Midsummer Keeping

Midsummer is easy to picture as a climax: the Sun at full power, a bonfire, herbs and flowers, abundance, a night kept awake on purpose. Midsummer Keeping starts after the picture has already become inconvenient. The west-facing room is too bright, the curtain is fading, plants need water more often, the night will not get dark when the household wants to sleep, and practical summer continues even after astronomical daylight begins to shorten. Mabel Tern treats the summer solstice as maintenance at maximum light. June 21, St John's Eve on June 23, and Midsummer Day on June 24 remain distinct while still forming a usable midsummer window. Bonfires lead into questions of gathering and made light after sunset; wells and water lead into the ordinary infrastructure of summer; herbs are named before they are gathered; shade, curtains, fans, rooms, storms, sleep, and plant care become legitimate seasonal witchcraft. This is summer-solstice witchcraft for ordinary homes under seasonal excess: long light, short nights, water, herbs, heat, weather, social gathering, boundaries, and the work of keeping a household usable through the rest of summer.