Midsummer Lore
-a reflection by Jack Green
Midsummer
is
known as many names throughout the world. It is called St. John's Day
(or Eve). It is called Litha by some. Druids have called it
Alban Hefin. Ancient Finns called it Ukon Juhla. It is Jaannipaev
in Estonia and Festa Junina in Brazil. It is an international
high day or holy day that has been incorporated into the Christian and
secular calendar in many countries. It is the day when the sun is
directly over the Tropic of Cancer. It is the longest day and the
shortest night for those in the northern hemisphere. It is the
opposite for those in the southern. It is the summer solstice,
when the sun seems to stand still, a midpoint between the rites of
Beltaine and Lughnassadh.
St. John the Baptist seems to have been forever linked with this high rite. It is one of two feast days in the Christian calendar that is centered on a birthday rather than a death day (with the other one being Christmas or the winter solstice). Why St. John was picked as the front man for this pagan holiday is far from certain. Many attribute a Pan-like quality to this saint of the wilderness who lived on honey and locusts.
Despite the name of a Christian saint, much of the festivities of Midsummer remain much like they were in ancient times. The building of bonfires is done throughout the western world. Where two bonfires were built for Beltaine for the leading of cattle between, there is one bonfire for Midsummer. The belief of many is that if you build a bonfire and nurtue it throughout the night, good luck and protection by the faeries will be given to you. Indeed, it is a time when the faerie folk are very close to our world. If you look through a hagstone (a standing stone with a hole in it) during Midsummer night, you will see the faerie realm. It is also said that if you touch your eyes with a fern seed at the stroke of midnight on Midsummer's Eve, you will enter the world of the faery.
The building of the bonfire is called the setting of the watch. Groups of people will then gather and parade from one bonfire to the other. These groups are called the marching watch. They will include people dressed in green and garland, followed by Morris dancers, followed by others dressed as dragons and unicorns and other mythical creatures. Finally they are followed by six individuals in Hobbyhorse costume. The marchers will often carry cressets which are large lanterns attached to a stick that will light the way for the revelers. Such marchers will keep their eyes open for a serpent who only on Midsummer Night will roll itself up and become a crystal serpent's egg also known as the Druid's egg. Folk legend says that even Merlin was in search for one of these.
Midsummer is a night that is propitious for not only building a bonfire but jumping over it. Couples that do so together will be blessed by love and happiness. Young maidens sleep with nine flowers under their pillow to get a vision of their future love. Even the Midsummer moon has a twinge of romance to it. It is called the honey moon from which we get the phrase for that romantic trip to the Poconos.
Modern Wiccans have at times called Midsummer, Litha. Many believe this is a modern creation so that each of the eight High Rites has a unique name. Some claim Litha comes from the writings of the Venerable Bede himself who called June by the name of Early Litha and July by the name of Late Litha. Midpoint between the two could simply be called Litha.
Many Neopagans also call Midsummer one of the Greater Sabbats (which include the two equinoxes and the two solstices). They also call it one of the Quarter Days (as opposed to the Cross Quarter Days of Beltaine, Samhain, Imbolc, and Lughnassadh). It seems that the Cross Quarter Days seem to come from Celtic culture, while the Quarter Days come from Norse and Germanic culture. I'm unsure if anyone in ancient times celebrated all eight high rites. Yet modern pagansim does seem to do so. And one can't complain. The more celebration, the better.
Midsummer or St. John's Eve was and is a big celebration in Nordic and Germanic countries. The Norse focused on four key holidays in ancient times. The equinoxes that were called Summer Finding and Winter Finding, and the solstices which were called Midsummer and Yule. It was a time that was sacred to both Baldur and Sunna. Baldur was the Fair God who was sacrificed to one day be resurrected at the end of the world. Sunna is the sun herself. Since summer was the time of the Thing in Nordic countries, it also was often sacred to Tyr and Foresti. For the lands of the north, Midsummer was truly the beginning of relative warmth and summertime.
In most Celtic, Norse, and Germanic countries St. John's Eve is still a very big event with bonfire, singing, dancing, and drinking. It is a big party. But it is a party that stems from an astronomical event that has been noticed and honored in religion for thousands of years. The ancients of Stonehenge, the Teotichuan Temple of the Sun in Mexico, the Stone Temple in Calllanish in the Outer Hebrides, and the Ring of Brodgar in Corkney are just a few of the sacred sites that were built to follow the path of the sun on the sacred summer solstice. It is pagan rite that has survived over the millennia, through Christianity, and beyond Christianity into the modern Neo-pagan Movement of today. It is the time when the sun, as personified in the god, is at his greatest strength, but also ready for decline, death, and eventual resurrection. It is a holy day shrouded in astronomy and myth, science and religion, mysticism and faith.
