This was Shakespeare�s Midsummer Night�s Eve. Though modern calendars suggest summer "begins" on the solstice, according to the old folk calendar, summer begins on May Day and ends on Lammas (August 1), with the summer solstice, midway between the two, marking mid-summer.
This holiday is sacred to the Horned Gods - Oak Kings - Sun Gods - Baldur - Mars - Nergal and It is common among pagan groups to hold that the Sun King is not one god but two. It is on mid-summer that the dark half of the sun god begins to gain power. Often, mock battles are played between representatives of the two gods who fight over the attentions of the lady goddess. Although the dark god is defeated, he has weakened the god of light who has now begun to die.
Goddesses sacred at Midsummer include: Aine of Knockaine - Kupala - Mother Nature - Aphrodite Erycina, Aphrodite of the Heather, the nymph-goddess of Midsummer - Astarte/Anatha, and the Love and Death Goddess of Midsummer - Vesta, for whom fires were lit at Midsummer.
St. John himself was often seen as a rather Pagan figure. He was, after all, called "the Oak King" His connection to the wilderness was often emphasized by the rustic nature of his shrines. Many statues show him as a horned figure. Modern Pagans refer to such statues as "Pan the Baptist". And to clench matters, many depictions of John actually show him with the lower torso of a satyr and hooves.
In England, it was the ancient custom on St. John�s Eve to light large bonfires after sundown, which served the double purpose of providing light to the revelers and warding off evil spirits. This was known as 'setting the watch'. People often jumped through the fires for good luck. In addition to these fires, the streets were lined with lanterns, and people carried cressets (pivoted lanterns atop poles) as they wandered from one bonfire to another. These wandering, garland-bedecked bands were called a "marching watch". Often they were attended by morris dancers, and traditional players dressed as a unicorn, a dragon, and six hobby-horse riders. Just as May Day was a time to renew the boundary on one's own property, so Midsummer's Eve was a time to ward the boundary of the city.
The charred embers from a Midsummer bonfire are potent magic, charms against injury and bad weather. They are placed in fields or around trees for agricultural fertility, placed in meadows and atop houses to protect them
Mugwort has magical powers when gathered on Midsummer Eve. A mugwort garland woven at Midsummer, worn as a crown or used for viewing the bonfire through, was a charm to ensure that you would have no headaches or eye pain that year. Mugwort was sometimes thrown on the Midsummer bonfire. The French wove garlands of it at Midsummer for protection against ghosts, magic, bad luck and disease for that year.
There were other herbs gathered at this time held sacred to many. Celts, Druids and Scandinavians gathered mistletoe at Midsummer. Though ferns generally reproduce via spores, it was believed that fern seed was magical at Midsummer. Gathered on Midsummer Eve by spreading a white cloth below it, so as not to touch it with the hands, fern seed was believed to confer invisibility and the ability to understand the language of animals. Bohemians believed that fern seed bloomed with fiery golden blossoms on Midsummer Eve, and that the person who climbed a mountain holding it would find a vein of gold and see the treasures of the earth shining with a bluish light.
Other customs included decking the house (especially over the front door) with birch, fennel, St. John�s Wort, orpin, and white lilies. Five plants were thought to have special magical properties on this night: rue, roses, St. John�s Wort, vervain and trefoil. Indeed, Midsummer's Eve in Spain is called the Night of the Verbena (Vervain). St. John�s Wort was especially honored by young maidens who picked it in the hopes of divining a future lover
Today, in Ireland, the celebration of the summer solstice has been taken over by the Christian St. John, and is celebrated with bonfires at sunset on June 24. St. John can be seen as an Oak King figure, being sacrificed and succeeded by Christ, who wore the thorny crown