The summer solstice

Haha, well I didn't notice in equatorial Singapore - where is gets dark, quickly, at the same time each night - but back home in the UK, we've just had this. (On June 20th)

The summer solstice is the longest day of the year - ie the day with the most daylight hours. In the Northern hemisphere it usually falls around 21 June. (In the Southern hemisphere it falls around the end of December).

I think the scientific explanation is that this day is when the earth's axis tilts most towards the sun. To most of us in the UK, however, it is just a lovely long summer's day, when it gets light at 5am and the sun only sets at 11pm.

The solstice and days around it are also known as Midsummer, which has significance in pagan religions and myth. It was believed to be a time when spirits came out to play and fertility rites and other rituals might be carried out. In fact there are/were festivals in many countries across Europe for Midsummer. (Its equivalent of course being the winter solstice, Midwinter, which became re-branded as Christmas when the Romans arrived with Christianity.)

One of the most famous UK Midsummer connections is the ancient site of Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England. The circle of massive stones we see today was probably built between 3000 and 2000 BC (though there is evidence that this site was important as far back as 8000 BC, and it has undergone centuries of evolution and rebuilding). There is still some mystery as to both how and why Stonehenge was built, but its design is aligned with celestial elements, including a direct doorway to the rising sun of the summer solstice.

After Christianity, Midsummer was still celebrated with feasting, bonfires and festivities, but it didn't endure like the newly sanctioned Christmas did! Today we rarely celebrate it, though a few modern pagans including Neo-Druids (and, I suspect, some hippies!) do hold summer solstice rituals at Stonehenge. This connection is recent, and - from what I can gather - Stonehenge (plus the Neo-Druids) actually has no connection to ancient Iron Age Druids.

Another famous reference is of course Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, which depicts elements of fairies, magic and love - all very appropriate to this festival!

Painting: Scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream (1848) by Sir Edwin Landseer