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The summer solstice is the time when the sun is in its glory. This is the longest day of the year and the shortest night.
The date of the summer solstice varies slightly from year to year. This year it falls on June 21st. Summer solstice customs
are also associated with a fixed date: June 24 the Midsummer’s Day. June 23rd is Midsummer’s Eve.
As the name “Midsummer” indicates, this is considered the height of the summer. Yet there is an undertone of darkness
in the light. While we celebrate the power of the sun, we also note its decline. From now on the hours of sunlight will decrease.
The Fire and the Sun
The great solar festival of the year is celebrated from North Africa to Scandinavia with fire. This is a traditional time
for a bonfire which is lit as the sun sets. People dance around the fire clockwise and carry lit torches. In some places,
they set fire to wheels of hay which are rolled downhill.
Flowers and May Day wreaths are tossed into the fire. They burn and die just as the heat of the summer consumes the spring
and brings us closer to the decline of autumn and the death of vegetation in winter. As we begin the decline, it’s important
to remember that the wheel of the year is a circle. The spring will come again. The sun will triumph over the darkness again.
Thus, the circle is an important symbol. Wreaths are hung on doors. People gaze at the fire through wreaths and wear necklaces
of golden flowers.
Before the calendar was changed in the 18th century, Midsummer fell on 4th of July. When you celebrate Fourth of July, think
of all those brilliant fireworks and blazing Catherine wheels as devotions in honor of the sun.
St John and Honeymoons
Midsummer’s Eve is also called St John’s Eve. The official version says that St John was assigned this feast because
he was born six months before Christ (who gets the other great solar festival, the winter solstice). Actually it may have
more to do with the story of St John losing his head to Salome. In ancient times, a ritual sacrifice was made to the goddess
of midsummer.
Other midsummer symbols also accumulate around St John. He's the patron of shepherds and beekeepers. This is a time to acknowledge
those wild things which man culls but cannot tame, like the sheep and bees. The full moon which occurs in June is sometimes
called the Mead Moon. The hives are full of honey. In ancient times, the honey was fermented and made into mead. According
to Pauline Campanelli in The Wheel of the Year, this is the derivation of honeymoon.
This is a traditional time for honoring water, perhaps because it plays such a vital role in maintaining life while the sun
is blazing overhead. Several of the goddesses worshipped at midsummer — Matuta, Anahita and Kupala — are associated
with moisture and dampness. St John baptized with water while Christ baptizes with fire and the Holy Spirit. In Mexico, St
John presides over all waters. People dress wells and fountains with flowers, candles and paper festoons. They go out and
bathe at midnight in the nearest body of water. In the city, they celebrate at the bathhouse or pool with diving and swimming
contests.
Herbs and Lovers
Midsummer Eve is also known as Herb Evening. This is the most potent night (and midnight the most potent time) for gathering
magical herbs, particularly St John’s wort, vervain, mugwort, mistletoe, ivy and fern seed. In some legends, a special
plant, which is guarded by demons, flowers only on this one night a year. Successfully picking it gives one magical powers,
like being able to understand the language of the trees.
This is also a time for lovers. An old Swedish proverb says “Midsummer Night is not long but it sets many cradles rocking.”
According to Dorothy Gladys Spicer in The Book of Festivals, Irish girls drop melted lead into water and interpret the shapes
it makes. In Spain, girls do the same with eggs. In Poland, they combine three of the symbols of the holiday for a divination.
Girls make a wreath of wild flowers, put a candle in the middle, set it adrift on the river and tell the future by observing
its fate.
Celebrating
This is a great festival to celebrate outdoors. Go camping. Go out into the woods or up into the mountains or down to the
beach. Find some place where you can build a bonfire and light it when the sun sets. Bring along plenty of flowers (especially
roses or yellow flowers like calendulas, St John’s wort, or marigolds). Fashion them into wreaths, wear them as you
dance around the fire and throw them into the fire at the end of the night. Bring along sparklers too (but use them carefully).
Indoors, use whatever symbols represent light and warmth to you: golden discs, sunflowers, shiny metal trays, chili pepper
lights.
Gather magical and healing herbs at night on June 23. Hang St John’s wort over your doors and windows for protection;
toss some on the fire as well. Harvest your garden herbs now so they will be extra potent.
To acknowledge the gift of water in your everyday life, decorate the faucets in your house. Z Budapest in The Grandmother
of Time suggests walking to the nearest body of water, making a wish and then throwing in a rose you have kissed to carry
your wish home. She provides the following wishing poem:
Yes, you are here in the soft buzzing grass.
Yes, you are listening among the flowering gardens.
Yes, you are shining from the most royal blue sky.
Yes, you are granting me what I wish tonight.
Grant me a healthy life rich with high purpose,
A true partner to share my joys and my tears,
Wisdom to hear your voice giving me guidance,
Wealth to give to others as you have given to me.
Honoring Your Strength
The sun is associated with will, vitality, accomplishment, victory and fame. As you throw your flowers into the fire, acknowledge
your accomplishments. Write about these at length in your journal, perhaps while sipping a cup of tea sweetened with honey,
or gather your friends in a circle and go around several times with each person boasting about their strengths. Assign a different
topic for each round, for instance, aspirations, courage, achievement, competence. Toast each other (with mead, if you can
find it). This is your night to shine.
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