Writer Väike Myy: Midsummer bonfires are different, but beneath them all lies one

Writer and witch Väike Myy reflects on Midsummer Day through a personal lens, connecting the holiday primarily to her grandfather's memory and her childhood bonfires. She recalls how her family's bonfire site evolved over the years around a glacial erratic in a field, which cracked and expanded from the heat to become a sacred place in its own right.

Midsummer Day and Midsummer Night mean something different to every Estonian, for some, grilling and mass gatherings, for others, quiet time with loved ones. But writer and witch Väike Myy believes that deeper beneath everyone's heart lies a connection to this time, one that is rarely spoken of.

For Väike Myy, Midsummer Day is inseparably linked to the memory of her grandfather. She has no recollection of bonfires from early childhood, the village did light a communal bonfire near the manor ruins, but her family took no part in it.

A bonfire site that grew with the years

Her own Midsummer bonfire came later, when her family bought a house and moved to live on the edge of a forest. In the middle of a field lay a large flat glacial erratic, and that's where they began lighting fires. Over the years, the heat split the stone in two, and they started burning fires between the two pieces of rock. The bonfire site gradually expanded: the granite gave way layer by layer, becoming ever thinner, until eventually there was a broad and magnificent fireplace with its own history and soul.

This image, a bonfire that over the years carved out its own place, is the core of Midsummer for Väike Myy. Bonfires may be different, people may build them in different places and different ways, but beneath them all lies one.