Ivan Kupala (07/07)





Kupala rituals performed on the eve of the holiday («night on the eve of Ivan Kupala») constitute a complex ritual complex, including: collecting herbs and flowers, weaving wreaths, decorating buildings with greenery, lighting fires, destroying effigies, jumping over a fire or through bouquets of greenery, dousing with water, fortune telling, tracking down a witch, night atrocities.

Ivan Kupala or Kupaila — has been known among the Slavs since ancient times as a holiday of the Sun, the maturity of summer and green mowing. People girded themselves with flower bands and put wreaths of herbs on their heads. They danced in circles and sang songs. The old people, using the friction of dry sticks, obtained «living fire», lit fires, in the middle of which they placed a pole with a burning wheel — symbol of the sun mounted on it. Kupala holidays were celebrated during paganism in honor of the Sun God, whose wife was the luminous Charge, a red maiden.

After the transition to a new style, Ivan Kupala’s holiday falls on July 7, or more precisely, on the night of July 7. Some European countries celebrate Midsummer Day or St. Ivan's Day (similar to Ivan Kupala) according to the old style, on the days of the summer solstice.



• Infographics – poster «7 July — Ivan Kupala Day» • Story «Adventures on Kupala Night»

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