Exercising Their Rites

Standing barefoot underneath a leafy tree on fire with the setting June sun, nearly two dozen witches quietly prepare themselves to celebrate the longest day of the year, the summer solstice, or to these Wiccan faithful, Litha.

For this evening's Sabbat, one of eight religious rituals held on Wicca's sacred days, the worshippers are dressed in everything from their solstice best - flowing robes of varying colors - to the more casual jeans, T-shirts and wraparound skirts.

"We come into the light half of the year, the hope of a new day and a new sunrise. We take all the negative things of the past and put it behind us," says Loye Pourner, the lay leader of this Wiccan circle based at Travis Air Force Base, addressing the group on Litha's significance. "The sun's up. We're alive. We're together. It doesn't get much better than this." Full Story

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