Onlyafewdays

It's so quiet in here that I wanted to wish you all happy Midsummer before I leave to the countryside to celebrate it. To me Midsummer is the most beloved and in Finland also the second biggest festivity in a year after the Christmas. It's one of the rare celebrations that are still without any merchandise and commerciality and still pretty much purely "pagan". The festivities are about celebrating the sun (midsummer solstice) and nature blooming.

The way I celebrate Midsummer is pretty much the same way every Finn does. Our family goes to our summer cottage by the lake in the countryside. For the Midsummer the cottage is decorated with fresh birch branches. We'll swim in the lake, enjoy the company of other family members and spend as much time as possible outdoors and in the nature. Going to sauna is a very important part of the evening. Sauna is a fire heated room, where steam is produced by throwing water to the fire heated stones. In the sauna we "whip" ourselves with fresh birch branches while calming our inner thoughts. It feels really good and purifying though I know it sounds like some weird form of a self-abusive behavior.

In the evening, we lit the midsummer bonfire and watch the fire. There are also other bonfires all around the lake, which is really beautiful. People gather around the bonfires, sometimes also with rowing boats by the lake side, not speaking and just staring at the fire. It has something very spiritual in it. In some cases the spirituality might also refer to the excessive amount of spirits some members of the family have enjoyed by the time the bonfire is set on fire. But isn't there a greater moment to reach your Finnish line than around a huge bonfire...?

I stay up as long as I can and enjoy the long, white night. I might also practice some folk magic you're supposed to practice on Midsummer. Though the last time I gathered my seven different species of flowers and slept them under my pillow, I only woke up with bug bites on my face and not with a future husband's picture on the mind, like promised. So maybe this year I'll just try the one where you run around a dwell naked...…

You too, enjoy the sun and hence life blooming. There's huge magic glowing in the air...