I'm taking part in the SFR Brigade Midsummer Blog Hop, and there are some fantastic prizes up for grabs.
The point of this event is to celebrate Mid summer and The Summer Solstice (although in the UK today, it's grey and damp and very unlike the middle of summer!) According to Wikipedia, 'a solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year as the Sun reaches its highest or lowest excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere.'
My beloved Wales was the inspiration for the settings of most of my stories, including my Fantasy 'Dancing With Fate', in which I sent a Greek muse to 5th Century Wales. That was fun to write. But what has that to do with Mid Summer and the Solstice? I hear you ask? Well, not a lot, apart from the fact that the druids in Wales would have held many rituals in celebration of the event, as well as the Druids at Stonehenge.However, late one spring, I watched the mist rolling over the mountains in front of my home in Wales, at sunset, and in my mind was transported to the planet which became a major setting in my first SF romance novel 'Starquest' and when I wrote a sequel 'Children Of The Mist', it became the main focus of the whole story. I named the planet Niflheim', after the land of cold and mist in the Norse legends.
The people have a fairly simple, rural way of life, and although not unduly superstitious, they would certainly enjoy celebrating the longest day on their world, although mid summer on all areas of the planet would still see vast areas of snow covered landscape, and chilly temperatures with occasional snow flurries! So the midsummer solstice celebrations would be quite different to those we experience here on Earth!
Here's a trailer I made for 'Children Of The Mist'.
On our Earth, Midsummer's Day and the Summer
Solstice are not on the same day.
The longest day in the northern hemisphere is either the
20th or 21st of June, whilst Midsummer's Day in Europe is traditionally on 24
June.
This discrepancy is said to have been caused by the variants of
the Julian Calendar and the Tropical Year further confused by the Gregorian
Calendar.
Midsummer's Eve is a time associated with witches, magic, fairies
and dancing. On the eve of Midsummer's Day, many bonfires were once lit all over the
country. This was in praise of the sun, for the days were getting shorter and
the sun appeared to be getting weaker, so people would light fires to try and
strengthen the sun.
Practice of this ancient ritual, which also includes a Summer
Solstice Circle Dance, is now mainly confined to Cornwall, the West Country, and
London's Hampstead Heath.
Midsummer's Superstitions
Roses are of special importance on Midsummer's Eve. It is said
that any rose picked on Midsummer's Eve, or Midsummer's Day will keep fresh
until Christmas.
At midnight on Midsummer's Eve, young girls should scatter rose
petals before them and say:
Rose leaves, rose leaves,
Rose leaves I strew.
He that will love me
Come after me now.
Then the next day, Midsummer's Day, their true love will visit
them.
Right, back to the PRIZES:
The Grand Prize is a a KINDLE! Runner up gets 20 SFR titles and a gift card. The winners will be chosen using random.org.
So to maximise your chances, Go! Visit those other blogs and leave comments!
All you need to do to enter is pop along to the blogs listed blow and comment on as many as you want (only ONE comment per site will count as an entry). Each time you comment at a stop, you’ll earn one entry into the grand prize – so the more sites you visit, the greater your chances of winning. The winners will be drawn at random on the 24th June and announced HERE
Here are the Midsummer Blog Hop Participants
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