One of the traditions of San Xoán (Midsummer) is to collect the ¨Seven Herbs of San Xoán¨ that evening, put them in a tub outside, and wash your face/feet/body the next day. The combination of these herbs and San Xoán dew leaves your skin feeling smooth and...lucky? According to a ¨definitive list¨ these herbs include: St John's wort, lemon verbena, mallow, rosemary, fennel, broom, and fern. The seven herbs vary by village. Case in point: on our plant-gathering walk along the river, we ran into two elderly women. They looked at the plants we had already collected, and disagreed with more than half of them, saying ¨No way, that one's worthless! We don't use that¨ etc. They were right about one thing though, since we confused St. John's wort with a similar plant. At the end of our hike we had 6/7 of the usual plants, plus some mint and oak leaves. It really did smell delightful and left my face feeling fresh the next day.It would seem my goal for San Xoán is to spend it in a different city each year, since so far I've spent the magical night in Coruña, Lugo, Compostela, and this year Pontevedra. While in the previous cities they actively maintain the traditions of bonfires, in Pontevedra due to city ordinances there are only 2 or 3 public bonfires on the outskirts of town.
We started our evening going to one of the few gatherings right in front of our house. First there was a concert of traditional music. Dozens of neighbors playing the accordion, guitar, tambourine, shells, and bagpipes. We danced a waltz. Since we both dance bad, I bet it almost looks good! They played a polka, too! By the time the concert was finished, it was time to get a free sardine, fresh off the grill. I am not a big fish fan, but in keeping with traditions I ate half.
We left before the communal bonfire started. Somehow we got invited to a private bonfire further outside the city. There we were met with a multigenerational cookout. They built a small bonfire in the yard, which I jumped over 5 times. Seven jumps is the norm, but as long as it's an odd number you're safe. Afterwards, the youth headed to the village's big bonfire. Way too wide to jump over. However they had a smaller fire where kids were lined up waiting to jump. We spent the rest of the night grooving to the music. Unfortunately, we didn't greet the dawn (another tradition). Maybe next year.
