Midsummer: Celebrating the Solstice with Flowers

Yesterday, June 21, 2011 was the first day of summer! Also known as the Summer Solstice, it has many titles:

Alban Heflin, Alben Heruin, All-couples day, Feast of Epona, Feast of St. John the Baptist, Feill-Sheathain, Gathering Day, Johannistag, Litha, Midsummer, Sonnwend, Thing-Tide, Vestalia, etc.

This holiday represents many things to many people in the Northern Hemisphere (the Southern Hemisphere experiences the Summer Solstice in December). Historically, Europeans have celebrated Midsummer because it marks: the Ancient middle of Summer, the astronomical beginning of Summer, and the nativity of St. John the Baptist.

Flowers have special significance in various Midsummer celebrations around the world:

In Latvia, "celebrations consist of a lot of traditional elements - eating Jāņu cheese, drinking beer, singing hundreds of Latvian folk songs dedicated to Jāņi, burning bonfire to keep light all through the night and jumping over it, wearing wreaths of flowers (for the women) and leaves (for the men)"

In Lithuania, "the traditions include singing songs and dancing until the sun sets, telling tales, searching to find the magic fern blossom at midnight, jumping over bonfires, greeting the rising midsummer sun and washing the face with a morning dew, young girls float flower wreaths on the water of river or lake."

In Norway, it is said that "if a girl puts flowers under her pillow that night, she will dream of her future husband."

In Poland, "people dress in traditional Polka dress, and girls throw wreaths made of flowers into the Baltic Sea, and into lakes or rivers. "

In Russia and Ukraine, "many rites of this holiday are connected with water, fertility and autopurification. The girls, for example, would float their flower garlands on the water of rivers and tell their fortunes from their movement."

In Sweden, "the main celebrations take place on the Friday, and the traditional events include raising and dancing around a huge maypole. Before the maypole is raised, greens and flowers are collected and used to cover the entire pole. Raising and dancing around a maypole (majstång or midsommarstång) is an activity that attracts families and many others. People dancing around the pole listen to traditional music and some even wear traditional folk costumes. In addition, many wear crowns made of wild springs and wildflowers on their heads."

(Thanks for the info, Wikipedia!)


So, in honour of Midsummer, I am posting some of my photographs of colourful flowers!