Editing Midsummer (section)

== Religious observance ==
=== Christian ===
The early [[Christianity|Christian Church]] designated 24 June as the [[feast day]] of the [[early Christian]] martyr [[John the Baptist|St John the Baptist]],<ref name=":1">{{cite web |title=Annual Midsummer Celebration |url=https://www.danishmuseum.org/visit/events/sankt-hans-aften |publisher=www.danishmuseum.org}}</ref> and the observance of St John's Day begins the evening before, known as [[Saint John's Eve]]. These are commemorated by many [[Christian denomination]]s, such as the [[Roman Catholic Church]], [[Lutheran Church]]es, and [[Anglican Communion]],<ref name="TIFCF2017">{{cite web |year=2017 |title=The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist: The Midsummer Nativity |url=http://www.instituteforchristianformation.org/JohntheBaptist.html |access-date=26 March 2018 |publisher=The Institute for Christian Formation |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite book |last=Morrill |first=Ann |title=Thanksgiving and Other Harvest Festivals |publisher=Infobase Publishing |year=2009 |isbn=978-1438127972 |page=19}}</ref> as well as by [[freemasonry]].<ref name=":3">[https://web.archive.org/web/20190622165902/https://www.freemasonrytoday.com/ugle-sgc/ugle/midsummer-and-midwinter-memorabilia Midsummer celebrations in freemasonry (Retrieved Saturday, June 22, 2019)]</ref> In [[Sweden]], Midsummer is such an important festivity that there have been proposals to celebrate the [[National Day of Sweden]] then, instead of on 6 June. There and in [[Finland]], [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]] and [[Lithuania]], Midsummer is a [[Public holidays in Latvia|public holiday]]. In Denmark and Norway, it may also be referred to as St. Hans Day.

In the 4th century AD, the undivided Christian Church made 24 June the [[Nativity of John the Baptist|feast day]] of [[Saint John the Baptist]]; it marks his birth, which the [[Gospel of Luke]] says was six months before [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus]].<ref name="FleterenSchnaubelt2001">{{cite book |last1=Fleteren |first1=Frederick Van |title=Augustine: Biblical Exegete |last2=Schnaubelt |first2=Joseph C. |publisher=Peter Lang |year=2001 |isbn=9780820422923 |page=197 |language=en |quote=The cult of John the Baptist began to develop in the first half of the fourth century. Augustine is the first witness to a feast of the birth of John the Baptist, which was celebrated on 24 June. This date was reckoned from Luke 1:36, according to which the angel Gabriel said to Mary, 'And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her,' and 24 June is precisely three months after March 25.}}</ref><ref name="Hill2003">{{cite book |last=Hill |first=Christopher |title=Holidays and Holy Nights: Celebrating Twelve Seasonal Festivals of the Christian Year |publisher=Quest Books |year=2003 |isbn=9780835608107 |page=163 |language=en}}</ref> Christians marked the birth of Jesus ([[Christmas]]) on 25 December, the Roman date of the winter solstice, so the feast of St John was set exactly six months earlier.<ref name="Hill2003" />

{{blockquote|Christ's Incarnation was closely tied to the 'growing days' (''diebus crescentibus'') of the solar cycle around which the Roman year was based. By the sixth century, this solar cycle was completed by balancing Christ's conception and birth against the conception and birth of his cousin, John the Baptist. Such a relationship between Christ and his cousin was amply justified by the imagery of scripture. The Baptist was conceived six months before Christ (Luke 1:76); he was not himself the light, but was to give testimony concerning the light (John 1:8–9). Thus John's conception was celebrated on the eighth kalends of October (24 September: near the autumn equinox) and his birth on the eighth kalends of July (24 June: near the Summer solstice). If Christ's conception and birth took place on the 'growing days', it was fitting that John the Baptist's should take place on the 'lessening days' ('diebus decrescentibus'), for the Baptist himself had proclaimed that 'he must increase; but I must decrease' (John 3:30). By the late sixth century, the Nativity of John the Baptist (24 June) had become an important feast, counterbalancing at midsummer the midwinter feast of Christmas.|Professor Éamonn Ó Carragáin, [[University College Cork]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ó Carragáin |first1=Éamonn |title=Ritual and the Rood |date=2005 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |page=83}}</ref>}}

