Wednesday 21 June 2023

Midsummer Day

 

Midsummer Day

Midsummer Day falls on 24th June, following the summer solstice, the longest day, on 21st June, though Pagans continue to celebrate the longest day as midsummer. It is the astronomical longest day of the year. The change came about with the advent of Christianity when St John’s Day was celebrated on 24th June, six months before the birth of Christ.

Many hundreds of people go to Stonehenge hoping to see the ancient stones lining up perfectly with the rays of the sun. Ancient Britons used to dance around the stones, an activity associated with sun worship.

There are many legends associated with Midsummer.  One such says that if you go to an ancient oak at Broadwater, in West Sussex, you might see skeletons emerge from the earth to caper round the tree until dawn.

Five miles away from Broadwater is Chanctonbury Ring, a Bronze Age hillfort on the South Downs. It is said to have been created by the Devil who can be evoked by running widdershins seven times round the clump of trees. When the Devil appears he offers a bowl of soup in return for the summoner’s soul. This can be done at any time of the year – you don’t have to wait until the summer solstice!

The Druids, some of whom will attend at Stonehenge, were the priests of the ancient Celts. They believed the Summer Solstice was the meeting of heaven and earth, of light and dark.

In the evening before the Summer Solstice the Druids believed that mistletoe berries growing on oak trees, both of which they held sacred, would turn golden. Pliny recorded that Druids would climb the tree and use a golden sickle to cut the berries. They believed the berries would cure illnesses, encourage fertility and make people resistant to fire.

Another old custom involved three young women. Two of them would make a dumb cake, so called because no-one was allowed to speak while it was mixed and baked. The third maiden would put the cake under their pillows and the youths they dreamt of would become their husbands.

An odd legend from Wales, Cornwall and Scotland says that groups of snakes gather on Midsummer’s Eve, put their heads together and hiss to create a large foamy bubble around one of their heads.  With a great deal more hissing the bubble would traverse the length of the chosen snake’s body and exit as a small glass ring. Any human finding this ring would acquire great wealth and power.

This Midsummer morning has dawned bright and sunny, in Berkshire, at least, so perhaps the Druids and the many hundreds of other visitors will have experienced a magical sunrise.

14 comments:

  1. The Druids knew what they were doing, when they climbed the tree and use a golden sickle to cut berries, curing illnesses, encouraging fertility and making people resistant to fire. The three maidens would have also been happy when the youths of their dreams became their husbands. A good life!!

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  2. If it is was male youth dreaming of maidens, there would more than just dreaming happening. I am not surprised to read of all these old customs and superstitions. Without the science, I expect we might still follow such paths.

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  3. Hi Janice - excellent post ... but the snakes and the Cornish connection doesn't thrill me ... I'm Cornish and as a tot trod on a snake up above St Ives ... ran for my life. Must have been ok - poor snake had a shock - even though I can't have weighed much. Cheers Hilary

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    1. What a nasty shock for a little girl. Just think, you might have found a glass ring.

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  4. Well, blow me down! No wonder I leapt back into Blogland today. Perhaps I should blame it on the mistletoe - or Druidian energies abroad this day. ♥x

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  5. Welcome back, Jinksy. Don't disappear again, please x

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  6. Owlfarmer21 June 2023 at 12:15
    Revisiting old ways and stories can reconnect us with our past and remind us of our collective history when everything seems so out of joint. Seasonal reflections remind us, too, of our place in the flow of time. Thanks for your thoughtful post and for visiting the Farm so faithfully.

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    1. The forward march of civilisation often forgets the past - otherwise known as 'throwing the baby out with the bath water.'

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  7. Wonderful to have such ancient history for first day of summer. We do have the history of Native Americans celebrating their traditions. But we are a young enough country that we really have no great and ancient history like the Eastern hemisphere.

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    1. Traditions brought in by other cultures are often overlooked.

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  8. Too many things there require a way too long stretch of credibility (yeah they probably did those mad things but the reliability of the results they obtained would have to the questionable - or maybe those reporting it were on some mind-altering substances at the time....)

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