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Midsummer!
21/06/2023
We at Fristaden would like to wish everyone a pleasant Midsummer.
Midsummer is a historical tribute to farming society. Part of the midsummer celebration is specifically about the transition between spring and summer when people sowed and hoped for a good harvest.
A more far-fetched explanation for the celebration is that Midsummer is a breaking point in the working year in farming society.
From the beginning, Midsummer was celebrated in memory of John the Baptist and until 1952, Midsummer Eve always fell on June 23, i.e. the day before John the Baptist's Day on June 24.
But since this disrupted the working week, it was decided that Midsummer would instead be celebrated on a Friday, and nowadays Midsummer occurs between June 20 and 26.
Who was John?...
According to the Gospel of Luke, John the Baptist must have been born six months before Jesus. That is why John the Baptist's Day and Midsummer Day for so many years were celebrated on June 24. As of 2003, however, John the Baptist's Day is celebrated on the Sunday after Midsummer Day.
The story of John the Baptist begins with the priest Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth. They are both getting old. They have no children. But then they meet an angel and are told that they will have a child and name him John, which means "graced by God".
John worked towards change
When John became an adult, he prepared people for Jesus' arrival. He was passionate about people changing. He urged them to ask forgiveness for their sins and do right.
John baptized Jesus. It can be read in the Gospel of Matthew 3:13-14.
In the past, people talked about the night of Midsummer being magical and full of supernatural beings; maybe you have heard that when you put seven kinds of flowers under your pillow on Midsummer Eve, you will dream of the one you're going to marry.