Post by Graveyardbride on Jun 20, 2023 1:58:13 GMT -5
Midsummer Baal Fires and Dances
This season is still made memorable in Ireland by lighting fires on every hill, according to the pagan usage, when the Baal fires were kindled as part of the ritual of sun-worship, though now they are lit in honor of St. John. The great bonfire of the year is still made on St. John’s Eve, when all the people danced round it, and every young man takes a lighted brand from the pile to bring home with him for good luck to the house.
In ancient times, the sacred fire was lighted with great ceremony on Midsummer Eve; and on that night, all the people of the adjacent country kept fixed watch on the western promontory of Howth, and the moment the first flash was seen from that spot, the fact of ignition was announced with wild cries and cheers repeated from village to village, when all the local fires began to blaze, and Ireland was circled by a cordon of flame rising up from every hill. Then the dance and song began round every fire, and the wild hurrahs filled the air with the most frantic revelry.
Many of these ancient customs are still continued, and the fires are still lighted on St. John’s Eve on every hill in Ireland. When the fire has burned down to a glow, the young men strip to the waist and leap over or through the flames; this is done backwards and forwards several times, and he who braves the greatest blaze is considered the victor over the powers of evil and greeted with tremendous applause. When the fire burns still lower, the young girls leap the flame, and those who leap clean over three times back and forward will be certain of a speedy marriage and good luck, with many children. The married women then walk through the lines of the burning embers; and when the fire is nearly burnt and trampled down, the yearling cattle are driven through the hot ashes, and their back is singed with a lighted hazel twig. These hazel rods are kept safely afterwards, being considered of immense power to drive the cattle to and from the watering places. As the fire diminishes, the shouting grows fainter, and the song and the dance commence; while professional storytellers narrate tales of fairy-land, or of the good old times long ago, when the kings and princes of Ireland dwelt among their own people, and there was food to eat and wine to drink for all comers to the feast at the king’s house. When the crowd at length separates, everyone carries home a brand from the fire, and great virtue is attached to the lighted brone, which is safely carried to the house without breaking or falling to the ground. Many contests also arise among the young men; for whoever enters his house first with the sacred fire brings the good luck of the year with him.
On the first Sunday in Midsummer, all the young people used to stand in lines after leaving chapel to be hired for service – the girls holding white hands, the young men each with an emblem of his trade. The evening ended with a dance and the revelry was kept up until the dawn of the next day, called “Sorrowful Monday,” because of the end of the pleasure and the frolic.
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The strange dance practiced at Midsummer in Ireland round the Baal fires can clearly be traced from the East to Erin; and its origin was evidently a religious symbol and rite. The Greeks practiced it from the most ancient times. It was called the Pyrrhic dance – from pur fire – and simulated the windings of a serpent.
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At Midsummer, the fairies try to pass round the Baal fires in a whirlwind in order to extinguish them, but the spirits may be kept off by throwing fire at them. Then the young men are free to leap over the burning embers and drive the cattle through the flames, while coals of fire must also be passed three times over and three times under the body of each animal.
Source: Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms and Superstitions of Ireland (1887) by Lady Jane Francesca Wilde.
