If Winter's cloak is woven from shadows and night, then Midsummer's is adorned with fire, ferns, and rainbow-colored lace. Also known as Litha, the Summer Solstice arrives when the sun reaches its zenith and enters the constellation of Cancer (around June 21st in the Northern Hemisphere). Traditionally, June is a busy month for land tenders and lovers, but the Summer Solstice invites people to pause.
Our ancestors believed that during the Summer Solstice, the sun stood still. And when time stands still, pleasure rises to the surface of our sun-kissed skin.
Perhaps this is the reason summer is the most popular season for weddings. In days past, people planned handfastings for Midsummer nights. While newlyweds made vows, the bees courted the flowers, and the gardeners romanced the earth. Even today, summer is a season of romance.
This week, held by your summer intentions, join us as we summon all that is growing. We’re decorating our altar with symbols of joy, increase, and creativity. We're bidding farewell to our faded springtime frocks and opting for a blooming, red robe. Together, we wave 'hello' to Apollo, the golden god in his equally radiant chariot. With his daytime journey on hiatus, Apollo reaches down to straighten our collar and motions to the hem framing our face. For the first time, we notice stories in the stitching, shimmering and impossibly intricate. Apollo beams.
“Fingerprints left by the goddess Iris,” he says. “She's waiting for you in the garden.”
Iris: The Goddess of Rainbows
The gardens of Iris are not like Aphrodite's. There are no roses or thorns, and instead, rows of delicate blooms line our path. Iris's flowers appear both wilted and reaching, their petals stained in every shade of red, pink, purple, yellow, orange, white, blue, and black.
According to Floriography, Irises bloom according to our valor, wisdom, and faith. Planting them around your home is a spell for hope, much like spotting a rainbow amidst stormy skies.
Like our god of the sun, Apollo, Iris and her flowers are harbingers of summer. In Greek mythology, Iris is a goddess of rainbows and the daughter of the sea spirit Thaumas and the Oceanid Electra. Iris was born with salt in her veins and lives near the water's edge, often hiding behind a veil of misty clouds. Similar to Hermes, Iris is a psychopomp. Her portal between worlds is a rainbow bridge, but unlike Hermes, Iris is no trickster. She is a spirit of justice, loyal to Hera, serving as the queen's attendant and messenger. In many stories, Iris is the voice that delivers Hera's spells.
“Soaring to heaven on balanced wings [Iris] blazed a rainbow trail beneath the clouds as she flew…Iris, glory of the sky, cloud-borne.”
Virgil, Aeneid
The poets tell us that Iris is a winged woman who wears colorful gowns. Sometimes, she appears in a multi-colored robe, casting rainbows from her pockets. Other times, she arrives in a short tunic and carrying a caduceus, the staff of the messenger. In place of the caduceus, Iris carries a pitcher.
When parties are hosted atop Mt. Olympus, Iris serves nectar to the gods from this vessel. If it hasn't rained in weeks, the goddess (who was nicknamed “Storm-Footed") might summon summer showers to soften the earth.
Although Iris was loyal to Hera, she also did Zeus's bidding. In one mythical tale, Zeus commanded Iris to collect water from the River Styx. When she returned with her pitcher full, Zeus told his fellow Olympians to swear an oath of loyalty upon this sacred water. Then, he commanded them to drink it. If the gods were honest with Zeus about their intentions, they'd be blessed. However, the liars would be punished, their dishonesty rendering them voiceless or unconscious for an entire year. In this story, Iris is a herald of truth. She gives voice to the soul, so long as it's sincere.
At the Summer Solstice, when the sun stands still, Iris invites us to take inventory of our truths, don her fiery robe, and drink from her waters. During Litha, Iris urges us to give a name to this season, a season she shares with Apollo and the bees. Like other sea-born goddesses, Iris responds to our desire to wander and to wonder. She is not one-dimensional, but a prism of colorful possibilities. Iris lives in the essential in-between, romancing us with wild hope, knowing that justice always blooms in her rainbow gardens.
“These seasons were like important and holy visitors and each sent its harbingers, pine cones open, pine cones closed, the smell of leaf rot, the smell of rain coming, crackling hair, lank hair, bushy hair, doors loose, doors tight, doors that won’t shut at all, windowpanes covered with ice — windowpanes covered with wet petals, windowpanes covered with yellow pollen, windowpanes covered with sap gum. And our own skin had its cycles too: parched, sweaty, sunburned, soft.”
Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run With the Wolves
Litha Blessings, Witches!
Thanks for reading The Gardens of Iris: Litha Magick. Pointy Hat Press is a place for fairy tales and folklore, reimagined. Follow us on Substack and Instagram, sign up for our Moon Letters, and consider adding our original fairy tales to your library. You can also find us telling stories and talking about our latest creative quests on the Pointy Hat Press podcast.
A beautiful piece! I somehow have not learned about Iris yet and I am enchanted by this rainbow robed messenger! Last year Iris came to me as my plant ally and this year she comes to me as a goddess! Further deepening my relationship! In love, thank you 🌈💜
My magical garden will be filled with friends, music and sprinkled with stardust on Midsommer Eve.