The ruins of the 13th century Castle Coeffin built on the former site of a Viking fortress, located in Scotland.

Midsummer’s Dream

“During the period of the summer solstice, the days are so long that it was once believed the sun was standing still. Again the people were nearing the divine: the sun god and the great goddess, pregnant with the powers of heaven, were seen in the ripening grains and the fruits of the forest and field. The mighty thunder god, Thor, who brings the summer storms, was also there. Dancing elves and throngs of ethereal sylphs and fiery salamanders appeared as well. And as usual when the numinous nears, humans fall into ecstasy.

Elements of the archaic summer solstice customs have been retained throughout the agricultural regions, and if we reached into the deep layers of our own souls, we could paint a reasonable picture of what the celebrations were like. Like the winter solstice, the summer festival lasted a full 12 days. The people took in the fullness of the light and the power of the fire and enhanced their experience with the solstice fire, with fire walking, with burning brooms and torches, and by rolling wheels of fire down the mountains and hills. With the fire they celebrated the Apex of the year but at the same time they celebrated death, the sacrifice of the sun god, of fair Balder, as he is called in Scandinavia.

In Wales and elsewhere nine types of wood were gathered for the solstice fire. Either respected elders or a young couple lit the fire. Dried mugwort, the healing and ‘hot’ herb, which played a sacred role in midsummer festivals all across the northern hemisphere, was placed on the fire, creating a raging and high violet-colored flame. The celebrants jumped through this fire one after the other or holding hands; the goddess herself - Frau Holle, Artemis, Diana, or whichever name she was called by - was present in the mugwort. They jumped over the purifying flames wrapped only in a mugwort girth with a wreath of ground ivy in their hair and vervain in their hands, leaping from one season through to the next. The companion and paramour of the goddess, the thunder God with the mighty hammer, was represented in the ground ivy and the vervain.

The people of today, who largely shield themselves from nature, find it difficult to comprehend the ecstasy of Midsummer, of being unconditionally swept along with the natural occurrences. As recently as the middle ages, the most incredible rumors could be heard. It was if one had stepped into a painting by Hieronymus Boesh - the sun produced three springs, water turned to wine, elves disclosed hidden treasure, horses could talk, music sounded out of the mountain, and ghost processions, water nymphs, and fairies became visible. White maidens revealed themselves or else asked to be released from confinement, dwarfs celebrated marriage, serpents honored there King, the fern bloomed at midnight and carried seeds (which bestowed invisibility and wealth on the one who found them ), crabs flew through the air, and the Bilwis rode a fiery buck over the fields.

What kinds of visions are these? They are pictures of the inner realm of nature. Were they induced by the henbane beer that was drunk in copious amounts? Was the endless dancing, the hours upon hours without sleep responsible? Or maybe it was the hallucinogenic mushrooms, such as bell caps, haymaker’s mushroom, liberty caps, fly agaric, and others, that transported the people? After all, in the Middle Ages, Saint Vitus’s day (June 15 ) was considered the beginning of midsummer - ‘here the sun will go no higher!’ – and St. Vitus is the patron saint of mushrooms. The Slavs say that he is accompanied by good gnomes who help the mushrooms grow well.

…For many years it was believed that witches picked their herbs at the summer solstice, and that they did it naked in the middle of the night. The farm women also made a bouquet of Midsummer herbs, a summer solstice bundle, from one of the countless versions of nine herbs – a magic number.

To increase the healing power of yarrow, wood betony, or other herbs that women peered through the bundle into the fire and spoke a charm, something like the following: ‘No boil shall come on my body, no break to my foot.’”

- Witchcraft Medicine: Healing Arts, Shamanic Practices, and Forbidden Plants;
By Claudia Müller-Ebeling, Christian Rätsch, and Wolf-Dieter Storl; Translated by Annabel Lee; Inner Traditions Publishing, Rochester, Vermont (2003) Pgs. 10-12

Photo source: https://mobile.twitter.com/santhanamsnisha/status/1366196555682697216

On Kupala Night Belarusians held many symbolic rites:
collected medicinal herbs and flowers that acquired special healing powers on this night;
conducted a ritual of purification by fire (people jumped over Kupala bonfires, and also burned the wheel symbolizing "the Sun", clothes of the sick, old things);
did fortune telling (girls floated down Kupala wreaths in the rivers);
had a ritual dinner;
conducted rituals to protect homes and fields from evil forces;
carried out rituals for rich harvest and prosperity;
performed ritual songs and dances, noisy fun games;
did ritual cleansing with water at dawn, washed with dew.
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https://yesbelarus.com/attractions-culture/traditions-festivals/kupala-night-in-belarus/

Prayer of the Woods

I am the heat of your hearth on the cold winter nights, the friendly shade screening you from the summer sun, and my fruits are refreshing draughts quenching your thirst as you journey on. I am the beam that holds your house, the board of your table, the bed on which you lie, and the timber that builds your boat. I am the handle of your hoe, the door of your homestead, the wood of your cradle, and the shell of your coffin. I am the bread of kindness and the flower of beauty. Ye who pass by, listen to my prayer: Harm me not.

In heathenism there is not so much attention for the human energysystem but negative emotions, if continous, are stored in your energysystem and will have a negative effect on the long term. And good emotions and thoughts are also stored in the human energysystem🙂!

Shining soul
Sunna's heart is
Freely given.

Burning bright
Sunna's light is
Westward driven.

Summer's warmth
Sunna's love is
Always blessing!

Sunstead day
Her shining ray
Our tradition.

"Every natural object is a conductor of divinity and only by coming into contact with them... may we be filled with the Holy Ghost." ~John Muir

Goodnight all ✝️🙏🏼💙

"Every natural object is a conductor of divinity and only by coming into contact with them... may we be filled with the Holy Ghost." ~John Muir

Goodnight all ✝️🙏🏼💙

‘Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread’
- Edward Abbey

The Pennine Way through the Yorkshire Dales overlooking beautiful Thwaitedale 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Please review and sign this declaration for our rights and freedoms https://www.librti.com/victoria-declaration