Summer Solstice

Yep. Longest day of the year indeed. It was almost 8:30 before the sun went down over here. Not much fanfare about it, though. I don't think there was even a mention of it on the news today. No fun pagan festivities going on.

From Wiki:

The pagans believed that it was a sacred holy day honoring the two most important elements: Fire and Water. The tradition is to burn fires at the end of the day and bathe in open waters at sunset, singing and dancing around 'pal' till midnight. At midnight, under the pretext of searching for "Fern flower/the flower of the Fern," unmarried men and women run into the forest. Ladies with a crown of flowers on their head (Polish: wianek), a symbol of their unmarried state, go first, singing. Next they are followed by single men. If you find the "flower of the Fern" the wishes of life may be fulfilled. However, nobody found it so far, but they lived happily together. The lucky man would return with a flower ring on his head, with the now engaged lady.

The closest I'll be getting to any of that today will be firing up the gas stove to make some hot dogs and having a shower before bed. Unfortunately I don't have any lucky man around to run into the forest with either. I'm sure the "lucky man" returned with more than a flower ring on his head...probably a big grin on his face, too! Dancing around the pole til midnight sounds like some sex euphemism to me! LOL Those pagans must've had some herbal viagra in the mix!

In Slavic religion, Kupala is the goddess of herbs, sorcery, sex and midsummer.

(Oh, good guess, eh?)