Yule to Litha

My town unveils a terrifying ancient solstice ritual on the year's longest day and an equally horrifying spectacle on the year's shortest day. These two rituals never fail to intrigue and enthrall all who witness them, sans one.

Interestingly, my town, Litha, was named after the Pagan festival that commences on the eve of the Summer Solstice. This festival, celebrated by the entire town, is a testament to our deep-rooted connection with the power of the sun god.

Our traditions were taken from many cultures. I was told that our elders chose many years ago to celebrate the struggle between light and dark, where the Oak King and the Holly King battle for control. They pretty much left all other traditions to speculation rather than ritual.

Our customs are not just unique but exclusive to our tiny hilltop village. As an outsider, you may not be familiar with them. Let me explain. The Oak King symbolizes daylight, while the Holly King represents the night. From the Winter Solstice (Yule) to Litha (Eve of the Summer Solstice and the proud name of our town), The Oak King rules as the days get increasingly longer. But with the Summer Solstice, the Holly King emerges victorious. The days will then grow shorter with the passing of time until the Yule when the Oak King will rule again, and the days will again get progressively longer.

Our village is isolated from the ways of the outside world. We maintain a population of 365 souls, reflecting the number of days on the calendar. This number has never varied, even during what you outsiders call Leap Year. You may wonder how. It's a closely held secret, as no one has even considered leaving our village until now. I, however, am not content with this life and am currently planning my escape, a daring act of courage in our tightly controlled society.

My escape plan was not easy. I had been named Oak King, a position of great honor. Yet, my determination to break free from this life far outweighs the love of anyone or anything Litha has to offer. I am resolute in my decision to leave this village behind.

Every year, two children are allowed to be conceived. Or I should say are allowed to be carried to term. One female and one male. If other children are conceived, it is to be reported to the town elders, and the pregnancies are terminated immediately. You may ask me how we keep the town at exactly 365. You, my dear reader, are intelligent. Therefore, I am sure you have deduced that two older souls must die for two tiny souls to live. They cannot simply leave the village. They must be sacrificed in either our Litha or our Yule Celebrations, ending their rule as King for that season.

It is considered an honor, but I will never understand how being tied to a giant wheel that is set aflame and rolled down the hill into Lake Mabon is an honor. That leads us to my story and why I wish to be a man without a village or home.

First, let me explain that as children of Litha, we are taught from a very early age the importance of the Village and its traditions. All traditions stem from Litha, the name of our village, and one of our eight sabbats during the year. You may be familiar as these are commonplace in Paganism, but I will name them just the same: Yule, Ostara, Litha, and Mabon are the lesser sabbats, but not in our village, as Litha and Yule take precedence over them all. These are more commonly known as solstices and equinoxes.

Then there are Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas, and Samhain, the greater sabbats, and they mark the midpoint in each season. We learn about them all in school, but it does not appear they hold that much weight in our village as Litha and Yule rule supreme. Each sabbat has its own spells and rituals related to it. We would celebrate about every six weeks if we held close to tradition. Instead, we acknowledge them and move on without much fanfare. A very bastardized version of Paganism.

The Oak King and the Holly King are elected by birth date. All villagers over the age of 50 take part. Every male of that age or older has his birth date written on a holy slip and entered into a small barrel designed to spin, and when it stops, one slip will fall from the drum. I have yet to discover how this works exactly, but at every Yule and Litha celebration, only one slip falls. This year, the date was August 15th, my birthdate.

As my birthdate and name were read aloud and I was brought before the villagers, there was great applause and congratulations. Congratulations, for what? The time between Yule and Litha, approximately 180 days, will be my last days on this earth. I also recently witnessed the 'beautiful flaming sacrifice' of a friend who was crowned Holly King just this past year. The idiot actually looked happy as they set the wheel aflame and sent him from our hilltop village to Lake Mabon and to his watery grave, which I am sure was a relief from the fire that was consuming him.

I knew what lay ahead as the days grew longer. I would be celebrated, something akin to being worshipped as the Oak King. There would be nothing that I requested that I would not receive. I would not be required to work in the fields or perform any work as all my needs would be met by the villagers. Single and married women alike would offer themselves to me. If I were to bed a married woman, she and her husband would actually consider it an honor. If I were to take the virginity of someone's daughter, it would raise her esteem among her peers. It was all just too much. Was it worth it? Especially knowing the fate I was headed for in less than a year. So, as soon as I stepped on the stage and was crowned, I started planning my escape.

There was a time I would have accepted this crowning as the honor it was meant to be. But that was before my recent discovery. I accidentally encountered it while repairing a loose board on the wall of my home. The book, which I have kept carefully hidden, described the outside world's ways. The book told of the rituals surrounding Yule and Litha in a way I had never experienced. I had to question how the beautiful rituals described in my recent discovery as inner power and brightness and where the Yule and Litha are welcomed with meditation and even love rituals could have become so distorted in my little village. Was it out of necessity to control the population since there were limited resources due to our isolation? Or was it that men in power distorted the old ways to serve themselves better through the years?

I was happy in the village, although the two rituals began to seem barbaric to me the more I explored true Paganism. But I was sure up until the day my birthdate was called that I would never be crowned. Now my day had come. But I had time to plan my escape. What was wrong with enjoying a little round of hero worship as the Oak King? I had a while before the days would start getting longer again, didn’t I? I had plenty of time. So let me enjoy the debauchery of it all, if only for a little while, then I will…

As I am being tied to the wheel, I think back to my days of excess, the dreams of escape, and curse myself for getting caught up in the abundance of wealth, sex, and power that I was offered. I now must pay for all I received and voluntarily give the ultimate price, if for nothing else, for my child's life who will enter this world today.