~ Summer Nights - Midsummers Eve ~

~ Full Moon Night ~

Press close, bare-bosomed Night! Press close, magnetic,
nourishing Night!
Night of south winds!  Night of the large, few stars!
Still, nodding Night!  Mad, naked, Summer Night!
~ Walt Whitman ~

From far, from eve and morning
And yon twelve-winded sky,
The stuff of life to knit me
Blew hither: here am I.


~ A. E. Houseman ~

Celebrations in the night seem so private and personal.  Bonfires, sleeping with flowers under your pillow, fertility rites in the fields, joyful harvest...definitive traditions provide encouragement for the coming year.


Midsummer's Eve comes to us wrapped in past observances.  I like that we can read stories and gather history telling how our wonderful ancestors celebrated.  Days gone by this eve was celebrated with earthy fertility rites, today mostly the bonfires have endured.


Remembering Midsummer's Eve, lighting candles, being thankful for the harvest and all the bounties of life.  Remembering life's goodness in the midst of life's reality give substance to our future.