Midsummer Night's Dreams

Now is the high-tide of the year, And whatever if life hath ebbed away. Comes looking back with ripply cheer. Now the heart is so full that a drop overfills it, We are happy now, because God wills it.


-JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

For centuries, wise women have known that a bit of midsummer madness and magic are good for the soul. This probably explains why in Europe, Midsummer's Eve (June 23) has traditionally been set aside as the night for high-spirited merrymaking and lighthearted bewitchment.

Midsummer's Night is also the high holy feast of the "Stillwaters," the mock New England sect imagined by author and illustrator Tasha Tudor. Stillwater followers-originally Tasha Tudor's family and friends-believe at life's simple pleasures are meant to be savored and that Nature is to be revered.

The Stillwater religion, which combines the best beliefs of the Shakers, Quakers, and Amish, is a state of mind, according to its creator. "Stillwater connotes something very peaceful," Eldress Tudor explains, "Life without stress. Nowadays, people are so jeezled up. If they took some chamomile tea and spent more time rocking on the porch in the evening. . . they might enjoy life more."

On Midsummer's Eve, the Stillwaters have a Great Party-plenty of music, dancing)n the barn, and a sumptuous summer supper. "Stillwater believers are very hedonistic. Life is to be enjoyed, not saddled with,"Tasha Tudor insists. The first commandment of the Stillwater religion, is to "Take joy" from each day. This is a catechism we should all embrace to experience Heaven on earth. Unfortunately, the Still waters don't proselytize door to door, so we are all on our own. Nonetheless, this credo invites personal investigation.

I love Midsummer's Day (June 24). For me, it's a personal mid-course correction for the year. I wander out into the backyard very early in the morning and pluck a blossom from the garden heavy with dew. With my fingers, I'll pat the dew upon my face, for legend has it that any woman who washes her face in the dew of Midsummer's Day will grow more lovely with the passing year. Fairy cakes are made for tea, midsummer's syllabub (a delightful concoction of cider, lemon, berries, and whipped cream) is prepared for a moonlit picnic, and personal dreams are renewed. Being Irish, I don't dismiss the belief in love charms, magic herbs, and divination, for 1 know there's more to this world than we'll ever hope to understand. But these days I'm not so much interested in what the future holds as 1 am in the present.

"I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens, but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string," the Canadian writer Lucy Maud Montgomery reveals through her heroine, Anne Shirley. When Midsummer arrives, it's a time to look ahead and dream. Perhaps, if one is lucky, the days ahead will unfold as a "never¬to-be-forgotten summer-one of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going-one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends and delightful doings, come as near to perfection as anything can come in the world."

May this potent Midsummer spell never be broken for you and those you love.