Lita is translated from Anglo-Saxon as the « longest day of the year». Among the Celtic peoples of Britain, the very time of the Summer Solstice speaks of its past connection with the cult of the sun. That is why the basic rituals and rituals are similar to the same set of rituals of the winter solstice.
The Celts have many beliefs associated with both days about the supposedly especially powerful evil spirits on solstice night. Central to the celebration of these days are various forms of ritual lights.
Green — green branches, flowers, even trees play a big role in the rituals dedicated to these two dates; in some rituals of the winter and summer holidays there are motives for marriage and family well-being.
There was also a connection with the cult of the sun; the common custom among the Scots was to roll wheels wrapped in straw and lit from mountains or steep river cliffs. Sometimes they wondered: if the wheel burned all the time it rolled, then they believed that the harvest would be good.
According to the Celts, the fern also had a mysterious magical meaning during this period of full flowering of all nature: at midnight it seemed to bloom for a short moment. Daredevils went into the forest at midnight to see the fern flower and collect its seeds. Such campaigns were considered very dangerous, since this plant was vigilantly guarded by fairies and various evil spirits. Anyone who did manage to get the seeds could supposedly become invisible and watch the dances and games of fairies on this magical night.
Many family and marriage motifs, as well as fortune telling, are woven into the customs of celebrating the summer solstice. Both girls and boys wondered, often using various flowers and plants (most often St. John's wort), and sometimes some objects for this purpose. In Scotland that night, lovers took an oath of allegiance to each other, the violation of which was considered a crime. Such an oath was pronounced either near a megalith stone or near a revered spring and held together with a handshake.
Most of these summer solstice customs have already been lost, but even today, in many places in the British Isles, June is considered the most suitable month for marriage.