Summer!

Today is the Summer Solstice--the longest day and shortest night of the year. In honor of the celebration I'm posting some interesting information. (Writer's take note--cool story ideas come out of old traditions.)

Summer Solstice Fun Facts:*

Awed by the great power of the sun, civilizations have for centuries celebrated the first day of summer otherwise known as the Summer Solstice, Midsummer (see Shakespeare), St. John's Day, or the Wiccan Litha.
The Celts & Slavs celebrated the first day of summer with dancing & bonfires to help increase the sun's energy. The Chinese marked the day by honoring Li, the Chinese Goddess of Light.
Perhaps the most enduring modern ties with Summer Solstice were the Druids' celebration of the day as the "wedding of Heaven and Earth", resulting in the present day belief of a "lucky" wedding in June.

Pagans called the Midsummer moon the "Honey Moon" for the mead made from fermented honey that was part of wedding ceremonies performed at the Summer Solstice.Ancient Pagans celebrated Midsummer with bonfires, when couples would leap through the flames, believing their crops would grow as high as the couples were able to jump.Midsummer was thought to be a time of magic, when evil spirits were said to appear. To thwart them, Pagans often wore protective garlands of herbs and flowers. One of the most powerful of them was a plant called 'chase-devil', which is known today as St. John's Wort and still used by modern herbalists as a mood stabilizer.

Enjoy the first day of summer!! Maybe even build a bonfire if you are able--eat a s'more or two and remember the darkness begins it's return tomorrow... (Cheery thought, isn't it?) Cheers!

*Thanks to Chiff.com for the information on the 2009 Summer Solstice.