The time border separating summer from spring depends on the geographical latitude, climate, weather and coincides with the end of spring field works. The main folk holiday of this period is the midsummer day, the 24-th of June which is St. Johan s Day in the Church Calendar; St. Paul’s day follows it on the 29-th of June.

These holidays contain some elements of the ancient agricultural magic, health magic, ancient solar cult: ritual bonfires (located very often on high places), ritual usage of water and belief in its purifying qualities during these days, gathering of medicinal herbs. To summer holidays erotic rituals, songs and ritual flowers (garland) are intermixed as well as rituals of magic preserving the crop from drought, thunder, hail, field pests.

It is difficult to separate summer rituals from autumn ones, the latter being connected with harvest, which in its turn begins during summer months.

Main ideas, connected with autumn rituals are: the first is to make legal the beginning of using the new harvest-crop, vegetables, fruits, grapes; in ancient times — the removal of taboo, later church blessing of fruits, ritual meals; the second — to provide heavy crop in the next year. The second idea is especially clearly expressed in believes with «corn ghosts» being embodied in images of different animals (a dog, a wolf, a rabbit, a hen, etc.), or personified as an old man or a young lady. The «corn ghost» (Korngeist as it is called by German peoples) hides among ears and remains in the last sheaf during harvest. This sheaf is carried home with specific rituals and is placed in a sacred corner, its grain are given to cattle and mixed to sowing grain.

The Church brought few changes to ancient agricultural magic meaning of the summer and autumn rituals and customs, some holidays simply coincide with the days of Christian Saints. Church influence is stronger in countries with a stronger Catholic Church (Spain, Portugal, Italy).

In our days in many countries ancient agricultural holidays survive only as an occasion for fun, games and dances of young people. In socialist countries exist social holiday «Harvest Holidays».

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Der 3-te Band der Reihe «Volksbräuche und Riten im Jahreslauf in den Ländern Westeuropas» umfasst die Sommer- und Herbstperioden des landwirtschaftlichen und rituellen Jahres (der 1-ste Band war den Winterfesten, der 2-te den Frühlingsfesten gewidmet). Die Zeitgrenze, die den Sommerzyklus vom Frühjahrszyklus trennt, ist relativ: sie hängt von der entsprechenden geographischen Breite, dem Klima, dem Wetter ab. Diese Grenze fällt ungefähr mit dem Ende der Frühjahrfeldarbeiten zusammen. Den wichtigsten Punkt dieser Periode bildet der 24. Juni, welcher mit der Sommersonnenwende verbunden ist; ihm folgt der Peter-und-Paultag — 29. Juni.