Monday 23 June 2008

Midsummer Fires

As we've just had the Midsummer solstice, here is a poetic celebration of the many different customs of Midsummer. gleaned from Ronald Hutton's excellent book "The Stations of the Sun":

Midsummer Fires


In the Vale of Glamorgan, there I saw
A cart wheel all covered in straw
Set alight, then rolled downhill
Augur for harvest, good or ill
If out before it reaches the end
Poor harvests now bad weather send
If lighted all its fall, and still longer
Abundant crops will grow for farmer.
.
At Buckfastleigh is lit upon on sunset
Midsummer wheel that luck may get
If guided by sticks, it meets the stream
Fortune will shine within its beam
A flaming chariot is shown in part
Bringing delight and joy to heart
As sun now wheeling through the sky
Brings living warmth to you and I.
.
In Shopshire, upon St John's Eve
Three fires do they carefully weave
A bonfire of clean bones, no wood
Of wood, no bones, the wakefire should
Keep on burning through the night
Watched by all, for second sight
And lastly, made of wood and bones
St John's fire is lit upon old stones.
.
At Penzance, tar barrels set on fire
With music played on harp or lyre
Folk walk this way, sing loud and raucous
Holding forth torches of blazing canvas
Then link hands, and dance in circle
"Threading the needle", rhythmical
Over the dying embers, fading light
As the evening falls to night.
.
In Ireland, when fire dulls to reddish glow
Men leap over the flames in show
When lower still, young girls can leap
Thrice back and forth a man to keep
Married women walk upon the embers
Secure good will for family members
Then all take back within one hand
To their own house, a sacred brand.
.
Midsummer Eve, and fires are lit
The solar nexus reaches summit
Spoked wheel pauses, then rolls on
We chant at equinox in antiphon
Lay out the candles for spectacle
In pattern of five, a pentacle
Of customs old, and customs now
Upon the Ancient Burial How.
.
.
.
Book of the post:
Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain (Paperback)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stations-Sun-History-Ritual-Britain/dp/0192854488

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