Summer solstice - the highlight of the summer! It is a very special day that our ancestors celebrated in their stone circles. The daylight reaches deep into the night or - depending on latitude - the sun does not set at all. So it is not surprising that for some European countries this is one of the most important holidays of the year. People yearn for light and warmth, they celebrate the peak of the sun in all its glory and splendour.
In the sun calendar, which is illustrated by fairy tales, it is the time of marriage - wedding time. In German "wedding" is called "Hochzeit", which means "high time". Symbolically, this time is about connecting with the highest, the best and the strongest - the inner and outer partner.
See what this little mouse in a Bosnian tale experienced, when wanting to find a bride:
The mouse, who wanted to get married
Long ago, the mouse decided to get married.
"So, you want to get married. Who do you want to marry?" people asked.
"My bride has to descend from the highest, the most beautiful and the strongest!" said the mouse.
"The highest is the sun," people said.
"Well, then I'll just get my girl from the sun!"
Immediately, the mouse went to the sun and asked: "Dear sun, I beg you, let me marry your daughter. "
"But mouse, why exactly my daughter?"
"You are the highest, the most beautiful and the strongest!"
"It may well be that I am tall and beautiful. But the strongest I'm certainly not! " - "Who could be stronger than you?" the mouse has asked.
"The cloud! Often she pushes in front of me and I cannot shine my light for you on earth. What good is my strength then? - Better go to her. ”
The mouse ran straight to the cloud: "Cloud, I want to marry and I've heard that you have a beautiful daughter. Will you let me marry her? "
"Good mouse," the cloud said, "why do you come to me?"
"Because I've heard that you're the strongest!"
"But no," the cloud said, "I'm not the strongest at all."
"Who could be stronger than you?"
"The wind! - If he blows, then he drives me before him wherever he wants. He is much stronger than me. Go to him."
Quickly the mouse ran to the wind: "Hey, wind! It's time for me to get married. Now, I have heard that you have a beautiful daughter. Will you let me marry her? "
"Now, tell me, mouse, why do you come to me?"
"Because I've heard that you are the strongest!"
"I should be the strongest? - You're wrong. "
"Who could be stronger than you? - You drive the clouds in front of you and you even tear the roofs off the houses. "
"You're right, mouse. But look at the oak there on the hill. All day I run against her. I shake her and storm through her branches. But she remains unaffected. I tried everything, but she has withstood my strength for three hundred years. She is much stronger than me. Go to her! "
The mouse ran straight to the oak.
"Hey, oak!"
"What do you want from me, mouse?"
“I've heard that you have a beautiful daughter. Will you let me marry her? "
"Why do you come to me, of all people?"
"Because I've heard that you're the strongest. For three hundred years, the wind is already shaking you, but cannot hurt you as much as he tries. "
"You're right. But I'm not the strongest after all. "
"Who could be stronger than you?"
"At the bottom of my roots, there is somebody gnawing at me. He's been gnawing for many years, and not much is missing, before I will go down. He is much stronger than me. Go to him! "
So the mouse crawled under the roots of the oak tree. And who does he find there? - A mouse!
Immediately, the mouse asked the other mouse for his daughter’s hand.
So, our little mouse ended up marrying the most beautiful, highest and strongest bride of them all - another mouse.
What a determined little mouse! As he strove for the highest, the best and the strongest, he recognized exactly this in his own kind - and thus also in himself.
This is what we celebrate on the summer solstice: our tireless search for the highest, best and strongest, inside and outside, in order to then unite with it.
What a happy ending!
Andrea Hofman, 2020
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