If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumber’d here While these visions did appear. A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
Sunrise at Stonehenge

When celebrating Midsummer modern Pagans draw on diverse traditions. In England thousands of Pagans and non-Pagans go to ancient religious sites such as Stonehenge and Avebury to see the sun rising on the morning of the solstice; many more hold small ceremonies in open spaces such as gardens and woodlands.

The word solstice comes from Latin solstitium, ‘sun standing still’. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year and the time when the sun is at its maximum elevation. In response to the fact that days begin to shorten from this point onward, bonfires are lit, both as a tribute to the sun and also, symbolically, as a contribution by celebrants of energy from their own fires.

Historically, with the coming of Christianity, many midsummer celebrations were incorporated into the feast of St John the Baptist (24 June). Wheels were sent flaming downhill as a portent of the decline into winter. It was said that if the wheel kept burning, there would be an abundant harvest, but if the fire went out before the wheel reached the bottom, the crops would fail: in many parts of the world, this ritual is still performed on St John’s Day.

Midsummer was believed to be a time of magic and wonder-working when spirits were on the move and futures could be foretold. Herbs and flowers were gathered for protection, one of the most powerful known as ‘chase-devil’, a plant now known as St John’s Wort and still used today.

For some Pagans the Summer Solstice marks the marriage of the God and Goddess, their union the force that creates the fruits of the harvest. It is a time to celebrate growth at the same time as acknowledging the rhythm of the seasons and the beginning of the sun’s decline. In addition to all-night vigils, bonfires and burning wheels, Midsummer is the time for ‘candle boats’, small paper crafts filled with flowers, set alight, and then released into an ocean or river, in the hope that the prayers they carry will eventually reach the gods.