Nick Joaquin's THE SUMMER SOLSTICE

The Summer Solstice is a good story in a sense that it  portrays the role of gender in our society. In Spanish time, men are superior to women, but, in the story, women became the superior because of a certain ritual called the Tatarin. There, it is believed that women are possessed by the spirit of Saint John. There are 2 lessons that I learned from the story: 1. women should not be treated as inferior individuals compared to men 2. in a relationship (specially in marriage), showing of love and affection to your partner is important to maintain a stable and a satisfactory relationship between the two of you. Love should always be shared between you and your partner. That is the only way to "fuel the flame of love" to the both of you.