Ivan Kupala Day
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Ivan Kupala Day (Russian: Иван-Купала; Ukrainian: Івана Купала) is the day of summer solstice celebrated in Russia and Ukraine on 7 July in the Gregorian or New Style calendar, which is currently 24 June in the Julian or Old Style calendar still used by many of the Orthodox Churches.
This is a pagan fertility rite, which has been accepted into the Orthodox Christian calendar, in which it has been associated with John the Baptist, just as St. John's Day (24 June New Style) is a traditional midsummer day in Western Europe with which some pre-Christian traditions have been associated (as discussed by Sir James Frazer, among others). It is opposed to the winter solstice holiday, or Korochun.
According to Vasmer, the name of this holiday combines the words "Ivan", the Slavic name of John (the Baptist), and "Kupala", a word derived from the Slavic word for bathing, as it was the first day of the year when the church sanctioned bathing and swimming in rivers and ponds.
Up to the present day, the Russian Midsummer Night (or Ivan's Day) is known as one of the most expressive East Slavic folk and pagan holidays. Many rites of this holiday are connected with water, fertility and autopurification. The girls, for example, would float their flower garlands on the water of rivers and tell their fortunes from their movement. Lads and girls would jump over the flames of bonfires.
There is an ancient belief that the Eve of Ivan Kupala is the only time of the year when the ferns are blooming. Whoever finds a fern-flower would become immensely rich. Hence, on that night village folk would roam through the forests in search of magical herbs. In Gogol's story The Eve of Ivan Kupala a young man finds the fabulous fern-flower but is cursed by it. The witches' sabbath on the Eve of Ivan Kupala inspired Modest Mussorgsky to compose his Night on Bald Mountain.
[edit] See also
- Semik — a related spring holiday.
- Midsummer | Kupala | Kupolė | Pirogovo | Jāņi | Saint Jonas' Festival
- Yanka Kupala — the pen-name of this Belarusian author references his birthday on July 7.
- Miss Julie - this classic and important play, by August Strindberg, takes place on this holiday.
