STORKS AND BABIES

HERE'S THE ORIGIN OF THE POPULAR FOLK TRADITION.

BEFORE CHRISTIANITY BECAME THE DOMINANT RELIGION IN EUROPE, PAGAN WORSHIP PREVAILED. THE SUMMER SOLSTICE, THE DAY WITH THE MOST HOURS OF SUNLIGHT, NORMALLY FALLS ON JUNE 20TH OR 21ST IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE. THIS DATE WAS A HUGELY IMPORTANT HOLIDAY. FESTIVALS WERE HELD, OFTEN LASTING DAYS AT A TIME. THESE HOLIDAYS INVOLVED LOTS OF DRINKING OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AND, THE EVIDENCE SUGGESTS, LOTS OF SEXUAL ACTIVITY.

THE EVIDENCE? THE SUDDEN BOOST IN THE NUMBER OF BABIES BORN NINE MONTHS AFTER THE ANNUAL EVENTS, IN THE FOLLOWING APRIL. IN NORTHERN EUROPE, SOMETHING ELSE ARRIVED AROUND THIS TIME - EUROPEAN WHITE STORKS. THESE BIRDS WOULD FLY TO NORTHERN EUROPE FOR THEIR SPRINGTIME MATING SEASON. STORKS GET ALONG AMAZINGLY WELL WITH HUMANS, TO THE POINT OF THE BIRDS MAKING THEIR NESTS ON THE ROOFS OF HOUSES, SOMETHING STILL SEEN THERE TODAY.

THE SIMULTANEOUS ARRIVAL OF THE BIRDS AND THE BABIES LED TO THE FOLK TALE OF STORKS DELIVERING BABIES (AND DROPPING THEM DOWN CHIMNEYS). WHERE EXACTLY THE LEGEND BEGAN IS UNKNOWN, BUT IT IS BELIEVED TO HAVE ORIGINATED IN NORTHERN GERMANY.