White Rabbits! Brown Hares! And blimey, I’ve actually reached month six of the project. So far I’ve been in the sea, I’ve been in the attic, I’ve planted, I’ve foraged, I’ve eaten, a lot, I’ve invoked, I’ve burnt, I’ve made, weighed, played and sprayed, and I still have another seven months to go. Isn’t it time you subscribed?
In the words of Rodgers and Hammerstein, June is Bustin’ Out All Over with the ritual year gearing up to its midpoint. And we are folklore a-go-go this month. We’ve just started Whitsuntide, have two first days of summer, a solstice, a midsummer, an old midsummer, the longest day, the old longest day, Father’s Day, and a horse skull obby oss pops up again, and that’s just the old standards.
But what about your June? What’s traditional for you as Gemini slides into Cancer? Will you be playing pooh-sticks? Charming worms? Watching the weather? Dancing skyclad? Donning St John’s Wort? Baking dew into cakes? Tell me! I want to know! Especially, now I’m bereft of potatoes, I want to know your gardening traditions – what should I be doing this month other than planting hollyhocks on St Nectan’s Day (obviously)? Do you have any rituals for the full moon? What about celebrating the solstice? And what instant tradition are you hoping to leave behind this month? I for one, am hoping it will be the tradition of holding up a sign that says ‘have you turned the volume up?’ I’ll never be cocky enough not to suffer from #FolkloreFOMO, so help a pal out, eh?
So here’s your glimpse into how I’m going to be seeing out the first half of 2020:
3 June – Doing my laundry and drinking rum for Mother Shipton’s Holiday
11 June – Getting my needles out for International Yarnbombing Day
23 June – Staking out the Broadwater Skeletons
Let me know your thoughts in the comments. You can also follow and tweet me @lilithepunk and through the hashtags #EverydayLore and #FolkloreFOMO on Twitter, and if you want to keep up to date with a daily or weekly dose of this foolery, subscribe!
Right, I’m off to find some Scotch Whisky… Happy first meteorological first day of summer!
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Resources
Cooper, Q. and Sullivan, P. (1994) Maypoles, Martyrs & Mayhem: 366 Days of British Myths, Customs & Eccentricities, London, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Day, B. (1998) A Chronicle of Folk Customs, London, Hamlyn
Forest, D. (2016) The Magical Year, Seasonal Celebrations To Honour Nature’s Ever-Turning Wheel, London, Watkins
Jones, J. and Deer, B. (1987) Cattern Cakes and Lace, London, Dorling Kindersley Limited
Leendertz, L. (2019) The Almanac, A Seasonal Guide to 2020, London, Mitchell Beazley
Roud, S. (2006) The English Year: A Month-By-Month Guide To The Nation’s Customs and Festivals, From May Day to Mischief Night, London, Penguin Books
