June 24 is a very special day that since ancient times was celebrated with propitiatory rites in front of the fires lit the night between June 23 and 24.

This day is linked to the Christian figure of St. John the Baptist and sees in the sky the arrival of the summer solstice . Right now the sun is at its maximum apex, that is, at an astronomical level it is tilted with respect to the celestial equator in the maximum position and thus starts the beginning of summer with the rotation of the seasons. June 24th is therefore the longest day of the year, while on this night the darkness is the shortest.

The summer equinox was considered the feast of the Sun, symbol of Light and masculine strength, and was celebrated with propitiatory bonfires.

The herbs of San Giovanni

During the fires of San Giovanni the dried and harvested herbs were burned the previous year . From this night on it was the custom to collect the new herbs in order to preserve them as useful natural remedies throughout the new year; therefore it becomes a very special day for gathering herbs and herbal preparations.

Among the plants that are harvested on June 24th there are: hypericum, chamomile, verbena, artemisia, rue, mint, thyme, vinca, rosemary, garlic, lavender, sage and in particular the fern.

Each of these herbs has different properties and uses depending on the active ingredients they contain and were very well known in traditional herbal medicine and in popular medicine.

Herbal preparations with the herbs of San Giovanni

On this day the dew was collected on the flowers and on the officinal herbs to then preserve it and make purifying body washings and propitiatory rituals. This preparation is known as " water of St. John " and contains many different herbs depending on the place of origin.

Other preparations were made using the hypericum plant that they once thought was capable of driving away demons, evils and misfortunes. The peculiarity of this herb is to contain inside the leaves a scarlet red oil that remembers the blood and that is able to purify and heal many health problems. At the herbalist level, the hypericum plant is in fact used against mild depressions, raising the good mood, and is extremely effective in case of burns on the skin or irritation .

Herbal preparations on this day are varied and above all the collection of herbs is very conspicuous because the belief has been handed down that on this day every herb harvested will increase its healing power by double . This can be true precisely because the herbs at this time are more exposed to the sun during the day and are thus able to enhance their production of active ingredients; in particular, there are herbs called "solar" such as hypericum or other plants rich in essential oils that thanks to the sun reach their balsamic time and are therefore "ripe" to be harvested.

Finally, it was and still is a tradition to prepare a liqueur called "nocino" which is made using the fruits of the still green walnut soaking them in a liquid composed of water, food alcohol, sugar and spices. The nocino remains in maceration until August 10th, the day of San Lorenzo, and then it is filtered and aged in bottle until February. The custom was to drink it on the day of lovers that falls on February 14 for Valentine's Day.

The recipes are handed down from generation to generation and are often secret.

Remedies such as hypericum for mood swings in the change of season

The water of San Giovanni

The herbs of San Giovanni are harvested on the night between June 23 and 24 and are then immersed in spring water so that they are macerated at room temperature overnight. In the morning this water was used to bathe, washes and as a blessing of places, on domestic animals and on everything to which one wanted to give new energy.

The water of San Giovanni would have given beauty, fortune, health and would have been able to ward off the evil eye, the evils and the misfortunes. It was often kept in the bottle for later use during the year.

The 7 herbs that cannot be missed for its preparation are:

1. St. John's wort,

2. the thyme
3. lavender,

4. rosemary,

5. artemisia,

6. rue e

7. the verbena.

Obviously the water of San Giovanni increases in strength and becomes more precious with a greater number of flowers and herbs.

It is told that the collection of herbs on this special night can also lead to the encounter with fairy beings and that hidden treasures can be found; in fact the popular legends tell of a magical golden flower of the fern plant that blooms only at midnight of this night and that whoever finds it will have wealth and health.

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