Notes in Word format
Bibliography of Resources:
http://www.hedgewytchery.com/midsummer_lore.html
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/7280/midsumr.html
http://www.starcraftsob.com/craft/lithalore.shtml
http://www.webcom.com/~lstead/RBHolidays.html
http://www.thetroth.org/ourfaith/rites.html
http://www.odinsvolk.ca/O.V.A.%20-%20SACRED%20CALENDER.htm#Midsummer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer
http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usma&c=holidays&id=3525
http://paganismwicca.suite101.com/article.cfm/pagan_midsummer_summer_solstice
http://druidry.org/obod/festivals/hefin.html
St. John the Baptist seems to have been forever linked with this high rite. It is one of two feast days in the Christian calendar that is centered on a birthday rather than a death day (with the other one being Christmas or the winter solstice). Why St. John was picked as the front man for this pagan holiday is far from certain. Many attribute a Pan-like quality to this saint of the wilderness who lived on honey and locusts.
Despite the name of a Christian saint, much of the festivities of Midsummer remain much like they were in ancient times. The building of bonfires is done throughout the western world. Where two bonfires were built for Beltaine for the leading of cattle between, there is one bonfire for Midsummer. The belief of many is that if you build a bonfire and nurtue it throughout the night, good luck and protection by the faeries will be given to you. Indeed, it is a time when the faerie folk are very close to our world. If you look through a hagstone (a standing stone with a hole in it) during Midsummer night, you will see the faerie realm. It is also said that if you touch your eyes with a fern seed at the stroke of midnight on Midsummer's Eve, you will enter the world of the faery.
The building of the bonfire is called the setting of the watch. Groups of people will then gather and parade from one bonfire to the other. These groups are called the marching watch. They will include people dressed in green and garland, followed by Morris dancers, followed by others dressed as dragons and unicorns and other mythical creatures. Finally they are followed by six individuals in Hobbyhorse costume. The marchers will often carry cressets which are large lanterns attached to a stick that will light the way for the revelers. Such marchers will keep their eyes open for a serpent who only on Midsummer Night will roll itself up and become a crystal serpent's egg also known as the Druid's egg. Folk legend says that even Merlin was in search for one of these.
Midsummer is a night that is propitious for not only building a bonfire but jumping over it. Couples that do so together will be blessed by love and happiness. Young maidens sleep with nine flowers under their pillow to get a vision of their future love. Even the Midsummer moon has a twinge of romance to it. It is called the honey moon from which we get the phrase for that romantic trip to the Poconos.
Modern Wiccans have at times called Midsummer, Litha. Many believe this is a modern creation so that each of the eight High Rites has a unique name. Some claim Litha comes from the writings of the Venerable Bede himself who called June by the name of Early Litha and July by the name of Late Litha. Midpoint between the two could simply be called Litha.
Many Neopagans also call Midsummer one of the Greater Sabbats (which include the two equinoxes and the two solstices). They also call it one of the Quarter Days (as opposed to the Cross Quarter Days of Beltaine, Samhain, Imbolc, and Lughnassadh). It seems that the Cross Quarter Days seem to come from Celtic culture, while the Quarter Days come from Norse and Germanic culture. I'm unsure if anyone in ancient times celebrated all eight high rites. Yet modern pagansim does seem to do so. And one can't complain. The more celebration, the better.
Midsummer or St. John's Eve was and is a big celebration in Nordic and Germanic countries. The Norse focused on four key holidays in ancient times. The equinoxes that were called Summer Finding and Winter Finding, and the solstices which were called Midsummer and Yule. It was a time that was sacred to both Baldur and Sunna. Baldur was the Fair God who was sacrificed to one day be resurrected at the end of the world. Sunna is the sun herself. Since summer was the time of the Thing in Nordic countries, it also was often sacred to Tyr and Foresti. For the lands of the north, Midsummer was truly the beginning of relative warmth and summertime.
In most Celtic, Norse, and Germanic countries St. John's Eve is still a very big event with bonfire, singing, dancing, and drinking. It is a big party. But it is a party that stems from an astronomical event that has been noticed and honored in religion for thousands of years. The ancients of Stonehenge, the Teotichuan Temple of the Sun in Mexico, the Stone Temple in Calllanish in the Outer Hebrides, and the Ring of Brodgar in Corkney are just a few of the sacred sites that were built to follow the path of the sun on the sacred summer solstice. It is pagan rite that has survived over the millennia, through Christianity, and beyond Christianity into the modern Neo-pagan Movement of today. It is the time when the sun, as personified in the god, is at his greatest strength, but also ready for decline, death, and eventual resurrection. It is a holy day shrouded in astronomy and myth, science and religion, mysticism and faith.
Notes in Word format
Bibliography of Resources:
http://www.hedgewytchery.com/midsummer_lore.html
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/7280/midsumr.html
http://www.starcraftsob.com/craft/lithalore.shtml
http://www.webcom.com/~lstead/RBHolidays.html
http://www.thetroth.org/ourfaith/rites.html
http://www.odinsvolk.ca/O.V.A.%20-%20SACRED%20CALENDER.htm#Midsummer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer
http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usma&c=holidays&id=3525
http://paganismwicca.suite101.com/article.cfm/pagan_midsummer_summer_solstice
http://druidry.org/obod/festivals/hefin.html