The festival of San Juan is renowned in many places, but especially in our homeland: Galicia. For those less familiar with this holiday, here are the keys to its popularity and tips for warding off evil spirits. - The night of June 23rd to 24th is the most magical night of the year (noite meiga), steeped in tradition and superstition. - It officially welcomes summer (the solstice festival). - It is the shortest night of the year (which is why the festival never ends before sunrise). - People gather around a bonfire, preferably on the beach. The fire, in addition to serving as a place to cook sardines, barbecue, and other foods, also scares away evil spirits. - To complete the ritual, purify oneself, and rid oneself of all evil, one must jump over the bonfire between 3 and 9 times (depending on the area and the degree of purification needed by the individual). - The same concept is used in the queimada ritual: a concoction of aguardiente, sugar, coffee beans, and fruit peels, which is set on fire and stirred with a ladle in a large clay pot while reciting the conjure (no evil eye can resist it). - Another protection ritual involves swimming backward into the ocean (be careful with this one, as it depends a lot on the beach, because the Atlantic... in addition to being rough, is cool). - Also, don't confuse it with the fertility ritual, which involves jumping nine waves under the moonlight on this night. (If you overdid it with the queimada, you might get a two-for-one with the previous ritual.) - To finish and be completely cleansed, protected, and purified: St. John's wort. Tradition dictates that a bouquet combining the following plants—mallow, rosemary, fern, fennel, lemon verbena, xesta, and St. John's wort—should be left to soak in a bucket of water, outdoors, overnight. The next day, wash your face with this water and let it dry in the sun.