Summer solstice

While its celebration goes back centuries, the summer solstice is not connected to any national holiday in Canada — though it is in some other developed countries. So it's sometimes easy to be overlooked.

In fact, the summer solstice tends to be written off, at least by the more skeptical, as a festival for hippies, or people into witchcraft.

But more than just tree huggers may subconsciously celebrate the longest day of the year, which typically falls on June 20 or 21 in the Northern Hemisphere.

Like an ancient recess bell, it sounds the kickoff to summer holidays.

Ancient people, such as Europe's Druids, the Celtic sect that observed pagan rituals tied to nature, saw the period surrounding the summer solstice as yearly downtime.

After many hard weeks of planting and tending crops, it was time to sit back and relax. In effect, the summer solstice began a period of watching the grass grow.

In tune with the seasons, Druids used the sun as an alarm clock. Is this you during the summer? If you are someone who feels compelled to raise small plants, you might be especially in touch with your inner Druid.

The Anglo Saxons called the summer solstice Thingtide. "Thing" historically referred to a meeting. For them, a thing was held in late June to organize which crops would be planted and harvested for the winter to come.

You should also check your roots if you feel an urgent tug to buy campfire marshmallows. Across Europe, bonfires set ablaze after dark honoured the solstice, and the long days it heralded, and they still do.

Short shadows

The word solstice is from the Latin and literally means "sun stands still." The solstice is a twice-yearly occurrence, in December and June, when the earth's axis tilts toward or away from the sun.

During the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the North Pole is tilted toward the sun and the sun is at the highest point in the sky (from the perspective of Earth at least).

This means it takes the sun the longest to pass across the sky. Each day after, the days get a little shorter until the trend is reversed at the winter solstice.

(In the Southern Hemisphere, the summer solstice is usually celebrated on Dec. 21.)

At noon, check your shadow. Because of the sun's high angle, shadows are the shortest at noon on any day, and this effect is accentuated during the summer solstice.

What to do on solstice

Today, summer solstice campfire celebrations are popular in cooler northern countries like Iceland, Poland, Latvia, Denmark and Sweden. The summer holiday is more common in northern communities, such as Reykjavik, Iceland, where the sun barely sets on the solstice.

The rock formations at Stonehenge have become a solstice party destination, with as many as 30,000 people some years waiting for the sunrise on solstice morning, including hippies, ravers and modern Druids.

A similar sunrise watch occurs in Orkney, Scotland, and continues with a weeklong music, literature and drama solstice festival.

Rising Day for Anishinabe

In Canada, Aboriginal Day coincides with the summer solstice. It was selected in 1996 after the Assembly of First Nations called for a day to unite and celebrate native cultures.

The date had meaning because aboriginal societies traditionally marked the summer solstice one way or another.

To the Anishinabe of the Great Lakes region, it's known as Rising Day, when prayers are said for healing medicines and a good harvest.

The Seminole of Oklahoma and New Mexico's Zuni perform corn dances — for rain and the bounty of maize, bean and squash crops. Similarly, Mohawks do Wainodayo, a dance for ripe strawberries, a fruit believed to renew the spirit.

The Dakota hold annual sun dances in North Dakota around the summer solstice, which has been a long tradition of many First Nations from the central North American plains region.

The solstice's role as a festive occasion shifted as Christians moved to convert native and pagan societies. Solstice was replaced with St. John the Baptist's birthday on June 24, for example. But there are still remnants of the pagan holiday in Quebec, with bonfires and parades on Fête nationale. (In 1977, the title was changed from St-Jean-Baptiste Day by René Lévesque, in an attempt to include all Quebecers, not just those of French background.)

But what comes first?

In the Northern Hemisphere, the official first day of summer is the day of the solstice.

It ushers in summer at varying times and dates, depending on the year.

Some people argue against the official date, claiming that if the sun is at its peak that day, only to decline afterward, summer actually starts before then.

On his website badastronomy.com, astronomer Phil Plait argues against connecting the solstice to the first days of winter and summer. "I feel instead that the midpoint of the seasons are really at these times," he contends, arguing: "The seasons themselves start a month and a half before then."

Irish traditions more closely match Plait's ideal, with a long summer in Ireland commencing May 1 and ending the first Saturday in October.

In many countries, the summer solstice is a time to celebrate life, whether through a religious ceremony that seeks help with crops, a ritual request for fertility or a June wedding, which is still a common occurrence today. For this and other summer traditions, you can thank your pagan roots.