Mid-summer? But, it just got here...

Yesterday was yet another special day here in DK that I didn't even know about until mid-afternoon. It is now officially summertime, with the summer solstice taking place this passed Monday. The summer solstice, as you know, is the longest day of the year, in terms of hours of sunlight. From this point forward, the daylight hours will now progressively shorten by a few seconds each day until the winter solstice, when the cycle reverses again.

Moving on, I was naturally confused (as usual) as to why yesterday was a special day in the Danish grand scheme of things. Thus, I consulted several Danish citizens, assuming they were well-versed in their national holiday schedule. "It's got something to do with the longest day of the year, I think." was a typical response, prompting me to point out that MONDAY was the solstice and therefore, the 'longest day' of the year. My panel of experts all seemed to acknowledge this point and all of us were seemingly left in the dark on the subject, despite the copious amounts of daylight.

Several things did consistently check out with everybody's description of the day's festivities: there were barbecues and there were bonfires. But, these weren't just any old bonfires. These were fires built to burn witches, inkeeping with Danish quasi-summer solstice-but not really tradition (more confusion sets in). Needless to say, we all soon wanted to find out what the heck was going on wih these wacky rituals and thus, I have consulted the greatest compilation of information that has ever been assembled anywhere, ever: Wikipedia.

Yesterday was Sankt Hans' aften, celebrating the eve of the midsummer holiday. Although science has currently calculated that June twentieth or the twenty-first are the longest days of the year, the Roman calendar originally marked this date as the twenty-fourth of the same month. This pre-Christian tradition gave way to many pagan rituals that celebrated the changing of the seasons. It was commonly believed that certain midsummer plants held special healing properties and thus were harvested on or around this time. However, as the sun had reached its northernmost point and was now beginning to travel southwards again, people thought that evil spirits used this period to move about freely and might prove to be disruptive. To counteract these shenanigans, healing waters from wells were drawn and bonfires were contructed to ward off any unwanted apparitions.

Danish Vikings continued with these customs for many years. Eventually, in the early twentieth century, a small witch made out of straw and cloth was placed on the fire to commemorate the church-led witch-burnings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Communities that gather around these fires sing a midsommervise or a "midsummer hymn" that was originally composed in 1885, entitled, ''vi elsker vort land," which translates to ''we love our country." It is also common practice to hold these fires close to bodies of water today.

Such was the case last night, as the fire was held close to the shores of the Aarhus Bay. After a delicious BBQ in Mindeparken (thanks to Thomas Bager and his girlfriend, Stine), I accompanied several others to the nearby shores. Upon arriving there, this is what we discovered:


First of all, there was no witch being burned. A little disappointing, seeing as how this is done to release the witch's spirit from the area and send it to some mountain in Germany, where it can meet up with other witches. If that pour soul wasn't taken care of last night, who knows where it could be by now... Secondly, I don't know what types of evil spirits the creators of this fire were intending to ward off, but frankly, I wasn't convinced. This might work for a few imps, maybe even a wood sprite, but certainly not for any ghoul of note. I was expecting a fire at least two or three-hundred stories tall, just to be safe. I think the other people in attendance wanted the same, as their singing left much to be desired. It was pleasant, but it wasn't quite as powerful as I would have thought it might be. Furthermore, all of the songs sung sounded exactly like several popular Christmas carols. If I was a transient evil spirit, I can honestly say, I'd have probably kept a-marchin' right on through town.

All in all though, it was nice to experience another Danish holiday. I'm going to call it a night for now, but I should be back tomorrow with a look at this weekend's upcoming matchup. Until then, enjoy your daylight while you still have it.