Midsummer is one of the quarter days in the ritual year calendar. It has been celebrated for thousands of years, with roots in both pagan and religious traditions. It is a time when food and nature is in abundance, so festivities often focus on fertility and the life-giving powers of the sun as well as reconnecting with the natural world. Whilst the 21st June is the Summer Solstice and celebrated by many, the 24th June is officially Midsummer’s Day.
Celebrations were traditionally interwoven with mysticism and magic. Midsummer’s Eve was considered a night of superstition where it was believed the boundaries between life and death were thin. Folklore states that on this day ghosts can cross from the afterlife to this world and, as in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it is thought that the fairy world is close by, bringing mischief and chaos to us mortals. Flower crowns were traditionally worn at the celebrations to ward off the more malevolent spirits.
Pagan people would light bonfires and dance all night on Midsummer’s Eve, accompanied by rituals led by druids. Customs also included bonfire-jumping, with the highest jump thought to predict the height of the year’s crop. The Midsummer bonfire ashes were also believed to protect you from misfortune. According to legend, if you sow the ashes from your bonfire into your garden, your crops will be bountiful for the rest of the summer growing season.
Here at the Weald & Downland Living Museum, we will be marking the occasion with a Midsummer celebration meal on the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd June as part of our Flower Power weekend. During the day our interpretations team will be preparing food and carrying out demonstrations in our Winkhurst Tudor Kitchen. The meal will then be held during the afternoon in Bayleaf Farmhouse, where our team of volunteers will be dressed in replica historic clothing whilst they sit down to a spread of tarts and traditional treats at the dining table.
