar deities). Some traditions have used Chamomile at Midsummer to give honor to the Father of Nature.

My herbalist friend "Om" says,

We use chamomile tea in the chalice and horn cup at our Summer Solstice rituals, especially at the height of the day when it is families with lots of kids. It also brews into a delightful wine. I have also added it to the vinaigrette to go on a feast salad, and put it in fire fruit salad (a mix of citrus fruits that are red, yellow and orange, along with cinnamon and cumin as the main spices). The leaves work well in incense this time of year, and as part of the bundle of herbs used for sweeping and/or asperging.

I harvested the flowers from one of my volunteers and hope to be able to harvest enough to have tea all the way through the winter this year. (Right now I have about 1 cup of dried flowers, with several months of bloom left to go, and 14 plants.)