Traditionally, Summer Solstice is celebrated at noon when the sun stands directly overhead and the full force of solar energy can be felt and drawn upon in ritual. One stands beneath the sun, for a while, absorbing the light and heat, and establishing a connection which can be drawn upon in rites later that night.
This is a time of purifying, of cutting through obstacles and drawing on the dynamic power of the God principle to manifest your own power. Lift up your hearts in celebration of the fertility and wonder of life and remember to give thanks for that which has been manifested for you since the last Sabbat.
Many traditions throughout time have celebrated the Solstices, from the times of the ancient and the indigenous people to present day. Bonfires are set on hilltops. People dance around the fires. In many places, after the fire has died away and only the hot coals are remaining, children will be lifted across the coals to be blessed and cleansed by the smoke.
The Summer Solstice is a time to be happy. It is a time to remove unwanted things from your life. It is a time to dance and sing and spread joy and be filled with love.
Celtic Celebrations
In the Celtic countries of Northern Europe the Solar Lord fulfilled the same function and in modern times, wiccans and pagans still honor the Lord of Light, invoking him to "put to flight the powers of darkness" and bring fertility and abundance back to the land and the people. This celebration is a joyous celebration, but at the very height of the Sun's power we also encounter the truth that whatsoever rises must also fall and so from this high point in the solar cycle, the days will begin to grow shorter and the nights longer.
In Britain this theme of transformation from one thing to another was reflected in the story of the Oak King, god of the waxing year and the Holly King, his twin, god of the waning year. It was at this time that the Oak King fell and the Holly King began his reign which would lead inevitably to the darkness of winter and the longest night of the year at the Winter Solstice at which point the Oak King would return. It was said that at the Summer Solstice the Oak King withdrew to the realm of the circumpolar stars, known to the Greeks as the Corona Borealis, to the Egyptians as ik-hem-sek, 'not-knowing-destruction,' and to the Celts as Caer Arianrhod. This region of the stars never disappears below the horizon, not even at the time of Midwinter.
In Ireland music, dancing and story telling were all part of the Solstice celebrations. Before the celebrations could begin, prayers were recited while walking around the bonfire. Herbs gathered on the eve of Summer Solstice were most often used for medicinal purposes. Others were used for rites and divination. St. John¹s Wort, Elderberries, Yarrow and Vervain were a few that were used. Hazel branches were cut on Solstice eve and used to look for gold, water, and precious jewels. In order for this to work the branches had to be cut between 12 and 1:00 am.
Midsummer, if it is previously specified, may refer to the period of time centered upon the summer solstice and the diverse celebrations of it around the world. However, the English term refers mostly to European celebrations that accompany the summer solstice, or to Western festivals that take place in June and are related to Saint John the Baptist. European midsummer-related holidays, traditions and celebrations, many of which are non-Christian in origin (although they are also called "St John's festivities"), are particularly important in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Estonia, but found also in France, Italy, Portugal, in other parts of Europe and elsewhere (US, Canada, and even in the Southern Hemisphere (Brazil), where this European-born celebration should be more appropriately called Midwinter). Midsummer is also sometimes referred to as Litha; stemming from Bede's De temporum ratione in which he gave the Anglo-Saxon names for the months roughly corresponding to June and July.
Solstitial celebrations still centre upon 24 June, which is no longer the longest day of the year. The difference between the Julian calendar year (365.2500 days) and the tropical year (365.2422 days) moved the day associated with the actual astronomical solstice forward approximately three days every four centuries until Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar bringing the solstice to around 21 June. In the Gregorian calendar, the solstice moves around a bit but in the long term it moves only about one day in 3000 years.
History
In the 7th century, Saint Eligius (died 659/60) warned the recently-Christianized inhabitants of Flanders against these pagan solstitial celebrations. According to the Vita by his companion Ouen, he would say:
"No Christian on the feast of Saint John or the solemnity of any other saint performs solestitia [summer solstice rites] or dancing or leaping or diabolical chants."
Indeed, as Saint Eligius demonstrates, Mid-Summer has been Christianized as the feast of Saint John the Baptist: notably, unlike all other saints' days, this feast is celebrated on his birthday and not on the day of his martyrdom, which is separately observed as the "Decollation of John the Baptist" on 29 August. That more conventional day of Saint John the Baptist is not marked by Christian churches with the emphasis one might otherwise expect of such an important saint.
As for his solsticial birthday, the Roman Catholic Church celebrates the Nativity of John the Baptist (June 24) as a Solemnity, which is the highest degree a liturgical feast can have. It is even one of the few saint's feasts that is celebrated even when it falls on a Sunday; typically the feast of a saint is superseded when it falls on a Sunday. There is hardly any way that the feast of St John the Baptist could be given more emphasis in the liturgical calendar.
The celebration of Midsummer's Eve was from ancient times linked to the summer solstice. People believed that mid-summer plants had miraculous and healing powers and they therefore picked them on this night. Bonfires were lit to protect against evil spirits which were believed to roam freely when the sun was turning southwards again. In later years, witches were also thought to be on their way to meetings with other evil powers.
In Sweden Mid-summer celebration originates from the time before Christianity; it was celebrated as a sacrifice time in the sign of the fertility.
The solstice itself has remained a special moment of the annual cycle of the year since Neolithic times. The concentration of the observance is not on the day as we reckon it, commencing at midnight or at dawn, but the pre-Christian beginning of the day, which falls on the previous eve. In Sweden, Finland and Estonia, Midsummer's Eve is considered the greatest festival of the year, comparable only with Walpurgis Night, Christmas Eve, and New Year's Eve.
