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In this blog post, we will write about why people in Scandinavia celebrate midsummer.
Actually, this has very little to do with faith and very much to do with an astronomical phenomenon.
Midsummer: A Pagan Origin
Midsummer is a feast to celebrate the astronomical phenomenon of Summer solstice that occurs around the 21st of June each year in the Northern hemisphere.
This is actually the best way to describe it in general and neutral terms but actually, it is not just about that since the sun were a divinity in all pagan religions that
precedes the monotheistic religions that are dominant today, from Egypt to Norse mythology.
Up in the North, we are told by the 11th Century monk Adam of Bremen that the people in Scandinavia (commonly known as the Vikings) sacrificed animals and men of male gender
every seventh year during this day to their false pagan gods.
Luckily, these idols were thrown away and righteously denounced by the people living in Scandinavia when they heard about the One True and Only God (Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 44:25)
and what He had done for all humanity (John 3:16-17).
Midsummer: Modern celebration
Even though Christianity prevailed the celebration of midsummer continued and is now celebrated as the birthday of John the Baptist. This celebration has occurred since at
least the 2nd Century A.D.
In modern day Scandinavia people use to eat some fish-based meal (in Sweden), dancing around a pole covered in leafs that they dance around and drink a lot together with friends and family. The drinking has been a huge problem since the Middle Ages, actually, the Church tried to ban this but not.
A very funny clip about the Swedish way of celebrating midsummer (made by IKEA) can be viewed on YouTube.
In Sweden, the Church failed to make this holiday a feast to commemorate the birth of John the Baptist, in Denmark, Norway, and Finland there was much more success. The
midsummer there is known as John the Baptist’s day (Finland) or Saint Hans Day (Norway and Denmark).
The celebration is also somewhat different since they are using the sauna in Finland while they are burning paper “witches” in Denmark and Norway and singing a special song.
Next blogpost
The next blogpost will be published tomorrow.
It will be about what I can help you with.
Until then,
Rickard
Midsummer related items on Amazon.
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