June 21, 2001

  • Today, the Summer Solstice, is the singular day of the year noted for the most daylight and the least night.  This solstice (for there are two—summer and winter) is an astronomical event when the Sun reaches the Tropic of Cancer (or astrologically speaking, enters the sign of Cancer) which may vary slightly year to year due to the Earth’s general precession.   Throughout much of European history, due to lack of precision about the nuances of the precession, the Summer Solstice was traditionally celebrated beginning the eve of June 23rd (Midsummer’s Night) and ending at sunset of the 24th.   The eve of this day, also the feast day of John the Baptist, was commonly known as St. John’s Eve.


    The young maid stole through the cottage door,
    And blushed as she sought the Plant of power:
    “Thou silver glow-worm, O lend me thy light,
     I must gather the mystic St. John's wort tonight,
    The wonderful herb, whose leaf will decide
    If the coming year shall make me a bride. “


    And the glow-worm came
    With its silvery flame,
    And sparked and shone
    Through the night of St. John,
    And soon has the young maid her love-knot tied.


    But why was this eve “Midsummer” for Shakespeare (A Midsummer Night's Dream)?  Are we not told by the popular press that the Summer Solstice marks the beginning of summer that will end upon the arrival of the Fall equinox (variable also—this year Sep 22nd)? 


    Well pagans, being historically prior, first designated this solstice for celebration. According to older folk and pagan calendars, Summer actually begins on May Day (1st ) and ends on August 1st, with the Summer Solstice, imprecisely “middling” between those dates.  So even though the common folk and lesser pagans were somewhat inexact about the occurrence of the Summer Solstice (fixing it on the 24th instead of variable) and the midpoint between (which would be around June 15th), nonetheless, Shakespeare immortalized it as day of nuptial festivities, possibly “nothing but a dream” (Puck),  when following a comedy of confused matchmaking, happy newlyweds troop off to honey their beds.


    Now check this out:  Traditionally, Druids and other pagans have sojourned to Stonehenge in Britain on the Summer Solstice to witness the precise alignment of the stones with the sun’s rise on this day.  But America, too, has a “Henge”  – Carhenge!!  Located on the Nebraska plains, it is a direct copy of Stonehenge even with the height and width of the cars matching the original stones!



    Of course, being America, Carhenge doesn’t only line up with actual sun on the solstice but also with the car-corporate Sun...



    Okay, all you pagan solstice-worshipping car-owners, now line up, fill up, and race your engines!

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