I am a solitary, ecletic neopagan witch. The information I share with you here is gathered and distilled from books, articles, other webpages, other Pagans, other witches, meditations, visionary journeys, and listening to my inner voice. I am not a...
Also called; Alban Heflin, Alben Heruin, All-couples day, Feast of St. John the Baptist, Feill-Sheathain, Gathering Day, Johannistag, Litha, Midsummer, Sonnwend, Thing-Tide, Vestalia
June 21st (Northern Hemisphere)
Midsummers Day has been and in many places still is celebrated much as it has been since before recorded history. This is a time of joy and plenty. This is the longest day of the year, the Sun is at its peak of fullest power. It is a time to celebrate power, strength and abundance. Yet even as we crown the Oak King with the fullness of the year, we begin to think about the waning of the year, days growing shorter. And so, the the wheel turns.
Many celebrate this holiday with a great bonfire, making offerings of the fruit and tree twigs of summer. It is traditional for the athletic to make high leaps over the fire.The belief is that the crops will grow as high as the dancers can jump, so it became a ritual competition for the good of the community. Athletic competitions, serious and less so, are still a part of many summer celebrations.
Bonfires are not very practical where we live. Many "city" Pagans get around this by holding their celebration and ritual around a candle, or group of candles, inside a home. I cannot resist the urge to get outside, however. And so we celebrate by packing fresh fruit and wine, sketchbook and laptop and books, and spending the day by the river, enjoying the sun and water, wildlife with their young and wildflowers that are madly in bloom by then. The feast traditionally contains apples and fresh fruits, and cheese wheels to symbolize the sun.
June is a traditional month for weddings, as well. I have discovered two different theories for this. The first is that as the Goddess and the God wed in May (at Beltane) it was thought to be rude to compete with them with a wedding. The second, is the one I personally believe is more likely. In a simpler time, when most people farmed, the help of children was greatly counted upon. A large family prospered. Many cultures did not allow a wedding until the fertility of the couple was assured. In other words, until the bride was definitely already pregnant. By June, our happily celebrating Beltane couples would be assured of the impending arrival of a child, and so the wedding was ON...
Us more settled folks spent Spring busy with getting the garden in, starting new projects, building, growing, tending. But now the days are long, and hot, and all is well begun. We can lay back in the sunshine and nap a bit. Perhaps enjoy a cool dip in the pond or river and take a break before the busy-ness of the fall harvest is upon us.
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