Within [[Christian theology]], John the Baptist "was understood to be preparing the way for Jesus", with {{Bibleverse|John|3:30|KJV}} stating "He must increase, but I must decrease"; this is [[Christian symbol|symbolized]] in the fact that the sun's height in the sky and length of the day "begins to diminish" after the summer solstice and begins to increase after the winter solstice.<ref name="Yeats2015">{{cite book |last=Yeats |first=William Butler |title=A Vision: The Revised 1937 Edition: The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats |year=2015 |publisher=Scribner |isbn=9781476792118 |page=396 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="McNamara2000">{{cite book |last=McNamara |first=Beth Branigan |title=Christian Beginnings |publisher=Our Sunday Visitor |year=2000 |isbn=9780879730765 |language=en |quote=In England, 'Saint John's Tide' is combined with a midsummer celebration. Instead of the date of the summer solstice, they chose 24 June. This may be because of the Baptist's own words, 'He must increase, must decrease' (John 3:30). John was, of course, referring to Jesus. John's day comes at the time when the sun is beginning to decrease, and six months later, Christmas, comes at the time when the sun is beginning to increase.}}</ref> By the 6th century AD, several churches were dedicated to Saint John the Baptist and a [[Vigil#Eves of religious celebrations|vigil]], [[Saint John's Eve]], was added to the feast day. Christian priests held three [[Mass (liturgy)|Masses]] in churches for the celebration.<ref name="Birmingham1999">{{cite book |last=Birmingham |first=Mary |title=Word and Worship Workbook for Year B: For Ministry in Initiation, Preaching, Religious Education |publisher=Paulist Press |year=1999 |isbn=9780809138982 |page=790 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Neopagan ===
{{See also|Wheel of the Year}}

Many [[Modern paganism|neopagans]] celebrate midsummer. As forms of Neopaganism have widely different origins, observances can vary considerably despite the shared name. Some celebrate in a manner as close as possible to how they believe ancient pagans observed the summer solstice, while others observe the holiday with rituals culled from numerous other unrelated sources.

At the ancient monument of [[Stonehenge]], in the English county of Wiltshire, many people gather to observe the sunrise alignment with the stones on the summer solstice.

In [[Neo-druidism]], the term ''Alban Hefin'' is used for the summer solstice, as coined by the 18th century [[Wales|Welsh]] [[Romanticism|Romantic]] author and prolific literary forger [[Iolo Morganwg]].<ref name=":7">Owen, William (1832) ''A Dictionary of the Welsh Language: Explained in English; with Numerous Illustrations.''</ref>

Germanic neopagans call their summer solstice festival '''Litha''',<ref name="Cantrell2001">{{cite book |author=Gary Cantrell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=alD9apCD9bAC&pg=PA104 |title=Wiccan Beliefs & Practices: With Rituals for Solitaries & Covens |publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-56718-112-8 |pages=104}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{cite book |last=Polon |first=Linda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v5ibx_jlI5QC&pg=PT192 |title=The Whole Earth Holiday Book |publisher=Good Year Books |year=1983 |isbn=067316585X |page=192}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=June 2020}} which is part of the reconstructed [[Germanic calendar]] used by some [[Germanic Neopaganism|Germanic Neopagans]] and takes its name from [[Bede]]'s {{Lang|la|[[The Reckoning of Time|De temporum ratione]]}} that provides [[Old English|Anglo-Saxon]] names for the two months roughly corresponding to June and July as ''līða'',{{efn-ua|See [[Eth]]}} distinguished in [[An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary|Bosworth and Toller's dictionary]] as ''sē ǽrra líða'' ("the earlier Litha") and ''sē æftera līða'' ("the later Litha") with an [[Intercalation (timekeeping)|intercalary]] third month of ''līða'' on leap years or ''Triliði'' ("three-Litha" years).<ref name="Franklin2002">{{Cite web |title=Carla Nayland Article – Trilithi |url=http://www.carlanayland.org/essays/trilithi.htm |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=www.carlanayland.org}}</ref> In modern times, Litha is celebrated by neopagans who emphasize what they believe to be the [[Polytheistic reconstructionism|reconstruction]] of [[Anglo-Saxon polytheism|Anglo-Saxon]] [[Germanic paganism]].