PALLAS COMITATUS

Midsummer is the point in the year when the Sun has achieved its Victory, when the light of day is at its zenith and the darkness of night is held at bay. 

This is a time of rejoicing, a time for the celebration of Solar principles of strength, nobility, beauty, superabundance, and illumination.

But as with all victories, the Sun’s victory must signal the beginning of a falling away. From its height the Sun now begins its long retreat towards midwinter, where its regenerative path will begin anew. 

Odin’s son Baldr, the shining god, the most noble and brilliant, is often correlated with the Sun. 

Like the Sun, Baldr is fated to die. Even though he is the most beautiful and beloved of the gods, he is taken at the height of his brilliance. A time of sorrow, no doubt. And yet his death insures that he is absent from the Ragnarok, from the Twilight of the Gods; and so he, like the Sun, may lead the rebirth. 

So paradoxically we celebrate midsummer with a funeral. We honor the departure of the shining one by pouring libations on his funeral ship, by demonstrating feats of precision and courage, through gift exchange, and the recounting of brave deeds. 

For we know that rebirth can only be born from loss, that only through trials can we demonstrate our strengths, and that only when faced with impossible odds will our virtus be revealed.