Born in June

The name and the season

June is most often traced to Juno, queen of the Roman gods and protector of marriage and childbirth, although Ovid also offers the iuniores, the younger men, as the source of the name. The Anglo-Saxons, according to Bede, called June and July together Litha, distinguishing Ærra Litha ('before midsummer') from Æfterra Litha. The summer solstice, the longest day in the northern hemisphere, falls on 20 or 21 June, and the month has long been considered a favourable time to marry, an association often linked, though only loosely, with Juno.

Festivals and folklore

Midsummer was celebrated across Europe with bonfires, especially on St John's Eve, 23 June, the vigil of the Nativity of John the Baptist: people leapt over the fires for luck, gathered St John's wort and other herbs believed to be at their most potent, and in Scandinavia and the Baltic still dance around decorated poles. Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream draws on the belief that the short night was full of fairy mischief and love-magic. In Rome the Vestalia (7–15 June) opened the temple of Vesta to the matrons of the city. Modern Pagans keep the solstice as Litha (see the Wheel of the Year), and crowds gather at Stonehenge, whose axis is aligned on the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset.

Birthstone and birth flower

June has three stones in the modern list. The pearl and the moonstone were both named in 1912; the alexandrite, a chrysoberyl that turns from green in daylight to red under lamplight, was added in 1952. It was found in the Ural Mountains in the 1830s and is traditionally said to have been named after the future Tsar Alexander II. Older lists for June vary considerably, giving cat's eye, turquoise or agate. The pearl, the only gem made by a living creature, was linked with the moon, purity and tears. The month's flowers are the rose, the flower of love in almost every European tradition, and the honeysuckle, an emblem of devoted affection.

Traits tradition gives to people born this month

June is shared by Gemini and Cancer, and popular portraits of June-born people combine quick intelligence with deep feeling. They are traditionally described as witty, curious and adaptable, loving conversation and new ideas, and also as affectionate, protective of family and attached to home and memory. Almanacs add a warning of changeable moods and of sensitivity to criticism. These are traditional characterisations, not tested facts: studies of birth date and personality have not found the effects astrology describes.