What is Summer Solstice?
(Photo Credit: www.gstatic.com)
Scientifically, summer solstice is the day the sun shines on the Earth the longest because Earth’s semi-axis is tilted in such a way to keep the sun in view the longest, making this the longest day of the year.
In the Northern Hemisphere, it’s usually between June 20th and 22nd and in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s between December 20th and 23th.
The day the summer solstice falls on is typically considered the first day of summer for the hemisphere you live in as well.
The summer solstice scientifically is not only cool but historically has birthed quite a few holidays, festivals, and rituals based around religion or fertility throughout the world.
In Europe, the Summer Solstice is referred to as "Midsummer" or "St. John’s Day", depending on your religious beliefs, and takes place between June 21 and June 25. "Midsummer" is a pagan tradition where in ancient times bonfires were lit to protect from evil spirits thought to roam freely during this time and in later years witches were said to be meeting powerful beings during this time as well.
"St. John’s Day" on the other hand was brought in through Christian settlers and is a celebration of the martyr, St John the Baptist, who according to the Bible, was born six months prior to Jesus.
Whatever the reason for the celebration, there is a lot of merrymaking across Europe and around the globe with some unique traditions.
In Austria, summer solstice gives quite a spectacular show of 30 ships sailing down the Danube River as fireworks blaze from the banks, hill tops, and castle ruins along the river; mixed with bonfires and lights blazing from vineyards along the river.
Brazil celebrates Portuguese St. John’s Day which was brought to them through colonization and the celebrations are full of Brazilian traditional foods, square dancing; or quadrilha, fireworks, and large bonfires. As a matter of fact it’s become such a huge holiday there are two northeastern towns that compete every year for the title “Biggest Saint John Festival in the World”.
In Bulgaria, they celebrate Enyovden while Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates John the Baptist. People wake early and make sure they see the sunrise because it is believed that they will be healthy throughout the year and in the evening they barefoot dance on smoldering embers in a fire-walk called Nestinarstvo.
In Finland, bonfires are burned by bodies of water, branches from birch trees are placed at front doors to welcome visitors, and midsummer or maypoles are erected. Most Finns leave the cities and spend their summer solstice in the country where they cookout, use saunas, have musical festivals, and spend time with their love ones.
The Finnish Flag Day holiday is also during this time. It is raised at 6 pm on Midsummer’s Eve and flown till 9 pm the following day.
In Italy, there is San Giovanni’s day (Saint John) where the feast of Saint John the Baptist has been observed since medieval times in Florence. The celebration is so popular a lot of cities in Italy stop working for at least two days in observance and hold festivals that sometimes last three days. These festivals are abundant with food, music, fireworks, and dancing around bonfires for Italian Neopaganism.
In Canada, the summer solstice is observed for different reasons with different names. In Newfoundland and Labrador it’s called St. John’s Day and celebrates John Cabot’s discovery of Newfoundland in 1497. In Quebec, it’s also St. John’s Day but celebrates John the Baptist. French colonists brought this holiday to Quebec and Pope Pius X designated John the Baptist as the patron saint of the French-Canadians which lead to it eventually becoming a legal holiday and being named the secular National Holiday of Quebec.
Now a little closer to home; in the United States, summer solstice is celebrated according to the traditions brought over from European settlers in the 19th century and varies from state to state depending on its history of European descendants.
In Tucson, Arizona, they have inaugural Earthwalk Solstice celebrations. The event has a walk through a large labyrinth as well as musicians, healers, and other solstice ceremonies.
In California, Santa Barbara, is home to the annual Summer Solstice festival and parade which happens the weekend of the solstice or the weekend after.
Geneva, Illinois harkens back to its Swedish roots and hosts a Swedish Day. The event has maypole raising, dancing, and even a real authentic Viking ship.
Last, but certainly not least, colorful and boisterous New York City. They host the Swedish Midsummer celebration in Battery Park every year which attracts 3,000-5,000 people, which makes it one of the biggest celebrations after the ones actually held in Sweden. It honors Swedish heritage in conjunction with Sweden Day which has been held in New York City in Throgs Neck since 1941.
Summer Solstice may be known by many names, but it seems the underlying theme here is the celebration of the warmth of ones history whether it is Pagan or Christian in nature.
Although we may have longer days and all this scientific mumble jumbo of the sun being on the equinox exactly at noon, Summer Solstice is a day to celebrate the warmth of summer and the rich heritage of our ancestors with our family and neighbors.
So, this June 20th grab your grill, gather some family and friends and start the summer off right!
