The Christian calendar , excluding Easter , revolves around the two solstices , winter and summer . The winter one is obviously Christmas . But because John the Baptist , Christ ’ s cousin , was born six months earlier , the feast of the birth of St John was effectively the summer Christmas . There are references in scripture to St John as a light burning , and another to people rejoicing at his birth . Cue an explosion of festivity of an apparently pagan sort for this very Christian feast of midsummer .
We have umpteen historical accounts of the celebrations . On the night of the 23rd , there were bonfires , as there still are in parts of Europe . The churches and houses were decorated with greenery ( birch was popular ).
On the day itself , people would set fire to a cartwheel stuffed with straw , which seems as close as you ’ ll get to an image of the sun and roll it downhill . The night before , London and many of the big towns would have great marching watches – huge processions of guilds and militia carrying lighted tapers , with pageants and giants thrown in – which wound through the streets like rivers of flame .
This was how orthodox Christians celebrated midsummer ; in what looks like a pagan spirit . The sermon writers made no bones about keeping old customs going ; one explanation for the bonfires was that they helped drive away dragons .
People made the most of the vigour of plants at this time of year ; they thought herbs such as St John ’ s wort , gathered now , had a special potency . Ever wondered why Stilton is a Christmas cheese ? It ’ s because it was made from the milk of cows grazing on midsummer pasture .
What I ’ d like would be to reclaim midsummer from the pagans . It is a bona fide Christian feast day , celebrated at a church near you .
There ’ s nothing to stop us making the most of it with bonfires and greenery – it ’ s human instinct to celebrate this time of year . It ’ s a real tradition just waiting to be resurrected !
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God bless you
Lesley-ann +
PS : Received on Wednesday 13 June 2018 I am very happy to say that I am officially , rested , reset , recovered and clear of any medical matters . Wow what a journey . I shall not be the workaholic that I was before this happened , so , slow but steady will be the order of the day . I shall be presiding on the 1st July but returning to duties on the Thursday before .
Thank you all for your prayers and support . I know it hasn ’ t been easy .