Then doth the joyfull feast of John the Baptist take his turne

St. John's Tide - a welcome, and some housekeeping

Welcome - and Merry Johnsmas!

I admit it - I have a tendency to claim every holiday in succession as my favorite, but I suppose that’s the beauty in the turning of the calendar…ever ancient, ever fresh & new. St. John’s Tide, this summertime celebration of the nativity of John the Baptist, has a special place in my heart. It ushered in a transformational “a-ha!” moment when I began encountering the liturgical calendar over a dozen years ago, and now it’s hard to imagine Christmas celebrations without their polar star of Johnsmas. These two feasts illuminate & enrich one another, calling out to each other from that distance between Midsummer & Midwinter.

We celebrated St. John’s Eve last night with a bonfire, lemon-balm strawberry shortcake, and elderflower cordial - such a delight.

This year, rather than thoroughly weeding the strawberry patch, we let the St. John’s Wort stay. It’s right at home among the strawberries at Midsummer, after all - and the kids picked some sprigs to toss into the bonfire for our vigil.

My husband also chopped off a piece of our Christmas tree’s trunk (which we stored in an old loafing shed) and added that to the fire…so our Johnsmas bonfire was fueled with last year’s Christmas tree. I feel like this is one of those traditions that I know immediately will stick for years!

We tweaked the traditional Midsummer strawberry shortcake a bit by whirling up some lemon balm in the food processor and cutting it into the butter - that bright, fresh lemon flavor combined with strawberries is just the bees knees.

I also sent out a last-minute note to another neighboring farm-family to see if they still had any elderflower cordial left (farm-grown & homemade!) - they sweetly dropped off a few bottles, so we got to have our elderflower toast to St. John!

Bringing back the neighborhood bonfire table!

I was extra conscious of folding in an ancient tradition this year - historically, in many rural English communities, some homes would light a bonfire near their front door and dress a bonfire table…set with ale, cheese, bread, and other delicacies. They’d invite any passersby to come and join them for a meal and merrymaking! Though folks aren’t exactly out singing Johnsmas carols anymore these days, we still made sure to hop out to the road to wave-down neighbors driving by to come and enjoy some shortcake and beverages, and to roast some s’mores over the fire. It ended up being such a fun combination of folks coming & going, all catching up & enjoying a summer evening on a whim.

Though I’d hoped to have a printable ready for you, as well as a whole deep-dive into the agrarian customs & folklore of St. John’s Tide, the stars just didn’t align - but I wanted to share a few questions with you that I ask myself when I celebrate these days, and I thought they might be worthwhile for you, too:

• How is nature wearing the celebration of this feast in my homeplace? I love learning about the traditional plants, animals, & customs associated with liturgical calendar holidays - but these are all regional. Many of them don’t apply to my local situation. What animals & plants are you noticing in your area during St. John’s Tide? What local food is in-season where you are right now? These are great jumping-off points for celebrating; though I love the historical continuity of exploring generational recipes from different regions (it gives me the flavor of how others before us enjoyed these feasts!), I also celebrate my local instantiation of the feast by bringing in what we have, what’s growing and abundant right now. Hence the lemon balm - ever-abundant, haha!

• What is my local community up to? Whether this is your church community, work, or hometown, looking at these feast days as reminders & invitations to support local community events and gather with neighbors is always a place for growth.

• Why am I celebrating? It’s easy to get caught-up in a “keeping up with the Jones-es” mentality with the liturgical calendar. There are a million and a half ideas out there for celebrating these days, and though that’s so inspiring, it can easily overwhelm. Trust me - not every year is a sunny bonfire & strawberry shortcake for Johnsmas. We do what we can, when we can, and there’s always a breakdown or kiddos bickering or food dropped on the floor, because …that’s life!
  
  I try to go back to the root when I go down too many rabbit-holes or lose perspective, and reading the lectionary always helps me pull back to center; for me, this year, I’m especially seeing St. John’s Tide as an invitation to straighten my paths…a gentle reminder from this wilderness saint that today (everyday) is the day to start preparing for the mystery of Christmas, for the incarnational reality in our own hearts.

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Housekeeping

…and that Johnsmas invitation that settled into my bones as I was reading the lectionary helped me clarify some things I’ve been on the fence about for awhile but am finally making movement on:

• Substack: After mentioning (MONTHS ago!) that I would be migrating to Substack, I’m finally pushing “send” on it. I hope that you’ll enjoy this new format; newsletters should arrive in your email, as well as be accessible on my Substack page (like a bit of a newsletter/blog hybrid). I’m still on a steep learning curve, but I’ll give it a whirl anyway. If this format isn’t for you, no worries - feel free to unsubscribe at any time!

• Social Media: I’m hopping off of Instagram. I’ve gone back and forth on that, as you may know, and I’m reluctant to even make an “announcement” since I don’t want to give it more import than it’s due. My great reluctance at leaving was because of the beautiful connections with real friends I’ve made through the platform; but, I consistently find that its ever-increasing frenetic pace, always aimed at keeping us on a carousel, is dissonant with the “slow art” I’m trying to create. This is by no means a judgment against anyone using it! Everyone’s struggles and points of weakness are different, and everyone’s creative process is different; for me, Instagram’s pace just ends up being too incongruent, so I’m finally straightening my path and looking to platforms like Substack where I can hopefully share my voice in a healthier way. And I’m long-winded anyway, so it works out. ;)
  
  I’ll keep my Instagram “live” for now, with it redirecting to my web site (updates on that coming later), but my new art, resources, ramblings, etc. will be shared through this Substack and my web site. (Dear friends from Instagram - if you have a newsletter, blog, etc. that I can subscribe to, please reach out and let me know! Just hit reply - I’d love to stay in touch).
  

• I know that new art has been few and far between here, and I’ve been quite silent. But - I’ve been steadily working on a book! I’ve wanted to let the art & sketchbooks germinate quietly before sharing, but I’ll be sharing more with you over time. Thank you for your grace & patience as I’ve hibernated these past months.

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Till next time…

Though this opening Substack post is mostly a broad welcome as I learn some new technology, you can look forward to future posts that walk through the agrarian heritage of the liturgical calendar - with recipes, art, traditions, and more. Please subscribe if you’d like to join in the conversation!

Also, I’d love to hear from you - if you’d like, please mull these questions over so we can chat a bit more about them:

• What stands between you & your interest in celebrating the calendar? Is it the online pace? Does the history feel disconnected? Do all the ideas feel too unattainable? Does the “why” not seem clear yet? etc. These are all issues that I grapple with, and as much as possible, I want the art, resources, & books I’m working on to be helpers rather than hindrances. Everyone thinks differently and resonates with different approaches, so I have no illusion of crafting things that are universally enjoyed; but for those folks who are interested in this beautiful intersection of agricultural/liturgical, I want to explore how we can work together to create a liturgical calendar community that is supportive & inspiring.

• Are you interested celebrating the liturgical calendar mostly at home, or are you looking to branch out and form a community group?

Feel free to post in the comments, or reply to this email!

As always, thank you for being with me on the journey. Wishing you and yours a beautiful Johnsmas! I’ll leave you with this Midsummer paper scene from a few years back:

Blessings,
Kristin