Summer Solstice and Tansys Golowan 2010

This year's Summer Solstice celebrations started on Solstice eve, where we had a bonfire at Tredethy, and watched the glorious sun setting. The following morning we were up to view the sunrise over the wheat fields behind our house.

Above: Summer Solstice sunrise at Tredethy

Later on Solstice day, we lit the candles on our grove shrine, (pictured above) and fired up our Tansys Golowan. We sat by the sacred fire and watched the sunset, and the afterglow slowly fade into the short summer solstice night (below).

On midsummer's eve we journeyed just a few miles to the ancient Iron Age hilltop fort of Castle-an-Dinas to join with the Old Cornwall Societies midsummer bonfire ceremony. In legend the hill top site is the last resting place of Ygraine and offers panoramic views across Goss Moor towards the north coast. This magnificent Iron Age Celtic fort dates from about the second or third century BC. It consists of three concentric circles of ditch and rampart, 850 feet in diameter and standing 700 feet above sea level.

As the sun dipped into the Atlantic ocean the fire was lit to honour St John and flowers were strewn on the fire by the Flower Maiden in an ancient ceremony, performed each year across the holy hilltops of Cornwall. As the Old Cornwall Society state in their leaflet "...the practice of celebrating Midsummer Eve in such a fashion goes back to remote pagan times: and the perpetuation of this interesting observance thus forms a bond between people of this present age living in Cornwall and their distant Celtic forbears."

Above: The Midsummer hilltop fire blazes at Castle-an-Dinas

Midsummer's Day was spent at our hilltop garden shrine, honouring the fey folk of the ancient land. As darkness fell, we toasted the spirits of the land and left offerings of wine and bread.

Above: Tansys Golowan at Tredethy

The evening after we travelled to Penzance, where we had been invited to re-visit a private stone circle in the heart of the Penwith Moors, where in 2001 we had performed a consecration ceremony and planted a millennium oak sapling. Here, as dusk fell across the land, we shared a meal around a fire in the centre of the sacred circle of stones and trees.

After dark, we headed into Penzance town, where we witnessed the Mazey Eve fireworks and midnight serpent dance, which was led by the Golowan band, the Mock Mayor of the Quay, and Penglaze, the Old 'Oss of Penzance. The following day was Mazey Day in Penzance, and we spent the morning in town watching the colourful parades and listening to a wide variety of music. The town was packed, the festival seems to get busier every year. The sun continued to shine and we felt that it was a perfect end to our week-long celebrations.

On our return to North Cornwall, I discovered that the latest issue of Poetry Cornwall had arrived with my poem Zennor Quoit published within its pages. A great way to celebrate the midsummer full moon, which rose behind the old oak at the edge of the meadow to the front of our cottage.

Much psychic vision and inspiration has come from this intensely magical Solstice, more of which will be written about later this year. Let's just say that more of the mysterious thread of why we were led to leave our life in West Penwith for the wilds of North Cornwall have become very apparent. Watch this space! So a truly magical and special Summer Solstice period for us here at the Druid Grove of Bega and one which is truly unique to the ancient land of Kernow.

We did manage to catch up with some old friends, but we simply ran out of time, so sincere apologies to those whom we didn't quite manage to reconnect with!

Above: The Master of Ceremonies, Golowan band, and Mock Mayor
put out a midnight call for Penglaze.

Above: Penglaze, the Midsummer 'Oss

Above: A colourful dragon at Mazey Day