THE SUMMER SOLSTICE: A Mystical Marriage
By Jim Miles
WHY DO BRIDES PREFER TO GET MARRIED IN THE MONTH OF JUNE?
AND WHY IS A HONEYMOON CALLED A HONEYMOON?
Celebrating nature's creative powers was the canvas on which the
seasonal drama of the Summer Solstice was painted. Because their lives
were so intricately entwined with the vagaries of nature, the ancient
pagans were keenly aware of its divine power. They were in awe of
the incredible strength of the sun as it was ascending to the heights
of its power and potency. The ancients also recognized that the earth
goddess had emerged at the beginning of spring and that she was now
at the height of her power and fertility. The Summer Solstice marked
the marriage of the gods and goddesses and their union as the force
that generated the season's crops.
Elaborate fertility festivals emerged celebrating the symbolic conjugal
union of the sun god and earth goddess. Many cultures celebrated the
divine marriage and its consummation of their gods and goddesses
during the early part of May. Therefore it was considered unlucky
for mortals to get married during this month because they would be
competing with the gods and goddesses. To avoid such bad luck most
couples delayed their weddings until June.
The month of June was named after Juno, the sister and wife of
the Roman god Jupiter. She was known as Queen of the Gods and
the Goddess of Marriage. The first (or only) full moon in June was
called the Honey Moon because June was usually the best time to
harvest honey from the hives. Believed to stimulate love and fertility,
newlyweds were served honey-based
foods and beverages during the first
month of their marriage. Traces
of this tradition were found in the
name given to the holiday getaway
immediately following the wedding:
the honeymoon.
Another reason that June was
such an excellent time for weddings
was because it occurred between the
planting season and the harvesting
of crops. People had more free time
for frolicking, merrymaking, and
celebrating. For these reasons, in much of Europe, the Summer Solstice
was also known as Midsummer's Day. On the eve of the Summer
Solstice, the verdant landscape teemed with sacred bonfires and torchbearing
festivities honoring the divine union of the exalted sun god
with the ripening earth goddess. Rituals and games were played wherein
young singles mixed and partied. To ward off evil spirits and increase
sexual potency, bedecked and garlanded couples, holding hands, would
jump over the burning fires. Later in this nocturnal revelry couples
would wander off into the fields and indulge in passionate lovemaking.
This was all part of a sacred ritual as the villagers believed that by
making love outside they added their personal passion to Mother
Nature's passion thereby enhancing the fertility of the land and its
crops. Because of these activities among young couples, as well as the
numerous weddings celebrated at this time, the Summer Solstice was
also known as All-Couples Day.
Just as it celebrated the potency of the sun's rays, the Summer
Solstice also celebrated yin, the female energy of Mother Earth. Because
of the power of the feminine earth energies radiating throughout the
soil, the Summer Solstice was considered to be the best time to gather
nature's most powerful healing herbs. Among the herbs gathered
were mugwort, chamomile, geranium, thyme, pennyroyal, lavender,
mistletoe, vervain and heartsease. Not only were these herbs known
for their healing power, but also for their aromatic properties when
thrown on Midsummer festival bonfires. These medicinal and magical
scents were the precursors of what is known today as aromatherapy.
Thus the day of the Summer Solstice was also known as Gathering
Day.
The Summer Solstice is about the oneness of God, nature and man.
It is about the union of male and female energies. The ancient pagans
did not see God as separate from nature, separate from man. They
felt a connection with the earth, the sun, and the seasons. They saw
everything as expressions of the divine. Their gods and goddesses were
metaphors for them, mental constructs that reinforced their sense of
the oneness with the "All That Is." Their rituals revealed awareness
that one’s thoughts, intentions, desires and passions affected nature
just as nature and its seasons affected man.
