June owes its name to Juno, the goddess of heaven, who takes a special
interest in women and protects their interests. She is supposed to
accompany every woman through life, from the moment of her birth to her
death. Little wonder, then, that the women of ancient times considered
that, by propitiating Juno, their fortunes were assured. This they
usually did on their birthdays.
Midsummer Day (June 24th) is sacred to the memory of John the Baptist,
and the ceremonies practised at this season in the Middle Ages were
partly relics of the saints and partly relics of old sun worship. Great
fires of wood or bones blazed on every mountain top, and were supposed
to be typical of the saint, who was called a burning and a shining
light.
These Beltane fires burned often on bare, flat rocks, not only in
England, Scotland, and Ireland, but on the Alps, the Hartz Mountains,
and elsewhere. It was a great thing to be present at or in view of one
of these fires, for the evil spirit was dispelled by the potency of the
light and flames.