Released on = June 20, 2007, 9:09 am

Press Release Author = Ana Chiappori/A. J. Place

Industry =

Press Release Summary = Watch out!!! June 23rd. is arriving. All of a sudden and a
lot of bonfires will burn everywhere. They´ll tell you it´s St. John´s Eve. Actually
it´s solstice time. This was the most popular and extended fire festival in most of
ancient Europe.

Press Release Body = Watch out!!! June 23rd. is arriving. All of a sudden and a lot
of bonfires will burn everywhere. They´ll tell you it´s St. John´s Eve. Actually
it´s solstice time. This was the most popular and extended fire festival in most of
ancient Europe.
You have heard all about witchcraft. Well, this was bone-craft. Celts celebrated
Midsummer burning cattle bones. They said they were great for averting diseases,
evil-eye, bad spirits and all kind of bad vibes. The ashes granted you fertility,
good crops and, of course, a wonderful time for celebrating. Wanting to get married?
A Bohemian girl who visited nine fires that night was sure to marry within a year.
Yes, but in France, both in Bretagne and in Berry, she also needed to dance in
front of the fires. Couples jumped over the fire to get children and to ensure
fidelity. People from the villages always asked some old folks to see through the
fire and smoke. Then they could tell how things would go during the year.
It was women´s time, above all. Prehistoric European women had an astonishing high
status, as described by J.F. del Giorgio in The Oldest Europeans: Who are we? Where
do we come from? What made European women different? Then patriarchal Indo-European
invaders came from the East. They slaved women and suppressed solstice celebrations.
Good Queen Elizabeth I from England discouraged any official interference with the
festivities. It seems she knew something about women´s rights in a man´s world.


Web Site = http://www.ajplace.com

Contact Details = Ana Chiappori
A. J. Place
Calle Camelias 1, 1A
Alcorcon 28925-Madrid
Spain
Phone/Fax 00 34 91 611 3957
achiappori@ajplace.com
www.ajplace.com