MIDSUMMER (Summer Solstice) June 21st

Midsummer is the magical time when the days are longest and the nights are shortest. This was when ancient peoples gathered to celebrate the sun and its life-giving power.

We celebrate the day with a "joyous formality," with exuberant festivals, games, dancing, as well as many quiet reflective moments. We get together with friends to enjoy the bounty of the embracing warmth of the earth and universe while perhaps enjoying a feast of fruits and crops from the spring planting.

The sun is at the height of it power. The Goddess manifests as Mother Earth and the God as the Sun King. Midsummer Night's Eve is supposed to be a good time to commune with field, the forest sprites and faeries.

On Midsummer Day it was also the custom for women and girls to bathe in a river. Long ago this bathing was considered magic for bringing the life-giving rain. In a river the water is always moving, always renewed.

Ancient Pagans celebrated Midsummer with bonfires. It was believed that the crops would grow as high as the couples were able to jump. Through the fire's power, "...maidens would find out about their future husband, and spirits and demons were banished." Another function of bonfires was to generate sympathetic magic: giving a boost to the sun's energy so that it would remain potent throughout the rest of the growing season and guarantee a plentiful harvest.

Go to: MIDSUMMER for a full explanation of this festival.
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