SANKT HANS

Likes most countries, Britain took heathen festivals and adapted them to the Christian religion; Christmas, for instance. However, there is a notable exception. Unless you are a druid or decided pagan, a Brit is unlikely to celebrate Sankt Hans ("Saint Hans"). Scandinavians and other northern Europeans, on the other hand, have all been out this evening doing just that.

Hans is the name for John the Baptist, whose festival day is tomorrow. But that is just an excuse. In the same way as Christmas took over the heathen festival of the winter solstice and moved it a couple of days, so Sankt Hans has taken over the heathen festival of the summer solstice and moved it a couple of days. Midsummer was the time of the year when magical spirits - both good and evil - were at their most powerful. So peasants built a bonfire to frighten away witches and other bad things. Just in case the message didn't get through, a figure representing a witch was put on the top, and burnt.

So it was this evening. The bonfire had been ready for some time, after I had chopped down the fruit trees. My wife and I made a witch out of newspapers and some of my son's old clothes, filled it with fire crackers so that it would scream when burnt, and attached it to the top. Together with some of our neighbours, we had coffee and cake in the house, and then went down to the paddock at 9pm in order to light the bonfire and have a few drinks.

It was a lovely summer evening, but unfortunately, it has rained a lot here recently. Despite straw from my neighbour, fire lighters and pieces of dry wood, it took a fair amount of petrol to get the bonfire going. However, get going it did eventually. And after everyone had gone home, my wife and I spent an hour or so under a full moon watching it crackle and splutter while drinking a glass of wine. It was very hyggeligt.

Walter Blotscher