Summer solstrice is here. This night is the shortest of the year. Sunrise this morning was at 3.33 am and sunset is 10.08 pm - but it's cloudy so no sun is shining here.
This weekend is the Midsummer weekend. And it has already started! In modern Sweden, Midsummer's Eve and Midsummer's Day are celebrated from the eve of the Friday between June 19 - 25. It is arguably the most important holiday of the year, and one of the most uniquely Swedish in the way it is celebrated, even if it has been influenced by other countries long ago. The main celebrations take place on the Friday, and the traditional events include raising and dancing around a huge maypole. One typical dance is the frog dance. Before the maypole is raised, greens and flowers are collected and used to cover the entire pole.
Most people has tomorrow off and many only had to work half day today. If you have the chance to leave the city, you leave. To your country house, to your friends country house or to your neighbour's aunts country house. When I was a teenager and in my early 20s, there were big Midsummer partys at Rättvik, in Dalarna, Borgholm, in Öland or Möja, Stockholm. And these parties were often wild with lots of alcohol and fights.
Today these party site's still exist and in the newspapers, the day after, are filled with sad stories about knife fights and other violent stuff.
The adults has (perhaps) more organized party with the neighbours or with their friends, or perhaps with the family. If you are in Stockholm and want so see a typical Swedish Midsummer (without the booze) Skansen is the place to be. There you can join others to dress the maypole and dance around it. With lots of Swedish folk music and traditional folk dresses. My plans for tomorrow? I have a dinner party to go to with my friends Doc, Mr T and the tiny boy.
Because Midsummer is one of the times of the year when magic is believed to be the strongest, it was a good night to perform rituals to look into the future. Traditionally, young people pick bouquets of seven or nine (depending where in the country you hails from)different flowers and put them under their pillow in the hope of dreaming about their future spouse. I remember doing this as a kid and as a teenager, picking flowers at night with no talking, you should pick these flowers in silence - and that was hard when you was in company with other giggleling teenage girls.
But that's tomorrow, today it just is the shortest night of the year, so Have a good sleep!
/ C
What a delightful post. I wonder if I'll be able to silently gather flowers in the dark :)
Posted by: Felicia | June 21, 2007 at 09:59 PM
What a wonderful picture, and post! Have a wonderful weekend!
Posted by: ragan | June 21, 2007 at 10:42 PM
I thoroughly enjoyed this post. Loved hearing about your Sweedish holiday. Made me (almost) wish to be a young girl ..what a sweet custom. Happy Summer Solstice to you too!
Posted by: Knitting Bandit | June 27, 2007 at 05:16 AM