Fire of Saint John

Every year on the 23rd of June our village celebrates the feu de Saint Jean. Although a religious meaning has been attached to this festival, it is in essence purely pagan. It is a celebration of the summer solstice and a ritual act of purification for the beginning of a new season. The ritual is to jump over the coals after the flames have subsided. Tort reform has revived this tradition but it is still mostly honored symbolically.

The church found it a convenient festival to adapt to its own use and decided to celebrate the birth of Saint John the Baptist on this day. It is from this date that the days become shorter up until the 25th of December. With the birth of Christ, the days become longer and, symbolically, the way of light begins.

Some villages build small symbolic fires but our village stacks logs about twenty feet high. The fire burns for several days but the real fun is the lighting ceremony and the trance-like state that follows as everyone quietly sits around watching it burn.