Posts Tagged ‘midsummer’

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Midsummer (June 23) in New Orleans is celebrated in a festival also known as St. John’s Eve. During Midsummer, it is said that the Goddess manifests as Mother Earth and the God as the Sun King. In Celtic lore, it regarded as the best time to see fairies and in pagan times it was the feast of the Goddess Aine. In later days as Christianity took over the holidays from the pagans, they changed the festivals to feasts for Saints.

Currently in Catholic celebrations, June 23rd is known as St. John’s Eve, with St. John’s Day celebrated on the 24th, as the day of his birth, though it is not confirmed whether this is the actual day of his birth. It is interesting to note that the pagan story commemorated the balance and changing of rule between the Oak King and the Holly King and then in Christianity, it became representations of the birthday of St. John to represent Summer Solstice and the birthday for Christ as Winter Solstice.

This eve culminates the celebration of Summer Solstice. It begins at dusk on the 23rd and continues till sunrise on the 24th. This day is one of several days throughout the year where the veil is thin and communication with the spirit world is strong and easily accessed.

Though the heat of Summer is just beginning, this date actually begins the ‘metaphorical’ decline of the Sun as it embarks on its journey to the Underworld, which will culminate on December 21st, the darkest day of the year. (See my article – Celebrate the ancient lore and ritual of Summer Solstice).

Loaded with symbolism, St. John’s Eve was and is still celebrated throughout Europe, with bonfires, parties and celebrations. Perhaps there is no place on earth where St. John’s Eve is celebrated like it is in New Orleans. The French people brought Catholicism with them as they moved to Louisiana and in New Orleans it mixed in easily with traditional African magic, rituals and rites. This blending of the two cultures found common ground in lighting candles in prayer to ancestral sprits and asking saints to intervene when help was needed, as well as revering divine feminine figures in both religions.

Home to famous Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau, St. John’s Eve has been celebrated in New Orleans for hundreds of years and Marie Laveau is undoubtedly the Queen of this celebration, having understood the esoteric rites to connect with spirit and the power of ritual to release the energy, moving all who participated. During these celebrations, bonfires are lit, drums beat and rituals, feasts and dancing are performed at Bayou St. John and other locations throughout the city.

This culmination of MidSummer celebration is a powerful time of transformation and purification through fire with bonfires and candles and by water, ritual baths and jumping into water are important rituals to remove stagnant and negative energy and create a new beginning.

While this ritual is dynamic, rejuvenating and renewing anywhere it is celebrated, it has been said that nowhere on earth is this magic stronger than in New Orleans, due to its unique location at the mouth of the Mississippi River, as the energy pours forth from the River into the Gulf — with New Orleans serving as the crescent bowl gathering and holding the energy. The ceremonies performed in connection with this powerful connection with water are similar to the ones performed in the times of ancient Egypt along the Nile.

Create a ritual of your own for this Eve. For a purification ritual that can be used during this time,
see my article: Celebrate the ancient lore and ritual of Summer Solstice.

If you have the opportunity to be in New Orleans on June 23rd, make plans to attend a traditional celebration. Dress in white, including a white head scarf and experience a purifying ritual head washing.

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The festivals of Midsummer (also known as Summer Solstice) welcome the natural abundance of gifts presented by Mother Earth, as well as offering a time of gathering in celebration of the cycles of the seasons and the sun. Midsummer has been venerated since the most ancient of times in many cultures around the world and is perhaps best known in Celtic lore as the prime time to see fairies.  Summer Solstice is a time of light and of fire. It is a time to embrace the joy of the season: the seeds planted previously in the earth are now in full bloom as are the seeds of love planted in our hearts.  The change of seasons allows us to reflect on the beauty of the earth, on the cycles of time, and on ourselves.

Legends also state that what you dream on this eve, will come to pass. The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year.  It is officially the first day of summer and referred to as Midsummer because it is roughly the middle of the growing season throughout much of Europe. This year, the Summer Solstice begins on June 21, 1:45 am EDT.  The moon of Midsummer in pagan tradition, was called the “Honey Moon” from mead made of fermented honey, which was consumed after the marriage ceremonies held on the Summer Solstice.

Summer goes by quickly. Life is short. Take some time on this glorious Summer Solstice to Revel in the Sun, Dance with Abandon, and in the evening at Twilight, sit under a tree and perhaps you’ll view the fairies in their circle of celebration…

If you’re in North Carolina during this time, be sure not to miss this event:

The North Carolina Renaissance Faire, also known as The Historical Enrichment Society is a nonprofit organization which promotes the arts, history and culture, as well as the fantasy and folklore of the Medieval/Renaissance era.

On MidSummer, June 20th and 21st, 2009 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm both days, the Historical Enrichment Society will celebrate a MidSummer Fairy Festival with the fantasy characters and creatures and fairies of old . This unique event, held at 13239 Capital Blvd, Wake Forest NC,  opens the hearts and imaginations of all who enter by celebrating the wonderful medieval traditions of the fay and their evolution into the present.

Activities include: Music, Dancing, LARP, Games, Food, Artisans, Sword Fighting, the hatching of the Baby Dragon for younger Fae, a Maypole and Fairy Court.

Tickets are $5 and children under 5 are free.

More information can be found at: www.ncrenfaire.org

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