It seems as though spring has only just begun, but we are fast approaching midsummer’s day on 21 June. This is known as the summer solstice, when the sun is farthest from the equator and is at its highest point in the sky. This means that we have the shortest night and longest day of the year.
According to English Heritage, the word solstice comes from the Latin word for sun (sol) and the word meaning to stand (sistere). It is thought that the name refers to the point in the year when the sun rises and sets in the same place along the horizon, rather than moving position as it normally would in the course of the earth’s rotation.
This time of year has been celebrated by humans since the ancient Neolithic period, as part of the custom of marking the Equinox (the days in spring and autumn when the night and day are of equal length) and the winter solstice in December, when the day is shortest and the night is the longest of the year.
It’s thought that these days were significant for the crop cycles, and thanks were offered to the heavens as a way of encouraging bountiful harvests. Each country and region had its own particular customers for marking the summer solstice. In the pre-Christian era, it was common to light bonfires to encourage the sun and ward off evil spirits.
The most famous site to celebrate the solstice is Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain, but Wales has many of its own standing stone circles and ancient monuments that date back to the Neolithic era. One of the most well known is Bryn Celli Ddu tomb on Anglesey.
The solstice is also an important date on the Christian calendar, and celebrations are combined with St John’s Day on 24 June, commemorating St John the Baptist.
If you are looking for a Welsh love spoon pendant, please get in touch today.