Nusnäs
Paper
27" x 6.5"

Ah, Midsummer, the beauty of it in Sweden, flowers are in bloom, week after week a new one comes, the water temperature is tolerable and then there is Midsummer night, in theory the longest day of the year, magical things happen, I always think of "Smiles of a Summer Night" or "Wild Strawberries" by Bergman, the magic of the night and the light. But I am rambling on here.... The celebration of Midsummer's Eve was since ancient times linked to the summer solstice. People believed that midsummer plants had miraculous and healing powers, in Sweden it is a custom for women to go out into nature on the eve and pick 7 to 9 different flowers to put under their pillow and at night they will dream of their future spouse (this did not work for me). In Sweden Midsummer celebration originates from the time before Christianity, it was celebrated as a sacrifice time in the sign of the fertility. One traditional thing that happens on midsummer in Sweden is the dance around the maypole, which is an incredibly phallic symbol of a center pole with two circles hanging on either side of it, here this dance is being represented on the folding card.