This past weekend was Father's Day and also Midsummer's Eve. Erik, Amy, and her boyfriend, Tim, were here to spend the time with us. And, we can’t forget their dog, Sweeney, a German Shepherd/Collie mix, who is six months old and full of pep and vinegar, not to mention, corn, wood chips, grass, moths, June Bugs, and I dread to think what else she may have eaten.
Saturday was perfect weather and we decided to build a bonfire in the firepit in our back yard to celebrate Midsummer’s Eve, a tradition that dates back to the time of my Viking ancestors.
Last summer, I dug a pit about two feet deep and five feet in diameter. I lined it with stones from the foundation of our old barn that was torn down a year ago. It’s nice to have those stones still be a small part of the farm. I put gravel in the bottom of the pit. It turned out rather nice, even if I do say so myself; a perfect place for a fire on this special evening.
The celebration of Midsummer’s Eve has been linked to the summer solstice since ancient times. People believed that midsummer plants, especially Marigolds, had miraculous healing powers and picked them on this night. Bonfires were lit to protect against evil spirits, which were believed to roam freely on this longest day of the year, when the sun turns southwards again as the days become shorter. In later years, witches were also thought to be on their way to meetings with other evil and powerful beings, though this is not the case today.
In Scandinavia, the Midsummer celebration originates from the Pagan times before Christianity; it was celebrated as a sacrifice time in the sign of fertility. I can assure you, no human or animal was sacrificed to the gods during our celebration, although a few marshmallows did go up in flames. I guess we could call that a sacrifice of sorts.
You can’t sacrifice marshmallows without a bonfire, and you can’t have a bonfire without wood. I’d been stockpiling all sizes of sticks and scrap wood. Sweeney helped us carry sticks to the firepit and had to chew on many of them in the process. We built a pyramid, beginning with small twigs, piling larger ones on top, and finally scraps of old boards stacked around it to form the pyramid. This would be an old Viking style bonfire.
The easy way to start a fire in such a pile, is to crumple some paper and other flammable material and light it with a match. You soon have a roaring fire. But that would be the easy way and anyone can do that. Tim wanted to start the fire the “Survivor Man” way. He split open a piece of “punky” wood and made a small hole in the piece. He put a small piece of cotton from a medicine bottle in the bottom along with some wood chips. Then he took a Swedish FireSteel (I’ll call it a Norwegian FireSteel for the sake of my ancestors), and struck the two pieces together, producing a spark to ignite the cotton and wood.
Be advised, if you plan to try this at home, it’s not as easy as it sounds. You need a lot of patience and breath, especially when it’s been raining for several days and all the wood and grass is not very dry. It takes a lot of blowing on the wood to get it to smolder and finally ignite into flames. After many minutes of huffing and puffing, a little smoke began to rise. He added more small shavings and continued blowing. After about twenty minutes a flame finally appeared. As I said, you’ll need lots of patience. Many people would have given up and struck a match, but not Tim.
As the flames grew bigger, he carefully inserted the burning chunk of wood into the center of the pyramid. It didn’t take long before flames were licking and climbing their way up the stack of wood. We soon had a flaming pyramid that would have made our Norwegian ancestors proud. I suspect it also chased away any evil spirits that may have been roaming around the back forty and our yard on Midsummer’s Eve. If it worked in ancient times, it should still work today!
It was very peaceful sitting near the fire, seeing the flames climb toward the sky, as we watched the sun set among beautiful, pink clouds, while the birds and frogs serenaded us from nearby trees and fields.
We called my brother, Arden, and he, Jan, and Kassie, joined us and brought marshmallows that we sacrificed on the fire. Some people like their marshmallows burned, not just browned. It was a peaceful, wonderful evening as we all sat and visited while we watched the fire. The clouds finally began to clear out and stars became visible all around us. It was a great way to celebrate Midsummer’s Eve. When the fire finally died down, we looked into the firepit and the burning embers were glowing and shimmering like molten lava in the bottom of the pit.
As we were walking back to the house in the dark, I thought to myself, we were all making memories for the future on this Midsummer’s Eve. What a great memory it will be to look back on.
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