Island Life Magazine Ltd June/July 2016 | Page 49

FEATURE A Midsummer night’s dream I t may be hard to believe but we’ve already approached the longest day of the year, on June 21st. After that date, the days will get progressively shorter again – although fortunately, only by a few minutes each day. Midsummer’s Day is probably best known for the annual Druid ceremonies, but in fact the day is an important one to Pagans of all persuasions. Primarily a Celtic fire festival, it represents the middle of summer, and the start of the gradual march to winter. That’s why our ancestors from thousands of years ago built their huge stone circles and other monuments that are aligned to the sunrise on Midsummer’s Day. The most famous of these is the iconic one at Stonehenge, where the sun rises over the heel stone, framed by the giant trilithons on Midsummer morning. Historically, Midsummer fires would have been be lit in high places all over the countryside, and in some areas of Scotland, these were still being lit well into the 18th century, especially in rural areas. As part of the festival, domestic animals of the land were blessed with fire, generally by walking them around the flames in a sun-wise direction. It was also the custom for people to jump high through the fires, and according to folklore, the height reached by the best jumper, would be the height of the harvest that year. After Christianity became adopted in Britain, the festival became known as St John’s day and was still celebrated as an important day in the Church calendar, as the birthday of St John the Baptist. Traditionally St John’s Eve (like the eve of many festivals) was seen as a time when the veil between this world and the next was ultra-thin, and when powerful forces roamed around. Vigils were often held during the night and it was said that if you spent a night at a sacred site during Midsummer Eve, you would gain the powers of a bard – although on the down side you might end up utterly mad, dead, or be spirited away by the fairies! So - not too difficult to see where Shakespeare got the inspiration for his famously surreal and slightly crazy play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Indeed St John’s Eve was a time when fairies were thought to be abroad and at their most powerful – which may be worth bearing in mind on June 21st if you are of a superstitious persuasion. Oh and if you on the lookout for love, tradition suggests it may be a good idea to place a rose, verbena, trefoil or rue under your pillow before bed. They are thought to be at their most potent at this time, and were traditionally placed under a pillow in the hope of important dreams … especially dreams about future lovers. www.visitilife.com June/July 2016_MASTER .indd 49 49 14/06/2016 01:49