Celebrating seasonal rituals today is often like picking from a smorgasbord of hearty, simple dishes from diverse locales: deliberately rustic and mismatched, taken slightly out of context, but satisfying in a self conscious way. Solar rituals seem to be central to agricultural and pastoral communities wherever humans have gathered where the days cycle from short to long, a fact of life that even the most resolutely urban notice. In the north, even a mild winter can bring on that dreary feeling, and somehow seeing the sun once again on that commute home in the early evening brings a soft sigh of relief; it‚s over and summer is returning. In this book, subtitled Celebrating the Journey of the Sun from May Day to Harvest, John Matthews brings together diverse traditions, weaving suggestions for a seasonal practice with historical and ancient practices.
From Egypt to the Arctic, the sun has played a central role in the imaginations and celebrations of humanity, and this book provides a lovely introduction to a variety of seasonal practices. Summer Solstice is beautifully illustrated, with high quality photography and illustrations. It also reflects Matthews’ research skills and his love of folklore and folk practices, both ancient and modern. As I read the May Day chapter, I had the occasion to reminisce about May Day at Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where thousands of people cheer the arrival of the sun, who is carried across a small lake on a canoe escort, arriving to put down the spirits of winter, and often injustice. This very urban celebration is carried out each year by the Heart of the Beast Puppet Theater, with their 20-foot high creations. Then I turned the page, and there was a photo of one of my home town puppets! It’s not often we Midwesterners find ourselves featured in this sort of publication, and it is a testimony to Matthews’ inclusiveness in this book. He has assembled a vast array of material, presented in a very accessible format. Needless to say there are other surprises in this book, which avoids the very precious tone of some writing on seasonal celebrations by honoring both the ancient and modern, eastern and western, old world and new.
If you are looking for a beautiful introductory book for celebrating the season of summer, which includes both suggestions for celebrations and information from a variety of cultures, this is the book for you. If you are already familiar with solstice celebrations, you will still appreciate the quality of the book, but may want to dig deeper into more original sources.
(Quest Books, 2002)
