St. John’s Eve: on the Bayou, on Bald Mountain, with a Baguette at your Air BnB….

St. John’s Eve: on the Bayou, on Bald Mountain, with a Baguette at your Air BnB….

Feux de la Saint Jean - Summer Solstice – Midsummer is what they call it on a French travel site.  Kupala Night is what they call it in Poland. Most pagans call it “The Summer Solstice” because with today’s calendar it isn’t “Midsummer”; it’s the first day of summer.

I scarcely need to write anything this year, as there is so very much to read online about the Summer Solstice and how it is celebrated throughout the world. So much of the Northern hemisphere celebrates it along with the Feast of St. John the Baptist, which is how the preeminent New Orleans voodoo holiday came about: Midsummer on Bayou St. John. This year Sallie Ann Glassman is holding her annual headwashing ceremony after the ritual, and then it’s drinks at the International House. How I wish I could be there.

However, not this year. Maybe next. Witchdoctor Utu and the bunch are having a big whingding in Ontario, Canada. I wouldn’t mind being there either!

Anywhere but here. Anywhere but here, folks.

So I’m leaving the rest for you to look up. There’s the usual celebration at Stonehenge, some cool info on Mussogsky’s “Night on Bald Montain” which was supposed to have become a full-on witches’ rite-themed opera, and more.

Greet the sun and be grateful that you are allowed to see the sun.

Maybe next year things will be looking up. Let’s survive until at least Samhain, whaddya say?

Great stuff to read:

The Bittersweet Gourmet, St John’s Eve: Herbal Remedies & Ancient Rituals to Mark Midsummerhttps://thebittersweetgourmet.com/st-johns-eve/

Branley, Edward. NOLA History: Voodoo and St. John’s Eve, https://gonola.com/things-to-do-in-new-orleans/nola-history-voodoo-and-st-johns-eve

Cory, Blog Post 161 – Summer Saints, part II (St. John’s Eve) https://newworldwitchery.com/tag/st-johns-eve/

Dorsey, Lilith. “Voodoo Blessings on St. John’s Eve,” http://www.patheos.com/blogs/voodoouniverse/2016/06/voodoo-blessings-on-st-johns-eve/

Duvalier, James. “Saint John’s Eve,” http://jamesduvalier.com/articles/saint-johns-eve-st-john-the-baptist/

Hofstadter, Dan, “Midsummer Magick in the Lands of the Midnight Sun,” https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/12/magazine/midsummer-magic-in-the-lands-of-the-midnight-sun.html

“Night on Bald Mountain,”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_on_Bald_Mountain

Rodriguez-Pretel, Diana. ”Magic and Rituals on St. John’s Eve.” http://blog.only-apartments.com/magic-and-rituals-on-saint-johns-eve/