Midsummer in Finland
 Midsummer (in Finnish "Juhannus") is the biggest summer festival in Finland to celebrate the nightless night. It has been celebrated for centuries; at first it was the celebration of Ukko, the Finnish god of thunder, who brought the rain needed for a good harvest. It is also the time of witches and trolls, and different kinds of beliefs and customs relating to magic and magical creatures.
One of the most traditional customs of Finnish Midsummer is the building and burning of the bonfire,
called "kokko"*). It is lit close to midnight on Midsummer's Eve, mostly along lake- and river shores, and even on islands. Usually the oldest man in the village had the honor to light the bonfire. Some coastal areas have also Midsummer poles, but that is a tradition brought from Sweden.
Of course one of the most followed traditions is the Midsummer Night's Sauna, after which you can enjoy the magical sight of a nightless night at the lakeside.
And listen to the Finns shouting to each other from the opposite sides of the lakes... and watch them trying
to pee from the rowing boat in the middle of the lake; result of which is the most common sight in the Finnish
mortuaries after Midsummer: the corpse has the zipper open.
*) A Finnish lesson: "Kokoo kokoon koko kokko koko kokoukseksi" means "Gather together all of the bonfire for the whole meeting".
On customs and beliefs
 The Village People gathered at the lake and the host stood in the lake throwing water in the air and drinking a toast to Ukko.
On Midsummer's Eve you place birch trees, one on each side of the doorway, and in some places also one
in the middle of the yard. Also a fir tree was used, with just a two branches left on the trunk, and it
was left in the middle of the yard until the next Midsummer.
Fern, a flowerless plant, was believed to bloom only on Midsummer Night. If you saw one, you had to pick
the flower at once; it brought you magical powers.
If you want to learn to play an instrument, take it with you and on the midsummer night go to a river,
which is at least one mile from any dwelling. Sit on a rock in the river and you'll learn to play.
Listen to a keyhole of the barn. If you hear hissing like grain falling, it'll be a good year.
If yuo don't hear anything, it'll be a bad year.
If you shear a sheep just before midsummer, you'll get tangled wool. Good enough for socks.
To become tolerant for cold, on midsummer eve you have to wash yourself at three springs, which are located
on unplowed lands.
If you plant cabbage on Midsummer night with your skirt hems up, the cabbage heads will be much bigger.
If it's windy on Midsummer night, there won't be much strawberries or any lingonberries that year.
If it rains on Midsummer, it will rain every Sunday the whole summer.
As many weeks before Xmas there's frost on the trees, as many weeks before Midsummer the trees will have leaves.
On love and getting married
 A maiden listens for a cuckoo (cuculus canorus) on Midsummer's Night. As many times as the cuckoo calls, as many years it'll take for her to get married. If the cuckoo doesn't call, she'll get married that year.
On Midsummer Night, you go twice round the rye field clockwise, and once anti-clockwise. That way a girl gets a groom and a boy gets a bride. If you run around the rye field three times without changing direction, you will meet the devil.
If you set two mirrors facing each other on Midsummer's Night and you look into the other one, you'll see your
future spouse coming from middle of the repeating images.
After burning the bonfire, kokko, the girls jump over the smoke to find love.
On Midsummer Night, if you hear clinking of keys from a well, you will be a matron, and if you'll hear a baby crying, you'll become pregnant.
On Midsummer Eve, you have to sweep the floor just a shirt on, collect the trash onto the hem of the shirt
and take it into a riverless pond. When you return home, you'll will have suitors.
On Midsummer Eve, you have to carry water from the well to the nearest ditch using a sieve; if some water
remains in the sieve, you will get married that year. When carrying the water, you will have to be naked.
If a woman goes naked on Midsummer's Night to a well, she will see down there the picture of her husband-to-be. NB: At that moment, the water in the well is said to be booze.
On Midsummer's Eve, a girl has to eat 9 salty baltic herrings (clupea harengus). Then, when she becomes thirsty, she'll
see her groom, who comes and gives her a drink.
 In the middle of the bonfire, kokko, a pole is set. After everything else has burnt, the pole remains,
until it falls down. The way it falls, everybody will be old maids. NB: In some areas, the belief is, that the way the pole falls will have the first wedding.
You'll ask a pig if you'll get married that year. If it oinks, then you will get married. If not, then you won't. So, if you don't want to get married, don't talk to pigs!
If a girl wants to know if her future husband will be a bachelor or a widow, she'll have to leave Midsummer Sauna bottom naked, and to walk backwards towards a pile of firewood. She cannot look behind her. The firewood, that pokes her bottom, is to be checked. If it's a split one, her loved one will be a widow/married, but if it's a round one, he'll be a bachelor.
On Midsummer Eve, the girls have to bring a lap full of firewood from the pile three times. Then they will be
counted and if the count is even number, you will have a groom.
On destiny and wishes
 On Midsummer's Eve, after leaving the Sauna, if you'll want to know your future, you will throw the tied fresh birch whisk onto the roof of the Sauna. The way the handle shows, is the way your spouse will come from. But if the handle points towards the church, you will die that year.
On Midsummer Night, you'll take eg. 12 straws (note: an even number). Tie the straws in the middle. Then you
start tying the straws together, as long as all are tied. After that you'll open the knot in the middle.
If the result is a circle, you'll get whatever wish you have at that moment.
You'll tie wreaths from flowers and throw them in the river. If the flow takes them away, you'll get married,
but if they get stuck to the edges, you'll die.
If you pick 9 flowers from three different gardens on Midsummer's Eve, and put them under your pillow,
your dream will become true. NB: You cannot talk anything during or after the picking of the flowers.
Late on Midsummer's Eve, you'll go to a rye field and choose seven straws - without pulling them out -
and even them out. Then you tie a different color string of wool on each straw. Whichever colored straw
grows most in three days, means the following:Red - joy (in some places love), yellow - being abandoned,
blue - love (in some places hope), black - sorrow, white - death, gray - whoring, green - getting married.
If you see a Will-o'-the-wisp (a firelight showing the place of a treasure) on a Midsummer's Eve, get close to the place, turn and throw a piece of iron behind you, ie. towards the Will-o'-the-wisp, and you will get the treasure.
And when Spring sowing was done, the toast of Ukko was drunk. The goblet of Ukko was brought forth
and so both the maids and matrons got drunk. Then a lot of shameful things were done which were both
heard and seen. When Rauni*) made love to Ukko in durst**), gallantly Ukko down there burst. It so made the weather and coming of water. - Mikael Agricola
*) Rauni = Ukko's spouse in Finnish mythology; also called Akka.
**) Durst = old english: 'dare'; original word 'härsky' means 'in heat'.
Sources:
Martti Haavio: Finnish mythology (1967)
http://www.santaclaus.fi/
http://www.finnguide.fi/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aarnivalkea
http://35 years in Finland
Images: Wikimedia Commons
Wild Boar image: Richard Bartz, used under CC Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic-license
Birch leaf background from silviahartmann.com/
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