The celebration of Midsummer is a global custom. Every culture has, at some point in its history, marked this time of year and held it to be enchanted. The Celts, the Morse, and the Slavs believed that there were three �spirit nights� in the year when magic abounded and the Otherworld was neat. The first was Halloween, the second was May Eve, and the third was Midsummer Eve. On this night, of all nights, fairies are most active, and the future can be uncovered. As the solstice sun rises on its day of greatest power, it draws up with it the power of herbs, standing stones, and crystals. In the shimmering heat-haze on the horizon, its magical energies are almost visible. And as the mist gate forms in the warm air rising beneath the dolmen arch, the entrance to the Otherworld opens � Avalon, Tir nan Og, the Land of Youth, where it is always summer, and death and old age are unknown. Shakespeare captured all the magic of the occasion in A Midsummer Night�s Dream, where fairies, magic and mischief abound on one bewitched night in the forest.
Every ancient religion had its own customs and traditions associated with Midsummer. These appear in the lore of Greece and Rome, the myths of the Norse, the Maya, the Aztecs, the Slavs, and the Celts, the writings of the ancient Egyptians, and the Old Testament of the Jews. Vestiges of these festivities can still be witnessed today. In places we may still see the Baal fires, the torchlight processions, the rolling of sun wheel downhill, the casting of spells, divination, love magic, and the blessings of crops and animals with fire.
The cold, dark days of winter and blight are far away, and the time of light and warmth, summer and growth, are here. We naturally feel more joyful and want to spend more time in the open air. The crops are planted and growing nicely, and the young animals have been born.
Midsummer is a natural time of celebration.
The Four Solar Festivals
The festival is actually the observance of the summer solstice. There are two solstices annually. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year and falls around June 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and around December 21 in the Southern Hemisphere. The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year and falls around December 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and around June 21 in the Southern Hemisphere. The other two solar festivals are the equinoxes.
At the spring equinox, day and night are of equal length, but the light is gaining, the days are getting longer. Then at the summer solstice, the sun is at the height of its power on the longest day of the year. At the autumn equinox, day and night are again of equal length, but the dark is gaining; the days are getting shorter. At the winter solstice, the sun is at its weakest on the shortest day of the year.
From Midsummer Magical Celebrations of the Summer Solstice by Anna Franklin
