Editing Midsummer (section)

=== Neopagan ===
{{See also|Wheel of the Year}}

Many [[Modern paganism|neopagans]] celebrate midsummer. As forms of Neopaganism have widely different origins, observances can vary considerably despite the shared name. Some celebrate in a manner as close as possible to how they believe ancient pagans observed the summer solstice, while others observe the holiday with rituals culled from numerous other unrelated sources.

At the ancient monument of [[Stonehenge]], in the English county of Wiltshire, many people gather to observe the sunrise alignment with the stones on the summer solstice.

In [[Neo-druidism]], the term ''Alban Hefin'' is used for the summer solstice, as coined by the 18th century [[Wales|Welsh]] [[Romanticism|Romantic]] author and prolific literary forger [[Iolo Morganwg]].<ref name=":7">Owen, William (1832) ''A Dictionary of the Welsh Language: Explained in English; with Numerous Illustrations.''</ref>

Germanic neopagans call their summer solstice festival '''Litha''',<ref name="Cantrell2001">{{cite book |author=Gary Cantrell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=alD9apCD9bAC&pg=PA104 |title=Wiccan Beliefs & Practices: With Rituals for Solitaries & Covens |publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-56718-112-8 |pages=104}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{cite book |last=Polon |first=Linda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v5ibx_jlI5QC&pg=PT192 |title=The Whole Earth Holiday Book |publisher=Good Year Books |year=1983 |isbn=067316585X |page=192}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=June 2020}} which is part of the reconstructed [[Germanic calendar]] used by some [[Germanic Neopaganism|Germanic Neopagans]] and takes its name from [[Bede]]'s {{Lang|la|[[The Reckoning of Time|De temporum ratione]]}} that provides [[Old English|Anglo-Saxon]] names for the two months roughly corresponding to June and July as ''līða'',{{efn-ua|See [[Eth]]}} distinguished in [[An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary|Bosworth and Toller's dictionary]] as ''sē ǽrra líða'' ("the earlier Litha") and ''sē æftera līða'' ("the later Litha") with an [[Intercalation (timekeeping)|intercalary]] third month of ''līða'' on leap years or ''Triliði'' ("three-Litha" years).<ref name="Franklin2002">{{Cite web |title=Carla Nayland Article – Trilithi |url=http://www.carlanayland.org/essays/trilithi.htm |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=www.carlanayland.org}}</ref> In modern times, Litha is celebrated by neopagans who emphasize what they believe to be the [[Polytheistic reconstructionism|reconstruction]] of [[Anglo-Saxon polytheism|Anglo-Saxon]] [[Germanic paganism]].