Midsummer Eve: love charms on St. John's night

Midsummer Eve, June 23, is the night before the feast of St. John the Baptist, so it was also called St. John's Eve. It falls close to the longest day of the year. In England, Ireland and parts of Scotland, people lit bonfires, gathered herbs and stayed up late. It was also a night for love charms. Some were meant to show a future sweetheart that very evening, while others were taken to bed in the hope of a dream.

Charms for a dream in England

The dumb cake

In 1755 the London magazine "The Connoisseur" printed a letter, said to be from a young woman in the country, about her Midsummer Eve. She and her two sisters tried the "dumb cake" together. The rule went: two make it, two bake it, two break it, and the third puts it under each of their pillows, and nobody was to say a word the whole time. Then each was supposed to dream of the man she was going to marry. The writer said she dreamed all night of a certain Mr. Blossom.

A coal under the plantain

The antiquary John Aubrey wrote that at noon on St. John's Day in 1694 he came upon twenty or so young women on their knees in a pasture behind Montague House in London. A young man explained that they were looking for a "coal" under the roots of plantain, a common weed, to put under their heads that night. Then they would dream of their future husbands. The coal, people said, could be found only on that day and at that hour.

Under the mugwort

Robert Chambers's "Book of Days" (1864) adds that young women also searched for "pieces of coal" under living mugwort, a tall wayside plant. These were really old, hard, black roots. The women put them under their pillows, hoping to dream of their lovers.

Oak blossom in Shropshire

At Pulverbatch in Shropshire, people still remembered in the 1880s a belief that the oak bloomed on Midsummer Eve and its flower faded before daylight. A young woman who wanted to know her lot in marriage spread a white cloth under an oak at night. In the morning she found a little dust on it, all that was left of the flower. She put the dust under her pillow, and her future husband was expected to appear in her dreams.

Yarrow on St. John's Eve in Ireland

A rhyme in County Laois

At Wolfhill, County Laois, a boy or girl went out at midnight on St. John's Eve to pull yarrow. From the moment of picking until the yarrow was under the pillow, they kept saying: "Yarrow, yarrow, good morrow to thee, come tell me the name of my true love to be." In plain words: good morning, yarrow, tell me the name of the one I'll love. They spoke to no one else and slept on the yarrow that night, hoping to dream of a future love.

A silent herb in County Roscommon

In Lisacul, County Roscommon, young women went out after midnight on St. John's Eve and picked a certain herb without speaking to anyone. They put it under the pillow and hoped to dream of a future husband.

Other customs of the night

Many Midsummer customs were not about dreams. Bonfires burned in English towns and villages, and in Ireland too. People gathered St. John's wort, vervain, rue and roses, believing the plants had special power that night. In England, girls set up sprigs of orpine, called "Midsummer Men," and watched which way the stalks leaned to learn whether a sweetheart was true. A rose picked on Midsummer Eve was sometimes kept wrapped in paper until Christmas. If it stayed fresh, the sweetheart was expected to come and take it. Fern seed, gathered on this night, was said to make a person invisible.

Today

Today, Midsummer is a time for long evenings outdoors. If you're curious, put a few garden herbs or wildflowers by your bed on June 23 and jot down your dream in the morning. It won't tell you whom you'll love, but one of the shortest nights of the year is a lovely time to notice what you're hoping for.

Related symbols

Sources

Dream interpretations are for entertainment.