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.
