Midsummer in Finland
Midsummer is truly a magical experience - Finns call Midsummer night “the nightless night” as the sun does not set at all and it is light throughout the night, even in southern Finland. Midsummer is celebrated at the end of June and the eve is always on a Friday (between 19.6 and 26.6) - and this year Midsummer Eve is on Friday 25 June. As every holiday in Finland, Midsummer is celebrated on both Midsummer Eve and Midsummer Day.
Many Finns spend their Midsummer at a cabin where they can swim in a lake, go to the sauna and eat grilled food. There is also a very specific sauna tradition that many foreigners might find a bit odd - Finns use a bouquet made out of leafy birch branches in the sauna to gently whip themselves with. The birch “bouquet” is called ‘vasta’ or ‘vitsa’, depending on the region you come from.
Bonfires are also an essential part of a Finnish Midsummer, especially in Eastern Finland. According to a pagan tradition, the Midsummer bonfire, ‘juhannuskokko’, was burned to symbolically cast away evil spirits and enhance light and increase the fertility of both crops and people.
Midsummer celebration includes many magical traditions and beliefs. There are various Midsummer spells from the olden days that people still do nowadays, either seriously or just as a fun tradition. The spells are most often used to foretell/predict love-related affairs, such as finding your future spouse or increasing fertility.
Here are a few Midsummer spells for you to try:
- To see your future husband or wife in your dreams, you need to pick 7 different flowers or herbs from 7 different meadows (in silence) and put them under your pillow for the night.
- You can look into a well or into a pond at night to see your future spouse.
- If you hear a cuckoo on Midsummer night, you can count how many years you have to wait until you meet your future spouse by counting how many times the cuckoo sings.
- If you roll around naked in a dewy meadow on Midsummer night, your future spouse will enter your life during the ongoing year.
Have a magical Midsummer! / Taianomaista Juhannusta! |